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Dark Cavern - M Network - Atari 2600    Manual Scan icon HTML Manual   

Dark Cavern
DARK CAVERN

INSTRUCTIONS
(For 1 Player)

The object of the game is to avoid the blobs, spiders and robots... and
destroy as many of them as you can!!!  Your man is trapped in the cavern,
there's nowhere to hide.  Escape the creatures' bites and keep away from
robot fire.  Shoot to destroy... rack up points!  It's a bitter fight to
the end!

For Your Atari Video Game System

(C) Mattel, Inc 1982.  Hawthorne, CA 90250.  PRINTED IN U.S.A.  All Rights
Reserved.

-

THE GAME
--------

It's a battle for survival in an underground cavern!  You have five men. 
They enter the cavern one at a time through the center trap door.  Once
inside, blobs, spiders and robots begin to enter the left and right doors. 
(Neither the creatures nor the man can exit through these doors.)

Direct your man down the tunnels.  Pick up ammunition as you go.  Keep
clear of the creatures... avoid robot fire.  Shoot to destroy!  Get hit by
a robot's bullet... action stops.

Now bring out your next man... get them before they get you!!!

 ############# 0052200 ##############  <-score ############################# 10 ### <-BLACK NUMBERS="BULLETS" REMAINING #-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#--#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-# WHITE NUMBERS="MEN" REMAINING # # # # # # # # # #-#-# # #--# # #-#-# # # # # # # # # # #-#-# #-#-# #--# #-#-# #-#-# # #--# # # #### <-TRAPDOOR # # #-#-# # #### # #-#-# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #-#-# #-#-# # # # # # <-CREATURE DOOR # # # # #-#-# # # #-#-# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #-#-# #-#-# # # # # # # # # # # # #-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#--#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-# MAN ### ROBOT #### BLOB #### SPIDER # # WEAPON ######### ##### ## #### # ##### # #### # ### # #### #### ####### ## # ##### ## #### ##### ## ### #### #### ##### ##### ## #### ######### ### # #### #### # # # #### # # Your man starts with 20 bullets. Every few seconds a gun flashes on the screen. Land on it before it disappears and you get 10 more bullets. Shoot at any of the nasty cavern creatures and you use up one bullet. Watch out for the blob... run into him and he "steals" your bullets. The game ends when all five of your men are blown away by the robots! The final score is displayed. Press RESET and start again. THE CONTROLS Use your joystick controllers with this game. Be sure the controller cables are securely plugged into the back of your game console. Hold the controller so the RED BUTTON is to your upper left. HOW TO PLAY CHOOSE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY Before the game begins, set your LEFT difficulty switch to "A" or "B". "A" is the more difficult level. When you set the switch at "A", the game begins with four two-headed robots coming after you. Also at level "A", when you destroy a robot, a new one takes its place faster. At level "B" the game begins with one-headed robots. ENTER THE CAVERN: The game begins with your first man at the center trap door. Push up on the joystick and he enters the cavern. The door locks behind him... he is trapped in the cavern!!! After your man is blasted by the robot, your next man is peering through the trap door. Push up on the joystick to get the man into the cavern... the fight begins again! MOVE YOUR MAN: Move your man by pushing on the JOYSTICK. You can make him move in four different directions. You can quickly change the direction the man is running. After you push the joystick, the man continues to move in that direction until he runs into the side of a tunnel. SHOOT THE GUN: The man's bullets will destroy all the creatures and the robots. To fire off a shot you need to do two things. Push the JOYSTICK in the direction you want the bullet to go and press the RED BUTTON. The man is also moving in the same direction, so shoot and retreat quickly. Important: You can only fire off one shot at a time. Once your bullet disappears from the screen, you can fire again. RULES OF THE CAVERN MEN: You start off with 5 men. Each man can run and shoot. When you lose a man, the next man appears at the trap door in the center of the cavern. A white number briefly shows in the upper right corner of the screen. This tells how many men you have left. Each time you destroy a yellow robot you get another man. But you can only have a maximum of 9 men at a time. When your last man is blown away by robot fire, the game is over. GUN: The gun is the man's main defense in the creature infested cavern. When the game begins, the man has 20 bullets. Every few seconds a gun flashes on the screen. If the man lands on it before it disappears, he gets another 10 bullets. You can only have a maximum of 99 bullets at a time. The black numbers in the upper right corner tell how many bullets are left. SPIDERS: Spiders creep through the cavern ready to "bite" the man. Whenever the two come in contact, the man is paralyzed for a few moments. When this happens, he cannot run or fire his gun. He is a sitting duck for the robot! BLOBS: Blobs slink around the tunnels. Their purpose is to catch the man and steal his bullets. The longer the man touches the blob the more bullets he will lose. Get away quick! ROBOTS: There are two types of robots that roam the cavern tunnels: One-headed and two-headed robots! One-headed robots can only shoot bullets in front of themselves. The man can sneak up from behind and blast away! At level "B", the game begins with the one-headed robots after the man! Two-headed robots look forward and backward and shoot in front of themselves and behind! Two-headed robots appear when your score reaches 20,000 (and at the beginning of level "A"). The one- and two-headed robots each come in four colors. All robots are one color at a time. Different colors are worth different points. Point values are listed below. Start the game with purple robots. Shoot one and the rest turn red. Shoot another before a new robot takes its place, and all robots turn green. Shoot another before any new robots appear and the last robot is yellow. Once a new robot enters the cavern, all robots turn purple again. You have to be fast to get to the high point robots! IMPORTANT: Robots can shoot even after they have been shot! So watch out... get out of their line of fire!!! SCORING Spider Zero points Blob Zero points Purple Robot 1000 points Red Robot 2000 points Green Robot 3000 points Yellow Robot 5000 points plus another man! WINNING TIPS * Wait at a corner when a robot is in target range, fire! Quickly move around the corner to dodge his bullet! * When a new man enters the trap door, wait until it's safe to enter the cavern. * As soon as a gun appears in the cavern, go after it! It disappears quickly! IMPORTANT: Be sure to turn your game unit off when not in use. cd Atari 2600 Instructions Archive------------------- 

This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, �1997-1998 by Greg Chance