Tower Toppler -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Tower Toppler" High-Rise Hysteria! In a toxic sea on the distant planet Nebulus, far from the sight of land, stand eight mysterious rotating towers. They're the power bases of a mad scientist who's trying to control the universe. That's why you're here -- you're going to stop him by blowing his towers back into the sea! After all, you're the top explosives expert at Destructo, Inc. At least that's what your boss said to sweet-talk you into this job. When he hinted at a pay raise and said you'd be cruising the poison sea in the experimental BA-1 minisub, you couldn't say no. Only there's a slight problem. You have to climb to the top of each tower to blow it down. And each one is guarded by different enemies: indestructible mutant molecules, weird flying eyes, vicious robots, and huge cannonballs that barrel out of nowhere! You're armed, sure, but your gun won't always stop your enemies. When you're not quick enough, they'll knock you off the tower for an unplanned swim in the poison sea! Even if you survive your bath, you've got to start all over again at the bottom of the tower. But you know you can do it! So put on your frog suit, grab your snowball gun, and wave goodbye. Your minisub awaits you! Getting Started 1. With your Atari 7800 set up, insert the Tower Toppler cartridge into the console and plug a controller into the left port. For two players, plug another controller into the right port. 2. Turn on your television and press [Power] to turn on your Atari console. The Tower Toppler title and selection screen appears. 3. Press [Select] or move player 1's directional control to highlight the game options you want. Move the control left or right to select sound on or off. Move the control up or down to select 1 or 2 players. 4. Before playing the game, make sure that both difficulty switches are in the right position. 5. Press the fire button or [Reset] to start the game. 6. Press [Pause] to pause a game. Press it again to resume play. 7. Press [Reset] at any time to start a new game with the same game options, or press [Select] to return to the selection screen. Playing the Game Your mission is to run, jump, and climb your way to the top of each tower. The clock starts ticking the moment you step out of your sub. It will take all of your coordination, judgement, and speed to reach the upper level of the tower and set off the automatic destruction sequence before your time runs out. Each tower is guarded by different enemies, and you've got to figure out how to get past them. Here's how to move: Action Controller Movement Walk left or right Move controller left or right. Enter a tunnel or take elevator up Move controller up. Take elevator down Move controller down. Jump Press fire button while walking. Shoot enemies Press fire button while standing still. Shoot fish Press fire button while in the minisub. You're armed with a snowball gun, and you can destroy flashing block barricades by shooting them. You have to do that in order to get past them. You can also destroy all the rolling cannonballs except the ones that slide back and forth instead of bouncing. You can stun these for a few seconds, but you can't get past them. All other creatures are indestructible. You have to time your movements to avoid them, or they'll knock you down the tower and maybe even into the water. Your footing on the tower is shaky at best. Some ledges are slippery; others crumble beneath you. If you're lucky, you'll just fall partway down when you slip. If you're not so lucky, you'll find yourself taking an unplanned bath. You start your mission with only three lives, and you use one up every time you go for a swim. You gain a bonus life every time you earn 5,000 points. When you reach the top, the automatic destruction sequence sets itself off while you make your getaway. Between towers, you can relax in the minisub, racking up bonus points by stunning and catching fish as you speed to the next tower. As soon as you get there, the clock starts again. The game ends when you topple the last tower or lose your last life. Towers Tower of Eyes: This is the easiest tower to topple, but watch out for the flying eyeballs that see every move you make. Realm of Robots: Mechanical enemies make your life miserable until you topple this tower. Trap of Tricks: Be careful going through doorways. Some of them lead nowhere. Slippery Slide: You'll wish you had grips on your shoes when you take on this tower. Broken Path: Get ready to do some real jumping. That's the only way you'll make it up the crumbling ledges of this tower. Swimmer's Delight: It's delightful only if you don't mind losing a few lives. Nasty One: If you get to this tower, your enemies will be hopping mad -- and meaner than ever! Edge of Doom: This is the hardest tower to topple and will take you right to the edge of fright! Scoring Your final score is based on the amount of time you take to topple a tower, the number of mistakes you make in your climb, and the number of times your knocked partway or all the way down. You also score points as follows: Destroy a bouncing cannonball 100 points Destroy a flashing block 50 points Catch a fish 50 bonus points Step up onto some elevators 50 points Go up some angled stairways (first time only) 40 points per stair The points you earn for an elevator ride depend upon the length of the ride. You gain an extra life at every 5,000 points. Use your controller to enter your initials in the high-score chart. Move the controller up or down to select a letter, and press the fire button to enter the selected letter in the chart. 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 of any portion of its contents is not allowed without the specific written consent of Atari Corporation. Atari (TM), the Atari logo, and 7800 (R) are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. Tower Toppler (R) is a trademark of U.S. Gold Ltd., U.K. Tower Toppler game program from U.S. Gold Ltd., copyright (C) 1987. Copyright (C) 1988, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. All rights reserved. Printed in Hong Kong C300018-056 Rev. A B.T.6.1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, ©1997-1998 by Greg Chance