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Crystal Mines II - Atari - Atari Lynx     HTML Manual   

Copyright c 1991, Atari Corporation. All rights reserved.
Copyright c 1990-1991, Ken Beckett. All rights reserved.

CRYSTAL MINES II

The Crystal Mines once brought riches and prominence to the surrounding 
towns. Then the miners went too deep--into the lair of dangerous 
demons who live deep within the earth. These deadly monsters made 
mining impossible. Worse yet, they began to leave the mines and terrorize 
the community. The mines were closed and the community deteriorated.

That was years ago. Now, a local scientist has developed a robot 
capable of destroying the demons once and for all. Shortly before 
his mysterious disappearance, he showed you how his creation works. 
Now it is up to you to use his Lynx Robot Controller to lead the 
robot through the mines, destroying the demons and recovering the 
precious crystals. For your reward, you can keep everything the robot 
picks up. Also, you will have saved the community.


Getting Started

1. Insert your Crystal Mines II game cartridge in your Lynx. 
2. Turn on the Lynx. 
3. The Crystal Mines II title screen appears. 
4. Press A or B. A second title screen appears. 
5. Press A or B again. The Enter Level Code screen appears (Screen 1).
(Screen numbers in these instructions refer to the Gallery of Game
Screens at the end of this manual.) 
6. To start the game at the hrst level, press A. To skip to a higher 
level, enter the code provided during a pause in game play, and then 
press A. The game begins. 


Playing the Game

The object of Crystal Mines II is to move through each level, picking 
up crystals as you go. To successfully complete a level, the robot 
must pick up crystals with a value at or above the number shown at 
the bottom right of the screen. And he must do it within the time 
limit shown at the upper right (Screen 2).

To successfully complete this goal, you must dig through dirt and 
destroy rocks that block your way. But this robot does not settle 
for a wimpy little shovel. He blasts everything with powerful energy 
bursts. If the dirt is hard, the robot must keep blasting until it is
blown away. Hard dirt is very dark, while soft dirt is light (Screen 3).

Of course, these energy bursts also come in handy when demons lurk 
about! To fire an energy burst, press A (Screen 4).

Scattered throughout some of the mines are packets of TNT. The robot 
can use TNT to blast certain rocks and demons that are too hard for 
energy bursts. Press B to drop TNT, then get away fast (Screen 5)!

The robot can push boulders, crystals, and certain rocks. This is 
handy for blocking a demon's path. This also comes in handy for destroying 
certain demons. Push a boulder so it will drop on a demon's head 
and the demon will be cn~shed before it knows what hit him (Screen 6).

Be extra careful around boulders. They can do serious damage to the 
robot, too. Also, boulders are not always what they seem. Sometimes 
dormant demons look just like boulders. Push or fire energy at a 
dormant demon and the demon will wake up very angry!

Pay attention to gravity. Crystals, boulders, and heavy rocks will 
fall if left unsupported. Some mines contain gravity switches which 
actually change the direction of gravity. Be careful around these 
switches. (A gravity indicator is in the lower-left corner of the screen.)

Yes, the Crystal Mines are dangerous. But they can also be very rewarding. 
They are packed with precious crystals. These crystals were the life 
blood of the surrounding communities before the demons moved in. 
Now the robot must collect the crystals.

Different types of crystals have different values. The least valuable 
are the yellow crystals. The most valuable are the beaudful white 
crystals. Pay attention to the value of each crystal you pick up. 
You will quickly learn which crystals to collect first.

When you meet your crystal quota in a mine, you will hear a musical 
cue. When you hear this cue, look for an exit circle. When you find 
the exit circle, step into it. You will immediately leave the mine 
and collect your reward (Screen 7).

There are special tools hidden in the mines that you may need to 
complete the current level. Also hidden are bags of precious metals. 
Pick up as much copper, silver and gold as possible. Metals are worth 
thousands of points at the end of each level (Screen 8).

There are 150 different mine levels, plus 31 bonus levels. You will 
discover many objects and encounter mind-boggling puzzles and tenifying 
demons as you go deeper into the mines.

The old miners tell stories of other dangers, too. For example, they 
laid pipes which the demons have learned to use for their own heinous 
purposes. Items can be pushed into any pipe that is at a right angle 
to the gravitational force. The objects will slide through the pipe. 
Some pipes will actually change boulders into crystals (or vice versa) 
(Screens 9 & 10).

You will have to learn about other hazards as you gain experience. 
For now, it's time to unseal the mines and let the robot in. The 
rest is up to you. Remember, the future of the community depends on you!

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