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Off The Wall - Atari - Atari 2600    Manual Scan icon HTML Manual   

Off the Wall
                      ATARI (R) 2600 (R) Game Manual

                            Off The Wall (TM)
                                     by ATARI

Blazing Brickbats and Blackbirds!

Far away in the Mysterious East on the other side of the world, there lived
an adventurous lad named Kung Fu Lu. Lu's grand longing was to crush the
ancient, evil wall that plagued his friendly neighbors.

Guarding the wall was a mystical dragon and a cunning blackbird. The dragon
would cast balls at brave Lu. If Lu successfully deflected them with his
staff, he gained good fortune and special powers. If he missed a ball, it
cost him one of his five lives he was granted as a child. The frightful
blackbird tried to prevent Kung Fu Lu from destroying the wall, but Lu
remained undaunted and continued on until he smashed the last remaining
brick.

Getting Started

1.  Insert the Off The Wall cartridge into your Atari 2600 (or 7800) System
    as explained in your owner's manual.

2.  Plug a controller into the left controller port.

3.  Switch on your television, then press [Power] to switch on your system.
    The Off The Wall title screen appears.

4.  Press [Select] to select the skill level (Peasant, Student, or Master)
    and number of players (one or two) for the game.

5.  Change the difficulty switch to increase or decrease Kung Fu Lu's
    speed. He moves faster when the switch is set on A than when the switch
    is set on B.

6.  Press the fire button to begin.

7.  Press [Reset] to start a new game.

Off The Wall

The objective in Off The Wall is to score the highest number of points.
Play against another player or try to beat your best score. Score points by
using the ball to knock bricks out of the wall, hitting the dragon beyond
the bricks, or catching the Mystery Token for bonus points. When the player
clears four brick waves, he automatically advanced to the next skill level.

Game Description

Using the controller, the player must position Lu in the path of the
falling ball. Lu uses his staff to deflect the ball back to the brick wall
to break out bricks. If Lu misses a ball, he loses a life.

In each game the player starts with five lives. The number of lives
remaining displays in the upper left hand corner of the screen, with one
square for each remaining life. If you break out all the bricks, or hit the
dragon six times, the wave finishes and you receive another life. Each time
you hit the dragon, the background behind the bricks becomes lighter.

Two-Player Game

In a two-player game, each player takes a turn. The first player begins
breaking out bricks until he misses a ball and loses a life. The second
player continues with the same brick field, knocking out bricks until he
misses. The game continues, moving into higher skill levels until each
player runs out of lives.

Blackbird

After the first wave on the Peasant level, a Blackbird appears. The bird
tries to fly between the bricks and the ball. If the ball hits the bird,
the bird deflects the ball back to Lu.

Special Power Tokens

After you hit the ball the first time, different tokens begin dropping at
random. If Lu catches a token, he receives special powers. Each token has
its own special power. Lu keeps these special powers until he misses a
ball or the token timer (a bar graph in the upper right corner) runs out.

Zig Zag (Z)

This token makes the ball travel in a zig zag pattern after being hit by
Lu. On the way down, the ball travels in a normal, straight path.

Mystery Token (?)

This token can have any one of four effects. Three help Lu while one is a
disadvantage. The token may grant Lu an additional life, add 50, 75, or 100
bonus points depending on the current skill level, or stop the Blackbird.
Or, this token may hinder Lu by speeding up the ball, making the ball
harder to hit.

Magnetic Paddle (M)

With this token, Lu's staff becomes a magnet which draws the ball. For
example, if the ball is to Lu's left the ball moves toward him. After
hitting the ball, moving Lu to the left moves the ball in the same
direction. Because this powerful token makes the player almost invincible,
the token timer runs at twice the normal speed.

Nuke Ball (bomb)

This token causes the ball to break out a much larger chunk of bricks when
the ball hits the wall.

Mega Paddle (flame)

With this token Lu carries a much larger staff. The larger staff makes it
easier to hit the ball.

Level of Difficulty

There are three different skill levels which you can select at the
beginning of a game -- Peasant, Student, and Master. Each of these levels
has four different waves of playing action. Each skill level and each wave
is a little harder than the one before. If a player starts on Peasant level
and finishes all four waves, the game automatically advances to the next
skill level.

Playing Tips

If you hit the ball at an angle into the brick field, it bounces off the
inside bricks and knocks out far more bricks than a direct hit.

Be careful not to move Lu too fast or you could overshoot the ball.

Use your tokens strategically.

Try to use the Blackbird to your advantage.

The M token is great for killing the dragon.

Scoring

Points are scored by knocking out bricks, hitting the dragon, and catching
the Mystery tokens.

Bricks                                  1 to 5 points each
Catching Mystery token, Peasant level       50 points
Catching Mystery token, Student level       75 points
Catching Mystery token, Master level       100 points
Hitting the dragon                         100 points

Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed material
after the date of publication and disclaims liability for changes, errors,
or omissions. Reproduction of this document or any portion of its contents
is not allowed without the specific written permission of Atari Corporation.

Atari, the Atari logo, 2600, 7800 and Off The Wall are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Atari Corporation.

Copyright (C) 1989, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. All rights
reserved.

Printed in Hong Kong            B.T.8.1989            C300016-168 Rev. A


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