ATARI(R) 2600(R) Game Manual ROAD RUNNER (TM) Beep Beep(TM)! Just another day zipping around the desert, pecking at seeds and dodging the occasional truck. Suddenly, who should appear on the horizon but your old adversary Wile E. Coyote(TM)! He may not be the shrewdest predator you've ever dealt with, but he is certainly the most persistent. Wile E. will try just about anything to catch you. Despite your speed, you're not completely impervious to his devious tricks, nor to the hazards of the desert highway. You'll need to watch out for oncoming trucks, dodge cannonballs and falling rocks, and leap over lethal land mines and cliffs. So rev up your engine, and get on your mark. The race is about to begin! Getting Started 1. With your television turned on, insert the Road Runner(TM) cartridge into your Atari 2600 (or 7800) as explained in your Owner's Manual. 2. Plug a controller into the left port for one player. Plug another controller into the right port for two players. 3. Then push the console's [Power] switch to the ON position. The Road Runner title screen appears. 4. Press [Select] or move the controller in any direction to choose a one-player or two-player game. 5. Press [Reset] or the left fire button to begin the game. 6. During play, press [Reset] to restart the game. Playing the Game The object of the game is to outrun the coyote while avoiding the hazards of the desert. There are 8 levels in the game, each level more difficult than the last. Move the controller in the direction you want the Road Runner to run. Press the fire button to make the Road Runner jump. (In a two-player game, the players take turns controlling the Road Runner.) You begin the game with three lives. You lose a life when Wile E. Coyote catches you, picks you up in a rocket, or shoots you with a cannon. You also lose a life when a truck hits you, you hit a land mine, you fall off a cliff, or you get hit by a falling rock. You score points by eating seeds along the road, eating steel shot, and destroying the coyote. Hazards [Picture of filled rectangle] Watch out for the land mines planted along the road. Hit one of these, and you're a goner! [Picture of a truck] Fast-moving trucks rule the road out here. They don't even slow down, let alone stop, for the indigenous desert population. If one of these hits you, you lose a life! [Picture of two offset rectangles firing a square] Wile E. Coyote has a few cannons in his arsenal. Dodge those cannonballs or pay the price! [Picture of Wile E. on a rectangle with wheels, and of Wile E. on a rocket] Watch out for Wile E.'s other tricks. Be particularly careful when he shows up on rocket skates or riding a rocket. [Picture of two filled circles] Falling rocks make it just that much more difficult to concentrate on your escape. These monstrous boulders are just as deadly as they look! [Picture of many offset flat rectangles, some filled, on top of a square] When you reach the cliffs, you'll have to use your agile leaping skills to avoid the deep crevices between them. [Picture of tiny black and red diamonds] As the Road Runner races down the highway, piles of birdseed are found on the roadway. Eat each pile of birdseed to gain points. [Picture of flat, unfilled rectangles with pointed ends] Although you score points by eating steel shot found along the road, this also makes you more vulnerable. Wile E. is armed with a magnet, making it temporarily harder to escape once you have swallowed the shot. Strategy You must keep running to the left to avoid the coyote, while watching out for the other hazards along the desert highway. If you double back, you can catch Wile E. off guard. Time your jumps carefully, and use them strategically to avoid Wile E. and the other dangers of the road. Use the mines and trucks to your advantage. Scoring Eating a pile of birdseed.....................................100 points Eating steel shot.............................................100 points Getting Wile E. hit bby a mine (cannonball, rock, etc.).......200 points Getting Wile E. hit by a truck...............................1000 points Note: The first pile of birdseed the Road Runner eats is worth 100 points. The point value of each successive pile of birdseed eaten thereafter increases by 100 points, up to a maximum of 1000 points per pile of birdseed. But if you miss eating a pile of birdseed, the point value of the next pile of birdseed the Road Runner does eat is 100 points. Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed matter after the date of publication oand disclaims liability for changes, errors, or omissions. Reproduction of this document or of any portion of its contents is not allowed without the specific written consent of Atari Corporation. Atari, the Atari logo, 2600, and 7800 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, and "Beep Beep" are trademarks of Warner Bros. Inc. Copyright (C) 1989, Warner Bros. Inc. Copyright (C) 1989, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. All rights reserved. Printed in Hong Kong. C300016-063 Rev. A B. T. 8. 1989 ATARI(R)