Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge

The object of this game is to challenge and try to beat Brian Jacks in a series of eight physically demanding events. These events have been chosen by Brian to test not only the competitor's strength and stamina, but also their skill and co-ordination.

The instructions have been kept to a minimum. Most of the strategy involved is for you to discover.

Important: Unless stated otherwise, the power in each event is increased by moving the joystick from side to side, or by tapping the Z and X keys.

1. Swimming
   Every so often you have to breathe. To achieve this, simply press the Fire button or the Return key at the right moment. Failure to breathe correctly, when your head is underwater for example, will have an unfortunate effect on your swimming ability.
2. Canoeing
   Correct lane drift by holding stroke longer on one side.
3. Archery
   The elevation of your shot is changed by pushing the joystick up or down or pressing the * key for up and the ? for down.
4. Cycling
   To change up a gear, move the joystick up or press the * key. To change down a gear, move the joystick down or press ?.
5. 100 Metres
6. Squat Thrusts
   Moving the joystick left or tapping the Z key will move you in one direction only and similarly, moving the joystick right or tapping the X key will move you in the opposite direction.

   You have to do as many squat thrusts as you can in 60 seconds. A squat thrust will not be counted if either your knees do not come up to your elbows or your feet do not cross the line.

7. Arm Dips
   You have to do as many arm-dips as you can in 60 seconds. An arm dip will not be counted if either your shoulder does not reach the judge's fist, or your arms do not fully straighten again.
   
   To complete one arm dip, press the Fire button or the Return key to start moving down. Move the joystick from side to side or tap the Z and X keys to arrest this fall and then to push yourself back to the start position.
8. Football
   The object of this event is to dribble a ball around cones and then to try and score a goal. You have three goes at this, but you only have two minutes in which to do it.
   
   Movement around the field is by joystick or by using the ZX*? keys. By pressing two keys at once, the number of directions of movement can be increased to either.
   
   When in front of the goal aim the cursor by using the joystick or the same keys as above. You will have to be quick. Speed of movement around the pitch is increased by pressing the Fire button or the Return key.

Caesar The Cat

Get Caesar to clear the larder of mice by catching them and taking them out through the door.

While Caesar prowls the larder, the mice are busy devouring food but they can be caught if Caesar if he pounces on them. They don't stand still for long. When you catch a mouse a door appears leading out of the larder. Once through it, and out of eyesight, Caesar drops the mouse and is ready to return. The more mice Caesar catches, the faster the remaining mice move. As the mice continue to eat, items of food disappear from the shelves.

Game Controls

Use a joystick, or control Caesar from the keyboard controls are:

Z - Left, X - Right, * - Up, ? - Down
P - Toggle Pause, Q/S - Sound Off/On

Start the game by pressing the Fire button or the Space Bar.

Scoring

You start with 10,000 points which run down to zero as time passes. You earn extra points by catching mice, of which there are three kinds - black mice worth 300 points, blue mice worth 500 points and white mice worth 700 points. There are ten mice of each colour.

You lose points by knocking down any of the items of crockery on the shelves. The penalties are heavy - you lose 6,000 points for the teapot and 4,000 for the bottles.

However, knock the red crockery off and the game ends! The game also ends if your score runs down to zero.

To add insult to injury you lose 400 points every time Caesar bangs his head on a wall.

You also lose points for each item of food the mice eat and if Caear stops moving, your score will disappear at a faster rate!

Wallaby

The objective of the game is to guide the boxing wallaby up to the top of the screen to rescue the baby wallaby from its cage. The wallaby is killed by contact with the monkeys or the apple-cores which they throw. The wallaby may use his punch to kill the monkeys or stop the apples (if they are at the correct height), or he may jump over them. There are five screens of increasing difficulty, and an extra wallaby is awarded for each 10,000 points. Bonus points are awarded for time and for collecting the fruits. When the wallaby punches the bell, fruit of a higher score value appear.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, * - Up, ? - Down, RETURN - Jump, SHIFT - Punch

Felix And The Evil Weevils

Killer Evil weevils have overrun the factory. The only way for Felix to kill them is to spray them in the face with pesticide. You need one aerosol can of "Ubik" to kill each weevil, and you must be quick because if a weevil reaches a pulsating Mutation Chamber, it becomes a Purple Superweevil! Beware also of the ball-bearings which come rolling along the conveyors. There are harmless to the soft-bodied Weevils, but deadly to you.

To help you along, you find the following items useful.

1. The belt level, which enables you to reverse the belts at will.
2. Oxygen clingers, to replenish your ever-decreasing supply.
3. The emergency panic button (only one per life), which makes you immune to weevils and ball-bearings for a while. You may jump down small distances, but you can never jump up.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, : - Up, / - Down, SHIFT LOCK - Emergency Panic, RETURN - Spray, SHIFT - Reverse Belts

Q/S - Sound Off/On, COPY/DELETE - Pause/Resume, ESCAPE - Abort

Scoring

An extra life is awarded every 10,000 points scored.

Mineshaft

Your aim is to collect all the lumps of coal in the twenty rooms of the Mineshaft. Beware: you only have a limited air supply! The game should be compatible with all joysticks.

To collect the lumps of coal you will have to move and jump around the screen. Sometimes you must jump whilst also moving sideways. Watch out for the disintegrating sludge which disappears as you walk over it. Watch out for the obstacles that may kill you! After completing each screen you may move to the next through the door, or if you get stuck you can press ESCAPE to make your exit.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - right, SHIFT - Jump

Q/S - Sound Off/On, ESC - Move To Next Screen

Scoring

Danger UXB

The object of the game is to defuse the TNT time bombs before their clocks get down to zero. To do this you must run and slide over the blue blocks, avoiding the skulls (and possibly the Stamping Boots) and running over the flags for bonuses, eventually entering the square with the TNT.

There are three levels to the game and each level is made up of phases which get faster and faster. After each phase, you will be given a chance to gain bonus points by dropping on a bonus flag.

A good score is 100,000+.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, : - Up, ? - Down, S - Slide Left, D - Slide Right, SPACE BAR - Drop (Bonus Game)

Moonraider

Your mission is to raid an Alien base on the moon. Firstly, however, there are six stages of defences to overcome. You command a highly manoeuverable assault ship, equipped with a rapid - fire laser cannon and bombs. Watch your fuel level! This can be replenished by blowing up the enemy fuel dumps and by docking with the Fuel Transports. Stay docked for as long as you can. Points are scored for destroying the radar - scanners, rockets, ack-ack batteries and bouncing space-mines. You have three spacecraft at the start and a bonus ship is awarded for every 10,000 points.

Options

Joystick or Keyboard (User-defined)
Stage Skip Level (1-6). Jump to any stage of a mission.

Mission

Select A: Slow-moving landscape without ack-ack fire.
Select B: Slow-moving landscape with ack-ack fire.
Select C: Fast-moving landscape without ack-ack fire.
Select D: Fast-moving landscape with ack-ack fire.

Manic Miner

Miner Willy, while prospecting down Surbition way, stumbles upon an ancient long forgotten mine-shaft. On further exploration, he finds evidence of a lost civilisation far superior to our own, which used automations to dig deep into the earth's core to supply the essential raw materials for their advanced industry. After centuries of peace and prosperity, the prosperity, the civilisation was torn apart by war, and lapsed into a long dark age, abandoning by war, and lapsed into a large dark age, abandoning their industry and machines. Nobody, however, thought to tell the mine robots to stop working, and through countless aeons they had steadily accumulated a huge stockpile of avluable metals and minerals, and Miner Willy realises that he now has the opportunity to make his fortune by finding the underground store.

In order to move to the next chamber, you must collect all the flashing keys in the room while avoiding nasties like poisonous pansies, spiders and slime and worst of all, manic mining robots. When you have all the keys, you can enter the portal which will now be flashing. The game ends when you have been 'got' or fallen heavily three times.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, RETURN - Jump
S - Music On, DELETE/COPY - Pause On/Off

Press RETURN to start the game from the demonstration mode.

Snooker

After loading, Visions' Snooker checks to see if you have an Acorn joystick attached, if not it selects the keyboard as the input medium. The joystick duplicates all the functions of the cursor keys. Except where you need to select an option.

The cursor keys allow you to move the Cue and the Cue Ball the SPACE BAR acts as the Fire button if you are not using a joystick.

Start Game

After loading, the message '1 or 2 players?' will appear.

1/2 - One/Two player option

Select the option you require, and the message '15 Ball Game?' will appear. This permits you to play a full or a 10-ball game. After choosing your mode of play, the message 'PLACE WHITE BALL' will appear: Using the key shown, position the + within the D on the table plan. Ensure that the + is not touching one of the other balls. When you are satisfied about the position of the cue ball press Fire, and the cue ball will appear.

First Break

The message 'POSITION CROSS' will appear on screen. To make the break move the + which represents the cue aiming point i.e. the line the ball will take to your target point on the pack of reds. When you have chosen this position, press the Space Bar. Holding this button down will increase the strength of your shot. The shot will be taken when you release the button.

Potting And Spin

To aim for a ball, use the same procedure for controlling the cursor as described above. To put spin on the ball, just move the cursor in the direction that you wish the ball spin to take, whilst first pressing the Space Bar.

Then release the Space Bar and continue to press the direction key. When you release the key the shot will be taken.

If you do not pot a ball and are playing a two-player game, the next shot is offered to your opponent, otherwise you may continue.

If you pot a red, you must then select a colour.

Selecting A Colour

After potting a red the message 'SELECT COLOUR' will appear. A white square will appear on screen on one of the colours, and you must move this to the colour you are going for. This is done by using the colour you are going for. This is done by using the keyboard left to right. When you have selected the colour you want, press Space Bar and the game will be resumed. When all the reds are potted, the computer is programmed to automatically select the colours in proper order.

Options

When the message 'POSITION CROSS' appears there are three options available:

1. Delete Ball Function. Function Key 1.
   The Space Bar deletes the ball that is flashing and moves on to the next one. To skip a ball press any direction key. To skip through them all continue pressing any direction key until the cross re-appears.
2. Abort Game Function Y/N. Function Key 2.
   Y starts a new game.
   N returns you to the current game.
3. Foul Snooker Option. Function Key 3.
   This option is only available on a two-player game. After a 'FOUL SNOOKER' message appears, press Function Key 2 to get the instruction 'FOUL PASS Y/N'.
   
   If you answer 'yes' the turn is passed on to your opponent, and it is 'no' you choose the colour to pot.

Battletank

You are a tank gunner looking out onto a mountain plateau. You see the distant mountains and the pyramid obstacles - and also the enemy tank. Your task is to shoot it before it shoots you.

However, your mission does not finish there; for there will be other tanks. A scanner is displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. This displays the position of the enemy tank relative to you. You can then turn to get the tank in view. The next stage is to position the tank in the rectangular viewfinder by fine adjustments of your controls.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, * - Forwards, ? - Backwards, SPACE - Fire

Loading

Tape: CHAIN"" (all programs apart from Mineshaft, which requires *RUN)
Disc: SHIFT-BREAK