How to play
Select the number of players and their control mode. You can substitute humans with computer-controlled opponents.
How to control your players
on emulator
configure your emulator to map to any game controller connected. STeem and HATARI let you configure parallel port joysticks as well as Jagpads. (Demo)
switch the control mode to keyboard inside the game and use the keyboard.
Tournament/Marathon
Beside the fast 4 player action you can let the game organize a tournament (6-16 player) or a marathon (2-4 players). In the main menu under "GAMEMODE" choose "MARATHON" (F4) or "TOURNAMENT" (F5) and select "START GAME" (F10).
Enter your names into the list. F10 starts the action.
(Demo Tournament) - (Demo Marathon)
Enter Names
Too few friends? Name any player "AI xxxxxx" and the player will be controlled by the computer.
Just hit [ENTER] to fill in a default name.
Hold down [CONTROL] and move players through the list with the cursor keys.
Tournament/marathon standings are backed up and will be restored if a system shutdown occurs. It is recommended to disable the feature for physical floppy disks.
Name the first player "DEMO 1" to activate a demo mode.
Controllers and grouping
Tournament and Marathon needs 2-4 players mapped to physical controllers. Computer opponents are not possible as a controller option and are being disabled. However it is possible to assign players in the tournament to be controlled by the computer by giving it a "AI xxxxxx" name. They fight through the tournament just like human players.
The number of available physical controllers determines the group-structure of the tournament.
For example: Using two physical controllers, only an 8-player tournament, in groups of two, is possible. More controllers enable extra grouping options.
Recommendation: in tournaments clearly mark your controllers Nr. 1 to 4 as they need to be swapped among the participants.
If you have a real time clock (or you use an emulator) it will be automatically activated in the holiday season. But there is also a very secret XMAS code. Type the XMAS code in the main menu and it will unlock the extra features! But what is the XMAS code? You will never find the XMAS code! And there is absolutely no point in opening the DATA/LEVEL0.DAT file in search for hints for XMAS!
Shortcut keys
Main Menu
F1 - Battle mode (Demo)
F2 - Death match mode (Demo)
F3 - Treasure hunt mode (Demo)
F4 - Tournament mode (Demo)
F5 - Marathon mode (Demo)
F6 - F9 switch controllers
F10 - start game
1 - toggle number of players
2 - toggle game mode
3 - toggle target score
4 - toggle playfield arena
5 - toggle sound mode
6 to 0 select presets
SHIFT+A - puts the game into ARCADE Mode: the only available option is "START GAME"