Mayhem in Monsterland
(c)1993 Apex Computer Productions
---------------------------------
SCENARIO
Mayhem didn't enjoy living in Monsterland; it was always cold, it was
always
windy, and it rained every Sunday. It was clearly no place for a cute baby
dinosaur.
However, rumour has it that Monsterland has not always been such an unpleasant
place to live. The sun used to shine onto green fields with luscious vegetation
and scenic mountains... until an apprentice magic dinosaur had too much cactus
juice and decided to practice a few of his master's spells. the next
morning,
when all the monsters awoke, Monsterland had been transformed into a very dark
and unhappy place. Mayhem wants to change Monsterland back, but has no magic
powers to do this, so he enlists the help of his friend Theo Saurus, the
dinosaur responsible for Monsterland's ghastly state. Theo lives below
Monsterland in a hidden cave to avoid the wrath of the monsters - here he waits
for Mayhem to collect magic dust. With this in his possession, he flies across
Monsterland sprinkling the magic dust in order to transform it back to a happy
place.
However, because Theo is only a trainee, his magic doesn't always work as
well
as he'd like it to. Some of the magic dust that he spreads over
Monsterland is
a little excessive, and clumps together to form magic stars. This magic could
be dangerous in the wrong hands, so Mayhem must collect any magic stars he finds
to prevent any further disasters.
GAMEPLAY
Monsterland consists of five different levels; Jellyland, Pipeland, Spottyland,
Cherryland, and Rockland. When Mayhem starts a level, the land is dark, dismal,
and downright miserable - the aim of each level is to find all the bags of MAGIC
DUST and give them to Theo to make the level 'happy' again. Each
level has a
different quota of magic dust bags to collect, and only certain monsters leave
them behind. When all the dust has been collected (see STATUS), the entrance to
Theo's cave will start to animate - Mayhem must find this entrance and drop
down
to hand over the dust.
Once the land has been converted, Mayhem will re-emerge in the happy version of
the level. His task here is to collect a designated amount of stars. Again,
each level has a different quota, but bonus points can be earned by collecting
more stars than necessary (see STATUS). The rotating stars spin at different
speeds - the faster they spin, the more points they are worth. as well as the
rotating stars, certain monsters leave stars behind when killed (see BONUSES).
Once the star quota has been collected, Mayhem must find the 'finish
line'
(which is surrounded by black & white checkers) and cross over it. Skidding
over the live will result in an extra bonus (see CONTROL).
CONTROL
IN GAME:
RUN STOP - Pause (move joystick to resume)
Q (from pause) - Quit game
MAYHEM
Pushing left/right on the joystick will make Mayhem walk left/right, increasing
in speed the longer the joystick is held left/right.
When Mayhem is walking at his fastest, pressing fire (still holding the
joystick) will engage his charge mode - if the charge icon has been collected
(see BONUSES). Pushing the joystick in the opposite direction to the charge
will make Mayhem skid (the longer the joystick is held, the shorter the skid).
Pushing up on the joystick will make Mayhem jump up, increasing in height the
longer the joystick is held up. Mayhem can also jump up through certain
platforms during the game, and these vary from level to level.
Pulling down on the joystick will cause Mayhem to duck. Pulling down and
pressing fire will make Mayhem drop through certain platforms (again, these vary
from level to level).
Mayhem is also equipped with a 'half-life', which effectively gives
him two
chances. If hit by a monster, Mayhem will lose his half life. If he gets hit
again, he will die (unless he picks up another half life - see BONUSES).
BONUSES
Certain monsters, when killed, will leave behind a bonus icon for Mayhem to
collect...
MAGIC DUST (DUST BAG) - Found only on the sad levels, these must be collected
for Mayhem to progress to the happy version.
CHARGE (LIGHTNING BOLT) - This enables Mayhem to charge around at immense
speeds, and is only collected once during the entire game (on the happy version
of Jellyland).
SCORE MULTIPLIER (RABBIT) - When collected, this will multiply any points
collected, starting with 2 and up to a maximum of 5 with each subsequent
multiplier. The multiplier will decrease after a short time.
SHIELD (SHOOTING STAR) - This gives Mayhem temporary invincibility, allowing him
to kill most monsters on contact.
EXTRA TIME (ALARM CLOCK) - This will freeze the time counter for a short time.
HALF LIFE (BLUE HEART) - This restores Mayhem's half life (if previously
lost).
EXTRA LIFE (RED HEART) - This will add an extra life to Mayhem's current
reserve.
CONTINUE (RAINBOW HEART) - This increases Mayhem's supply of continues.
STARS (BIG STAR) - This rewards Mayhem with 10 extra stars.
STATUS PANEL
SCORE - This shows the player's current score. Score multiplier grades
(x2, x3,
x4, and x5) appear alongside this.
MAGIC (SAD ONLY) - This shows the amount of magic dust bags still to be
collected, and flashes when they have all been recovered.
STARS (HAPPY ONLY) - This shows the amount of stars remaining on the level, and
flashes when the quota of stars has been collected. Any further stars collected
will earn Mayhem extra bonus points.
TIME - This shows the amount of time remaining on the current level, and flashes
when the time reaches 60 seconds and 30 seconds (which is accompanied by a
warning alarm).
LIVES - This shows the lives left, and flashes if Mayhem loses his 'half
life'
(see CONTROL).
MONSTER FEATURES
SPRINGBOARD MONSTERS - These fling Mayhem high up into the air, and are
especially useful for reaching those places which other monsters can't
reach.
INFLATORS - These have the same effect as springboard monsters, but are equipped
with deadly spikes. Mayhem must land carefully on this monster when his chest
is inflated, and not when the spikes are showing.
BANDITS - If Mayhem collides with this monster, it will steal stars from him (up
to a certain amount, which varies from level to level).
SPIKES & SHELLS - Mayhem will die if he runs into (or lands on) spikes.
Likewise, running into a shell or an indestructible monster will cause him to
bounce off.
CREDITS
Conceived, designed, and created by
APEX COMPUTER PRODUCTIONS
Design and programming by
JOHN 'ICE-TNT' ROWLANDS
Design, graphics, music and SFX by
STEVE 'JACK D' ROWLANDS
Additional design, code, and playtesting by
ANDY 'SPECIAL K' ROBERTS
Ultra jumbo-sized shout-outs to:
TRACY, CHRISTINA, ANDY, ROB, KERRY, JAMES, GUY (THE BOYZ), TRU & PHIL,
OLLIE,
TRENTY, CLUR, HUTCH AND DAVE.
Special thanks to Mr and Mrs Rowlands, without whose help this game would not
have been possible.
Unauthorised copying, lending, hiring, public performance and broadcasting of
this product is strictly prohibited... and naughty too.
-END-
