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KLAX - Atari - Atari Lynx     HTML Manual   

Copyright c 1990, Tengen. All rights reserved.

TIC-TAC-TILES!

You've selected your level, and now the colored tiles start to tumble 
down the ramp. You zoom your paddle back and forth to catch the tiles 
and flip them into the bins to create rows of same colored tiles. 
The rows can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, and three or more 
tiles in a row creates a Klax.

Sounds easy right? It is, until the tiles speed up and tumble down 
the ramp so fast you can bare you keep up! Faster and faster your 
paddle becomes a blur as you struggle to keep up with the pace. Will 
you hear the wild cheers and applause as you ace the wave or will 
you cringe under the disappointed groans of the Klax audience when 
you lose? Either way you'll find yourself quickly addicted to the 
good klean fun of tic-tac-KLAX!


GETTING STARTED

Klax is a fast-paced game of concentration, skill, and chance. Follow 
the steps listed below to start the game.

1. With your Lynx system switched off, insert the game card as described 
in the LYNX OWNER'S MANUAL.

WARNING: Do not touch the game card connector pins. Do not expose 
the contacts to static or extreme heat. Do not bend crush or attempt 
to clean the game card.

2. Press ON. The Klax loading screen displays.

3. Press A or B twice to bypass the loading and title screens. The 
Select a Skill Level screen displays. Press up or down on the joypad 
to move the selection arrow. When the selection arrow points to the 
desired skill level, press A or B to select that skill level and 
display the Wave Select on Screen.

NOTE: The more difficult the skill level the faster the tiles amble 
down the ramp.

4. A wave is a game level. The higher the wave number, the more difficult 
the wave objective. To select a wave, press the joypad until the 
desired wave highlights. Press A or B to begin play.

To enhance play, the following optional game controls allow you to 
modify the display, and pause and restart the game:

To flip the screen 180 degrees and reverse the controls press OPTION 
2 and PAUSE at the same time. 
To pause the game press PAUSE. Repeat to resume play. 
To return to the title screen press OPTION 1 and PAUSE. 
To display the current high score during the game hold down OPTION I. 


PLAYING THE GAME

The object of the game is to accurately place colored tiles that 
tumble faster and faster down the ramp. To earn points and to progress 
from level to level, you must place the tiles in vertical, horizontal,
or diagonal patterns called Klaxs. Three or more same colored tiles 
in a row is a Klax.

The colored tiles advance down the ramp toward a paddle that you 
control with the joypad. You must move the paddle back and forth 
in the paddle slide to catch the tumbling tiles as they arrive at 
the bottom of the ramp. Move the paddle by pressing right or left 
on the joypad. The tiles fall onto the paddle. You can stack a maximum 
of five tiles on your paddle at a time.

To form Klaxs you must flip tiles into five bins below the paddle 
slide. To flip a tile from the paddle into a bin position the paddle 
over the desired bin and press A or B. The top tile on your paddle 
flips into the bin.

Each time you make a Klax the entire Klax highlights and disappears 
from the bins. That gives you more room to place more tiles You receive 
points for every Klax you complete. If you plan ahead and create 
more complex Klaxs you earn more points. You also receive points 
for empty spaces left in the bins and for any tiles left on the ramp 
when you complete a wave.

Use wild tiles (which count as any color) to complete especially 
complex Klaxs. Wild tiles display multiple colors in turn as they 
tumble down the ramp.

You can also make the tiles come down the ramp more quickly. Just 
press down on the joypad to increase the speed of the tiles. If you 
don't want a particular tile on your paddle anymore, but you are 
not ready to place it into a bin press up on the joypad to flip the 
top tile back up the ramp. But be careful! You don't want too many 
tiles on the ramp at one time. If your paddle is full or you don't 
get to a tile in time, the tile falls into the deadly drop zone after 
uttering an excruciating cry. You don't want that on your conscience 
do you? And if too many tiles fall into the drop zone abyss. it's 
the end of the game.

Each of the 100 Klax waves has an objective. The objective is displayed 
before you begin each level. On some waves you must achieve a certain 
number of horizontal, vertical, or diagonal Klaxs. Some waves require 
you to survive a number of tiles any way you can, placing the tiles 
quickly to make Klaxs and freeing up space in the bins for the tumbling 
tiles. Still other waves require you to earn a certain number of points.

Tiles move faster and faster and you become more and more frantic 
to place them before they fall into the drop zone. The game ends 
if you fill up all 25 spaces in the bins before you have completed 
the level objective.

If you fail to successfully complete a wave you will be given the 
choice of continuing or starting over. Starting over returns you 
to the credits screen. Continuing allows you to try the level again. 
Use the up and down joypad to move the arrow next to your selection 
and press A or B.


SCREEN

[Figure missing (page 4)]

SCORE - your current score.

WAVE NUMBER - the current wave.

DROP METER - shows the number of drops that wilt cause the game to 
end. When you drop a tile one Drop Meter space is filled in. The 
game ends when all empty spaces in the drop meter are filled. 
All drop meter spaces are cleared when you get to a warp wave 
or restart the game.

If you successfully complete a wave with some of the Drop Meter slots 
filled these slots remain filled when you begin the next wave.

PADDLE - moves from side to side in the paddle slide and flips tiles 
into the bins or back up the ramp.

TILE RAMP - the ramp down which the tiles tumble.

LOADING BINS - receive the tiles flipped from the paddle.

WAVE OBJECTIVE STATUS - the number of Klaxs, tiles, or points needed 
to complete the wave.


WAVES

A wave is a level to be completed. Every wave has its own wave objective 
that you must complete to progress to the next wave. Some waves are 
warp waves. When you reach a warp wave the Wave Selection screen 
displays. From the Wave Selection screen you can choose to either 
continue with the next wave or warp ahead to a higher wave.


Wave Selection Screen

Before you begin a warp wave the Wave Selection screen appears and 
allows you to choose between four wave levels. Three of the choices 
are higher wave levels than the level just completed. The fourth 
wave level choice will be the highest wave level completed during 
the current play session.

Here is an example of a Wave Selection screen:

[Figure missing (page 6)]

WAVE NUMBER is the number of the wave to which you can warp.

DROPS PER GAME is the number of tiles that can fall into the drop 
zone. If that number of tiles falls into the drop zone the game 
ends. The number of tiles you can drop is represented on the Drop 
Meter (See DROP METER.)

BONUS POINTS lists the number of bonus points you will receive when 
you successfully complete that warp wave. The higher the wave 
the higher the number of bonus points you will receive.


Wave Objectives

There are five types of wave objectives, each more difficult to achieve 
as you progress to higher wave levels. On some waves the tiles tumble 
down the ramp more quickly. On others there are more tile colors 
(up to a maximum of ten different colors). And on higher wave levels 
you must create a greater number of Klaxs to achieve your objective. 
For example a Klax Wave requires you to create a number of Klaxs 
to complete the wave. You need to create 3 Klaxs to win the level 
1 Klax Wave, but the level 6 Klax Wave requires 10 Klaxs to win. 
Another way waves become more difficult is an increase in the number 
of tiles on the ramp at one time.

You receive points for every Klax you create no matter what the wave 
objective is. But only those Klaxs that match the wave objective 
will count toward completing the wave.

The following is a list of all wave types:

KLAX WAVE requires a number of Klaxs to complete the level. All Klax 
types count toward completing the wave objective. Four and five 
tile Klaxs always count as more than one Klax. See SCORING.

DIAGONAL WAVE requires a number of diagonal Klaxs to complete the 
wave objective. The more complex the diagonal, the greater the 
number of points received.

HORIZONTAL WAVE requires a number of horizontal Klaxs to complete 
the wave objective.

POINTS WAVE requires a number of points to be earned to complete 
the wave objective. You can create any type of Klaxs to earn points 
but only the more complex Klaxs will earn points fast enough for 
you to successfully complete the wave.

TILE WAVE requires you to survive a number of tiles. Every tile that 
either lands on your paddle or falls off of the end of a ramp 
counts as one tile. But if you want to meet your wave objective 
you must create Klaxs to free up bin space to place more tiles. 
You can place the tiles in any type of Klax, but you will probably 
want to keep it simple when the tiles start tumbling down the 
ramp more quickly.


STRATEGY

Try for complex Klaxs on lower level waves to increase your score. 
Go for chain reactions and simultaneous Klaxs.

Don't throw too many tiles back up onto the ramp. You can get into 
trouble very quickly!

Try for more complex Klaxs on Points Waves. Get the big points quickly 
-- you probably will not be able to complete the level with simple,
vertical Klaxs.

Sometimes simple Klaxs work best. Don't get cocky on a high level 
Tile Wave, or you will end up with five full bins and a bunch of 
tiles with nowhere to go.

Use wild tiles to complete multiple Klaxs.


SCORING

During game play you receive points for the Klaxs you create. When 
you complete a wave any of the following bonus points earned will 
be added to your score: points for the empty spaces left in the loading 
bins, all tiles left on the ramp when you complete a wave, and any 
warp bonus points that apply to the wave.

Sometimes placing a tile will result in a multiple Klax. For example 
you could complete both a vertical and a diagonal Klax with the placement 
of a single key tile. If this occurs you receive multiple Klax bonus 
points in addition to the points for each Klax. Multiple Klaxs are 
also worth more than one Klax towards the completion of certain waves.


Klax Points

Klax Type       Points        Klax Credit

Vertical
3 tiles            50 pts     1 Klax
4 tiles        10,000 pts     2 Klaxs
5 tiles        15,000 pts     3 Klaxs

Horizontal
3 tiles         1,000 pts     1 Klax
4 tiles         5,000 pts     2 Klaxs
5 tiles        10,000 pts     3 Klaxs

Diagonal
3 tiles         5,000 pts     1 Klax
4 tiles        10,000 pts     2 Klaxs
5 tiles        20,000 pts     3 Klaxs

To create a four tile vertical Klax place two tiles of the same color 
in one bin. Then place a tile of a second color in that same bin 
and finally two more of the first color. Now make the middle tile 
disappear by involving it in a horizontal or diagonal klax.

You can also create a four tile vertical Klax by stacking tiles very 
quickly while another Klax is being scored.

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