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Winter Games - Epyx - Atari 2600    Manual Scan icon HTML Manual   

Winter Games
Winter Games

INTRODUCTION

WINTER GAMES is a series of seven exciting competitive events. Up to
eight players can enter this international contest, each choosing a
country for which to compete (no two players can choose the same
nation to represent).

The object is to see your country come out on top. You'll compete in
pure speed events like skating and in speed-and-control events like
slalom, biathlon, bobsled and luge. You'll test your skill against
competitors in distance and style events like ski jumping and hot dog
skiing. You'll win by scoring the fastest time or by earning the most
points. And the nation that wins the most events takes home the gold
medal!

GETTING STARTED

Set up your video game console and plug in the cartridge.

Turn the power switch on.

Be sure to set the left difficulty switch correctly as described
below (see Switches).

SWITCHES:
The left difficulty switch controls the number of joysticks. Position
A= two joysticks; B = one joystick. If you wish to play head-to-head
with your opponent and have two joysticks, select position A
otherwise flip the switch to B.

Control single-player games (against the computer) with the left
joystick.

SELECT sends you into practice mode, allowing you to cycle between
events. Practice in single joystick mode. You'll remain in an event
until you press SELECT once more.

SELECT also returns you to the country-select menu, from which you may
start competing.

RESET lets you restart a game from the middle, but transfers you into
practice mode.

Holding SELECT down and pressing RESET returns you to the
country-select menu.

The right DIFFICULTY and TV TYPE switches should be ignored.

STARTING PLAY

WINTER GAMES begins as the title screen appears. From the title
screen you will move to the country-select menu by pressing the FIRE
BUTTON or waiting for the music to end. The country-select menu is a
list of eight eligible countries: the U.S.A., USSR, U.K., Japan,
Canada, France, Norway, and Sweden.

Highlight the country of your choice by moving the cursor up and down
with the joystick. Press the FIRE BUTTON to select the highlighted
country. If you change your mind after you've made your selection,
rehighlight the country you selected and press the FIRE BUTTON again.
You will then be able to select a new country name from the list.
When you have selected your roster of competing countries, move the
cursor to "Done" and press the FIRE BUTTON. The first event's title
will appear on the screen.

Events are announced on a screen showing the name of the competing
countries and the event's name. Press the FIRE BUTTON to enter the
event; press the FIRE BUTTON again to start the event. If you fault
during play, the event will replay up to three times (you can only
fault in certain events). When a country finishes an event, the event
title screen returns with the name of the next nation to compete. When
all competitors have completed an event, the next event begins. The
order of competing nations stays the same throughout the series of
events.

THE GAMES

SLALOM
In SLALOM, the object is to make the best time down the course while
skiing through the gates (marked by a pair of flags). The FIRE BUTTON
sets your skier on his way. You control his motion by moving the
joystick left or right. Turning will help you to slow down. There's a
three-second penalty each time you miss one of the 36 gates on the
course and a warning sound lets you know you missed. Avoid hitting
any object or person on your way down the slope because they will
slow you down considerably! Penalty seconds are added to your time
when you complete the run.

BOBSLED
In the two-man bobsled event, the object is to finish in record time.
Press the FIRE BUTTON to start. Try to complete the winding course as
quickly as you can -- keeping the sled under control on the banked
turns. Push the joystick left or right to control the bobsled's
direction. Steer into the turns (try to stay off the walls or you'll
lose speed and control of the sled). And remember there aren't any
brakes on your sled! To speed up the sled, 'bob' the joystick up and
down in rhythm, keeping in mind that high speed makes banking on the
turns a real challenge. You can monitor sled speed by the speed
indicator at the bottom of the screen (the wider the bar, the faster
you are going). Each team is allowed three tries to finish this
event. Good Luck!

SKI JUMP
This challenging distance event demands your fullest concentration.
When you see your jumper at the gate, press the FIRE BUTTON and he'll
begin his run down the slope. When he passes the yellow flag near the
bottom of the take-off run, press the FIRE BUTTON to launch him. The
longer you wait to press the FIRE BUTTON the farther you will go, but
be careful not to press it too late!

A split-screen will show your jumper's position and the hill below.
You'll get the most distance by maintaining a stable diagonal
position throughout the "flight." During flight: move the
joystick forward to raise his ski tips, back to drop them. Push the
joystick left and right to maintain your jumper's body position.
Maintain control of both jumper and his skis to extend his flight --
and to land him safely. Each jumper has three attempts to
out-distance his opponents. Distance jumped will appear on the screen
when he's landed safely.

BIATHLON
This combination skiing-and-shooting event begins with cross-country
skiing down a hill. Press the FIRE BUTTON to start and move the
joystick left and right in rhythm. Keep pace with the red heart at
the bottom of the screen for fastest skiing. When you finish the
skiing course, a shooting range replaces the ski slope. There are
five targets in each set. Cock your rifle by moving the joystick
down, then up. Sight your target and press the FIRE BUTTON to shoot.
Remember you're participating in an event where time is important so
shoot quickly, but carefully (there is a 5-second penalty for each
target missed).

When you are finished on the rifle range, the skiing screen returns
and you must ski back up the course. At the top of the course you'll
shoot again at the rifle range. Ski downhill again and return for a
final try at the rifle range. Ski to the rifle range and shoot each
target (three sets of five targets for a total of 15 targets) as
quickly as possible. The competitor with the fewest number of misses
wins the event.

SPEED SKATING
In this event, the first skater to reach the finish line will earn
the best score. At the start you will have the READY/SET/GO sequence.
Move the joystick left and right in rhythm to gain speed. Your time
will be displayed in the center of the screen on the time indicators.

Notes:
SKATING has a computer opponent when played alone.
The left joystick controls the top player and the right joystick
controls the bottom player.

HOT DOG
In this ski acrobatics event, jumpers compete one at a time. The aim
is to pile up points by performing as many tricks as possible in the
time allotted. Press the FIRE BUTTON to start down the slope. Unlike
the SKI JUMP event, you don't need to press the FIRE BUTTON again to
jump. Choose your jumper's tricks by moving the joystick in one of the
four possible directions: forward for a "daffy"; right for a forward
flip; back for a "swan"; left for a backward flip. Press the FIRE
BUTTON to turn your jumper around but remember to press the FIRE
BUTTON again before landing. Each trick has its own point score,
based on the degree of difficulty,* and the points accumulate as each
trick is successfully performed. You also earn points, and a greater
cumulative score, for each flip or turn (backward or forward) you
perform while in flight.

*SCORING
TRICK      UNTURNED  BKWRD  UPSDE-DN  UPSDE-DN/BKWRD
HALF FLIP  0.6       0.9    ---       ---
DAFFY      1.0       1.5    2.0       3.5
SWAN       0.6       0.9    1.2       2.1

Your jumper must land facing forward, right side up -- or he crashes
and faults. After landing, you may press the FIRE BUTTON upon passing
the yellow flag -- and get 1.0 for a standing daffy (but you might
not want to take the risk!). Each jumper has three tries to earn the
best score.

LUGE
LUGE is similar to the BOBSLED event. The central difference in this
speed event is that you won't have a partner to help you steer your
sled down the chute. One man takes the luge down a special luge chute
designed for speed. Zip along the track, braking as you go by
pressing the FIRE BUTTON. (The "bobbing" option doesn't exist in
luge.) Use the same left-right motions on the joystick as in the
bobsled event to choose the direction of your turn. You will have
three tries to make it quickly, and safely down the chute.

SCORING

Awards Ceremony
After every event, the countries of the top three competitors are
listed in the order they placed. The country name of the Gold Medal
winner appears at the top of the screen.

Champion Ceremony
A Grand Champion of the games is selected based on the number of
points awarded.
Gold Medal = 5 points
Silver Medal = 3 points
Bronze Medal = 2 points
The points are totaled after all events have been completed, and the
player with the most points is honored as the Grand Champion. The
ceremony takes place after the Awards Ceremony for the final event.
-------------------Atari 2600 Instructions Archive-------------------

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