===============
Blasteroids(TM)
===============
Document created by rstuart@ukonline.co.uk on 18th Jan 00 for
World of Spectrum: http://www.void.demon.nl/spectrum.html

Taken from the U.S. Gold compilation 'Winners!'.

Battle your way through Sectors and Galaxies riddled with asteroids and
deadly enemy ships to ultimately defeat the evil MUKOR, the ruler of all
Galaxies. An award winning shoot 'em up from MIRRORSOFT.
(c) 1989 Mirrorsoft (c) 1987 Tengen

Loading Instructions
--------------------
CBM 64/128 Cassette
Press SHIFT and RUN/STOP keys simultaneously. Press PLAY on your cassette
recorder.

CBM 64/128 Disk
Type LOAD "*",8,1 and press RETURN. Refer to DISK LABELS for running order.

Spectrum 48/128K, +2 Cassette
Type LOAD"" and press PLAY on your cassette recorder.

Spectrum +3
Turn on computer, insert disk and press RETURN.

Amstrad CPC Cassette
Press CTRL and small ENTER keys simultaneously. Press PLAY on your cassette
recorder.

Amstrad CPC Disk
Type RUN"DISK and press ENTER. Follow on screen prompts.

Atari ST
Insert required disk, turn on computer and games will load and run
automatically.

CBM Amiga
Insert required disk, turn on computer and game will load and run
automatically.

Blasteroids(TM)
---------------
BLASTEROIDS IS A GAME OF ARCADE SKILL. Using your thrust craft in its three
forms, you must battle your way through the Sectors and Galaxies riddled with
asteroids and deadly enemy ships to ultimately defeat the evil MUKOR, who
rules all Galaxies.

BLASTEROIDS has four different Warps of incresing difficulty:- EASY, MEDIUM,
HARD and EXPERT. Each Warp contains several Galaxies, and each Galaxy
consists of 9 or 16 sectors depending on its level of difficulty. Fly
down the tunnel of the Warp you wish to play. HARD and EXPERT warps are to
be avoided unless you are very experienced at piloting yout thrust craft.

Your craft is transformable between:

SPEEDER - The quickest ship * FIGHTER - has the most firepower * WARRIOR -
has the heaviest armour *.
You control your craft by rotating and thrusting, but remember that your ship
has mass and momentum.

To clear a sector you must destroy or disable all the asteroids present.
Shooting large asteroids will break them up into smaller asteroids, which
in turn must also be destroyed. Collisions and thrust use up energy, and you
must replenish your fuel energy supplies by collecting crystals. Crystals
are released from red asteroids when they are completely distroyed. The
energy content of the crystals reduces as they decay. Fly over the crystals
to absorb their energy.

You will come across various types of enemy ships during your journey through
the Galaxy. These all have different appearances and attack in different
ways. Destroying an enemy ship often reveals a piece of special equipment -
fly over these to collect them.

When you have completed a sector, the next portal will spin into view - fly
down this to get to the Galactic Map.

To control your ship, move the joystick left or right: to rotate the ship
in the direction desired. To thrust, push your joystick forward. For rapid
fire, hold down the FIRE button.

The Galactic Map
----------------
You may select the next sector by rotating your ship until the sector you
wish to visit is highlighted. Press FIRE to enter the sector.

The contents of each sector are represented by miniatures, indicating
asteroid and enemy type (if any). Sectors you have already cleared will
contain nothing - visiting these again only wastes precious fuel. Sectors
which are out of range will have question marks - you will have to travel
closer before discovering what they contain.

Asteroid Types
--------------
NORMAL asteroids can be destroyed by shooting them * RED asteroids contain
Power Crystals.

POPCORN asteroids require several hits before they are deactivated and stop.
They will expand as they are hit. All popcorn asteroids must be deactivated
before the sector is cleared.

EGG asteroids contain LEECHES. When released leeches will home in on you
and attach. They will begin to absorb your energy. Fly very fast or collide
with objects to try and shake them off.

SEEKER asteroids will fly towards you at high speed when they are first shot.
Shoot them several times to destroy them.

Special Equipment
-----------------
The equipment released when enemy ships are destroyed takes one of 8 forms:-

SHIELDS - these provide a limited amount of protection against collisions and
enemy fire. The number of shields are displayed at the top of the screen.
They deplete as you are hit.

BLASTERS - these provide double shots.

EXTRA SHOT POWER - the penetration of your shots is improved with this piece
of equipment.

RIPSTAR - this weapon, when activated, will cause your ship to spin
furiously and emit huge amounts of firepower. Only once per Ripstar. To
activate, pull back on your joystick and press the FIRE button.

EXTRA FUEL CAPACITY - this will allow your ship to carry more fuel at a time.
The fuel guage will enlarge to display this.

BOOSTER - increases the thrust of your ship.

CRYSTAL MAGNET - when collected, this device will attract loose power
crystals towards your ship.

CLOAK - this piece of equipment makes your ship invisible to the enemy,
and prevents them homing in on you.

All these special features only function for a limited time.

Mukor
-----
When you have completed all the sectors in the Galaxy, you will have to face
MUKOR. He will attempt to destroy your ship by ramming you and by sending
out miniature enemy ships to attack you. You can attack MUKOR by shooting
his tentacles. Once you have destroyed all of them, MUKOR will slide away
and leave you some special weaponry. If you have completed all Galaxies
(there are several Galaxies in each Warp) and manage to defeat MUKOR then you
will have finally conquered him and cleared the entire Warp.

Joystick (All Computers)
------------------------
FORWARD - Thrust; BACK - Transform; LEFT - Rotate anti-clockwise;
RIGHT - Rotate clockwise. FIRE BUTTON - Fire.

Spectrum/CBM 64/128:
Both players can use joysticks or one player can use keyboard, while the
other uses joystick.

Amstrad:
To use 2 joysticks, you must have a double adaptor and configure the second
joystick to mimic the keyboard.

Keyboard
--------
CBM 64/128:
P - Thrust; L - Transform; Z - Rotate anti-clockwise; X - Rotate clockwise;
SPACE - Fire.
OTHER CONTROLS:
F1 - Quit; F3 - Toggle music on/off; F5 - Pause; F7 - Restart.

Spectrum/Amstrad:
Keys are user definable.
OTHER CONTROLS:
H - Pause; R - Restart; SHIFT + Q - Abort Current Game.
SPECTRUM ONLY:
If you wish to play one player only, select option 4 for the second player.
This will leave the second ship out of the game, but will allow a second
player to enter later if required.

Two Player
----------
By pressing FIRE on the second set of controls, a second player can join the
game. This will use one extra credit. Two players can play independently,
or the ships can be DOCKED for extra power and protection. To dock, one
player must be in SPEEDER mode, the other in WARRIOR. Fly the ships together
and they will dock. The WARRIOR pilot flies the STARLET and controls the
thrust and has some firepower, the SPEEDER pilot has control of the TURRET
and the most firepower. To disconnect, just transform one of them into a
different mode.

When disconnected, the first player to fly down the exit portal will obtain
a large bonus and have control of the Galactic Map for the next sector.

Additional Keyboard Controls
----------------------------
Atari ST/Amiga Only
SHIFT + Q - Abort current game; F10 - Toggle 50/60 Hz game; F9 - Pause;
F4 - Restart; F6 - Music off; F5 - Music on.

(c) 1987 TENGEN. All rights reserved.
(c) 1989 MIRRORSOFT LTD.