Munchy Madness

by Paul Lay

 

Issue 24

Nov/Dec 86

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Munchy Madness is a single player all machine code arcade style game for any 8-bit Atari with at least 32k RAM and will run from both disk and cassette.

Munchy Madness features a friendly little chap called a 'pucca', a little yellow creature who is very, very hungry! All the action takes place underground and on each level there are a number of juicy hearts, the recommended diet for any growing 'pucca'. Your object is to munch a certain number of hearts and then find the exit to progress to the next level.

Underground, however there are a number of complex mazes and walls restricting your movements and these dark labyrinths arc filled with hundreds of loose rocks which, if you are careless, will come crashing down on a poor unsuspecting pucca. If a huge rock should fall, you may be lucky to escape with your life but could find yourself trapped forever!

CONTROLS

A joystick in port 1 controls the movement of your pucca. The rocks can be pushed both left and right by moving into them and they can also be lifted (assuming they don't squash you when they fall!).

The space bar can be used to pause and resume the game and ESC will terminate one life, a drastic action which is often the only way out of hopeless situations.

To begin the game, press the START key or use keys 1 - 4 to select the appropriate level. Note that once all four levels have been completed, the game will start again at the first level but at a faster speed. There are six different speeds in all.

GAME PLAY

You begin the game with five lives and the line at the bottom of the screen displays the number of lives which you have left. The line above this displays the following information

For every heart munched, your score is increased by ten points. A life is lost if you are either squashed by a boulder or the time limit expires. A countdown timer will bleep when you are almost out of time. When you have munched the required number of hearts an exit will appear somewhere on that level and passing through will bring you to the next level.

HIGH SCORES

When the game is over, and if your score is high enough, you will be able to enter your name on the high score screen. Moving the joystick left and right will move the cursor in the appropriate direction and moving the joystick up and down moves forwards and backwards through the alphabet. When your name is complete press the trigger and your name will be entered. On subsequent high scores, the name entered appears as a default to save you entering your name each time.

The source code for Munchy Madness is available upon request from PAGE 6 to anyone who sends a blank disk and return postage.

Object File

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