Hat Trick



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Hit the Ice!

What a night for a hockey game! After weeks of intensive training on the
ice, you're finally at the face-off, waiting for the starting whistle. As
the puck slides across the smooth, icy surface, you take it at center ice,
managing to break over the blue line to your opponent's right. Whoooossh.
What reflexes! What speed!

The spray of the ice on your face momentarily blinds you, but you continue
to skate furiously, weaving towards the opposing goal. You can feel your
challenger's hot breath on the back of your neck, as the distance between
you grows smaller and smaller. But before he can manage to steal the puck,
you swing your stick and whack -- it's a slapshot! The point is yours!

Get three goals in a game, and it's a hat trick!

Getting Started

1.  With your TV turned on, insert the Hat Trick cartridge into your Atari
    7800 as explained in your Owner's Manual, and turn on your console.
    After a few seconds, the Hat Trick title screen appears with the game
    options displayed.

2.  Plug a joystick into the left joystick port for one player and another
    into the right joystick port for two players. The left joystick
    controls the blue player and goalie, and the right joystick controls
    the red player and goalie.

3.  To select a one- or two-player game, press [Select] or move the
    joystick handle. For a one-player game, continue to press [Select] or
    move the joystick handle to select the novice or expert game level. In
    the novice game level, your computer-opponent's reflexes are slower.

4.  Press either joystick fire button or [Reset] to start the game. If you
    wait a few moments before starting the game, a brief game demonstration
    will appear on the screen.

5.  Press [Reset] in the middle of a game to restart the game. Press
    [Select] in the middle of a game to return to the title screen and
    select new game options.

Playing the Game

The game takes place on an ice hockey rink. As in a real hockey game, you
want to score more goals than your opponent does. To do so, you'll grab the
puck (or steal it away from your opponent), skate until you see an opening,
and then, using your stick, hit the puck past the goalie, into your
opponent's goal. On the defense, your goalie must block your opponent's
attempts to hit the puck into your goal.

You control both your player and goalie with the joystick handle. Move the
joystick handle up, down, right, or left to move your player. As your
player skates up and down, your goalie moves in the same direction but more
quickly.

Each game lasts two minutes. At the start of the game, you and your
opponent face off inside a large, yellow circle in the middle of the rink.
At the sound of the serve whistle, the puck slides onto the ice from either
the top or bottom of the rink.

To steal the puck, maneuver your player until his stick touches the puck.
To hit the puck into a goal, press either joystick fire button. The puck is
hit in the direction the joystick handle is facing.

After either player scores a point, a goal whistle sounds and all action
freezes. Then the serve whistle will sound, and you'll face off once again
with a new puck.

Playing Tips

Don't forget your goalie! If your opponent nears your goal, move the
joystick handle up or down so your goalie can block the puck.

If you bump into your opponent, you'll bounce off each other. However, if
your sticks get locked together, you can break the lock by moving past each
other.

Whenever you let go of the joystick, you'll automatically face the opposing
goal. That way you won't accidentally push the puck into your goal and give
your opponent a free point!

Scoring

The scoreboard is at the top of the screen. The clock counts down from the
serve whistle. You'll win points each time you successfully hit the puck
through the opposing goal. The scoreboard also displays the number of
"saves" (when a goalie blocks the puck), but saves don't earn you points.
Whoever has the highest number of points at the end of two minutes wins the
game. If the game is tied at the end of two minutes, the game goes into
overtime, giving you another 20 seconds of game play. If the tie is broken
during overtime, the game ends with one side declared the winner.

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 consent of Atari Corporation.

Atari (R), the Atari logo, and 7800 (TM) are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Atari Corporation. Hat Trick is a trademark of Bally Sente,
Inc. (C) 1984, Bally Sente, Inc.

(C) 1987, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.
All rights reserved.

Printed in Hong Kong           C300018-029                    B.T.5.1988



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