Centipede for Intellivision

 Play the Original Arcade Classic in Your Own Home

CENTIPEDE

FROM

ATARISOFT

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

One glorious spring day you hike into a dense forest that you've never before

explored.  As you push deeper into the woods, the trees close up behind you

and the forest grows increasingly dark and ominous.  You get a creepy feeling

and decide to go back.  A chill plays up and down your spine when you turn and

realize you're lost.  You collapse onto a flat rock beneath an enormous

spreading tree and try to regain your sense of direction.  A grey squirrel

chatters at you.  "How do I get out of here?" you sigh out loud.

NOTE:  Always turn the console POEWR switch OFF before inserting or removing

the cartridge.

To your amazement, the squirrel speaks!  "Help us and we'll show you

the way home," promises the squirrel.

"What?"

"This is an enchanted forest," explains the squirrel.  "We

peace-loving animals must suffer the hostile attacks of an evil Centipede, a

deadly spider, a venomous flea, and a poisonous scorpion.  We've waited a long

time for a heroic human to enter our realm and release us from the Centipede's

crual dominion.  Will you help?"

"I guess so.  But how?"

The forest rustles as dozens of small animals rally around you.

Rabbits, birds, deer, raccoons, muskrats, butterflies -- and more creatures

than you can name -- appear.  A bird flies over, releasing three white

feathers.

"Catch those," the squirrel instructs.

As you catch the feathers, they transform into three glowing wands.

"Now you can go to battle for us," says the squirrel.  "With those

magic wands, you can shoot sparks at the Centipede.  When any section of the

Centipede is hit, it turns into a powerless mushroom.  You can also stun the

spider, flea, and scorpion with sparks, and they will disappear for a short

time.  But, if one of them bites you before you spark it, you lose

consciousness and your magic wand is snatched away."

Suddenly, you hear a leaf-shaking shriek and the animals scurry about

in a frenzy of terror.

"Look out!" cries the squirrel.  "Here comes the Centipede!"

GAME OBJECTIVE

Use your magic wands to score as many points as possible by eliminating the

poisonous pests.  Use strategy and quick thinking to stay alive.

GAME PLAY

You start the game with three magic wands.  Every time you score 10,000

points, you win a bonus wand.  When you lose your last magic wand, the game

ends.

If the Centipede, spider, or flea bites you, your wand is snatched

away and you become temporarily paralyzed.  The game stops momentarily and all

the mushrooms are counted for bonus points.  Your points are added to your

running score, and the rejuvenated Centipede attacks again from the top.  You

must replay the previous wave until the Centipede is totally destroyed.

THE POISONOUS PESTS

CENTIPEDE

Consisting of 10 segments, the Centipede attacks from the top of the screen

and winds down toward you.  Each time you hit a segment, it becomes a

powerless mushroom.  The body segment behind that mushroom becomes the head of

a new Centipede.

The Centipede attacks in five progressively harder waves.  You play

each wave twice.  In wave 1, the Centipede is composed of a head attached to

nine body parts.  In wave 2, it has a head attached to seven body parts plus a

detached head with one body part.  The wave 3 Centipede is composed of five

body segments with one head attached and two detached heads -- each with a

body.  The Centipede continues to transform a body segment into a head until

wave 5, at which time it has five independently moving heads, each with a body

part.

MUSHROOMS

Dotting the floor are mushrooms.  The Centipede slides along horizontally in

one direction.  When it touches a mushroom or the edge of the screen, it drops

down to the next row of mushrooms and reverses direction.  It takes three hits

to eliminate a mushroom.

SPIDER

The spider jumps all over the battlefield, destroying some of the mushrooms it

touches.  The closer the spider comes, the more points you score when you zap

it.

FLEA

The flea starts bugging you after you shoot away most of the mushrooms near

you.  It drops straight down, creating mushrooms as it falls.  You must hit

the flea twice to make it disappear.  Warning:  After the first shot, the flea

drops twice as fast!

SCORPION

The scorpion scurries across the battlefield, poisoning every mushroom it

touches.  It moves faster and appears more frequently as the game progresses.

POISONED MUSHROOMS

Poisoned mushrooms are created by the scorpion.  There are the same color as

the attacking Centipede.  When the Centipede bumps into a poisoned mushroom,

it goes crazy and plunges straight through the fielse of mushrooms toward

you.  As with normal mushrooms, you must hit a poisoned mushroom three times

to destroy it.  Each time you lose a wand, all poisoned mushrooms transform

back into regular mushrooms.

CONSOLE AND CONTROLLERS

RESET

Press the reset button on your console to start the game.  Each time RESET is

pressed, the game starts over.

2-PLAYER GAME

Press the number 2 key on either handheld controller to select and start a

2-player game.

1-PLAYER GAME

To start a 1-player game, press anything on your hand controller except the

number 2 key.

PAUSE

There are two ways to pause play.  Simultaneously pressing the number 1 and

number 9 kwys will cause the screen to go black and pause the game.  Or, you

can freeze the action by simultaneously pressing the number 1 key and the

Clear key.  After about 30 seconds the screen will go black.  In either case,

press anything on the hand controller to resume play.

FIRE BUTTON

Press the upper action keys to fire regular shots from your magic wand.  Hold

in the upper action key for unlimited, repeated firing.

AUTO FIRE

While playing a game, you can press any keypad key on your hand controller to

start an automatic firing mode.  To stop auto fire, press the upper action key

until it fires a shot.

CONTROLLER ACTION

Press the disc on your hand controller to move the magic wand in the direction

you want it to go.

EXTRA SPEED

To speed up the movement of your wand, hold in lower action key on your hand

controller.

SCORING

You can score a total of 999,999 points before the score rolls back to zero.

Point values are listed below.

Centipede body segment 10 points

Centipede head 100 points

Spider (distant range) 300 points

Spider (medium range) 600 points

Spider (close range -- look out!) 900 points

Flea 200 points

Scorpion 1000 points

Mushroom (totally eliminated) 1 point

Mushroom (shot 1 to 2 times) 5 points

Poison Mushroom (totally eliminated) 1 point

Poison Mushroom (shot 1 to 2 times) 5 points

Poison Mushroom (not shot at all) 5 points

Bonus Wand every 10,000 points

HELPFUL HINTS

1.  Shoot away mushrooms in a straight line up the screen to create a

"corridor."  When the centipede reaches this "gap," it will fall straight down

the battlefield and can be easily picked off.

2.  Since the flea doesn't appear until you have eliminated most of

the mushrooms near you, you can set up a shield to prevent this lightning-fast

pest from striking.  Simply refrain from shooting away mushrooms near your

magic wand.

3.  Shoot Centipede heads to create new heads out of the body segment

left behind.  Since heads are worth 10 times the point value of body segments,

you'll score lots of points.

4.  Each creature makes a distinctive sound.  By becoming familiar

with these sounds, you will know without looking, what is attacking and where

it is on the screen.

ATARISOFT

LIMITED 90-DAY WARRANTY ATARISOFT CARTRIDGES OR DISKETTES

Valid in U.S. Only

ATARI, INC. ("Atari") warrants to the original consumer purchaser that the

Atarisoft Cartridge or Diskette ("Computer Media"), not including computer

programs, shall be free from any defects in material or workmanship for a

period of 90 days from the date of purchase.

Any Atarisoft Computer Media which is found to be defective during the

warranty period will be replaced by Atari Computer Media returned for

in-warranty replacement must have the product label still intact, must be

accompanied by proof of date of purchase satisfactory to Atari, and must be

delivered or shipped no later than one (1) week after the end of the warranty

period, shipping charges prepaid, to:

ATARI, INC.

Customer Relations

1312 Crossman Road

Sunnyvale, California 94086

Toll Free Numbers:

In California (800) 672-1404

Continental U.S. (800) 538-8543

This warranty shall not apply if the Computer Media has been damaged by

accident, commercial or other excessive use, unauthorized service, or by other

causes unrelated to defective materials or workmanship.

ANY APPLICABLE IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE HEREBY LIMITED TO 90 DAYS FROM THE DATE

OF PURCHASE.  CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM A BREACH OF

ANY APPLICABLE EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED.  The

provisions of the foregoing warranty are valid in the U.S. only.  This

warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights

which vary from state to state.  Some states do not allow limitations on how

long an implied warranty lasts, and/or do not allow the exclusion of

incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations and exclusions

may not apply to you.

IMPORTANT:  If you ship your Atarisoft Computer Media for in-warranty

replacement, we suggest that you package it securely and insure it for value,

as ATARI assumes no liability for losses or damage incurred during shipment.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY ON ATARISOFT COMPUTER PROGRAMS:

ALL ATARISOFT COMPUTER PROGRAMS CONTAINED WITHIN THE COMPUTER MEDIA ARE

DISTRIBUTED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.  ANY STATEMENTS

CONCERNING THE CAPABILITIES OR UTILITY OF THE COMPUTER PROGRAMS ARE NOT TO BE

CONSTRUED AS EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES.

ATARI DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY TO THE ORIGINAL

PURCHASER AND ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL

DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE PURCHASE, USE, OR OPERATION OF ATARISOFT COMPUTER

PROGRAMS.

Some states do not allow the limitation or exclusion of implied warranties or

of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions

concerning Atarisoft Computer Programs may not apply to you.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the manual accurately documents the

accompanying Atarisoft product.  However, because of ongoing improvements and

updating of computer software and hardware, Atari, Inc. cannot guarantee the

accuracy of printed material after the date of publication and shall not

accept responsibility for errors or omissions.

_______________________________________________________________________________

INTELLIVISION is a trademark of Mattel, Inc.  This software is manufactured by

ATARI, INC., for use on the Intellivision system and is not made, sponsored,

authorized, or approved by Mattel, Inc.

_______________________________________________________________________________

CO24198-54 REV. A   @1983 ATARI, INC.  All Rights Reserved   Printed in U.S.A.