S  W  T  C  H  B  L  A  D  E
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                       
                            TYPED BY THE TWINS

                     MANUAL SUPPLIED BY MIDNIGHT MANIAC 
         


SWITCHBLADE - GAME STARTUP TEXT:

For 10.000 years he slept.
His mind feeding on the nightmares of the weak.

Now he has awakened.

As the night bled crimson, the Fireblade shattered and its power died.

Then the slaughter began.

They never thought he would return.
Now Havok reigns the Undercity.

I am Hiro, the last of the Bladeknights.
I must rebuild the Fireblade and bring the dawn....


Let's Rock  !




 I N S T R U C T I O N S :

SWITCHBLADE  -  GAME DESCRIPTION :

On the cyber world of Thraxx, Havok has returned.

After 10.000 years of peace, the Fireblade, source of power for the
ancient Bladeknights, has shattered.

The night burned red, and the people of the Undercity fell beneath the
onslaught of Havok's nightmare creations.

Helpness, the Bladeknights died alongside their people.
Only one of their order survived.

You play Hiro, the last of the Bladeknights, a hi-tech warrior armed
with steaith, cunning and a powerful reprogrammable cyber-arm.

You must enter the Undercity and reassemble the sixteen fragments of
the shattered Fireblade.

Only then will you be able to take on Havok and average the death of
your people.


THE OBJECT OF THE GAME :

You must guide Hiro, the Bladeknight through the labyrinth of the
Undercity, to recover the 16 fragments of the shattered Fireblade. Once
you have collected all 16 fragments, you must use it to defeat Havok,
to bring to an end his reign of terror and to avenge your people.


THE SCREEN DISPLAY :

Switchblade will only display areas of the screen that Hiro has visited
during the current game, and in this way, it is a self-mapping arcade
adventure. There are many hidden rooms and passageways in this
underground labyrinth, so it is wise to explore every suspected exit.
To make a newly discovered area visible, simply walk Hiro into it, it
will remain visible to you for the rest of the current game.


THE GAME INFORMATION DISPLAY :

Your score is displayed at the top left of the screen.

Your number of lives is displayed at the top centre of the screen.

Your vitality is displayed at the bottom left of the screen. When this
meter expires, Hiro will lose one of his lives, all modifiers to Hiro's
combat power meter will reset and he will lose his current weapon
(should Hiro be fighting an end of level Boss creature he will not lose
his weapon upon losing a life). Loss of a life also gains Hiro a 2
period of invulnerability. Loss of all lives will end the game.

Hiro's combat power is displayed at the bottom right of the screen.

Hiro's current weapon is shown at the bottom centre of the screen.
Should he be fighting other than hand-to-hand, a small meter to the
right of the weapon indicator will show how many bullets Hiro has
remaining. When all bullets have been fired, Hiro's weapon returns to
hand-to-hand combat.

The BONUS and EXTRA displays at the bottom of the screen indicate which
of the bonus letters you have collected.

As you collect the fragments of the Fireblade during the game, a
display at the top right of the screen will show how many fragments you
have collected, by building up an image of the Fireblade. This display
is blank at the start of the game, and will appear when you collect
your first fragment of the Fireblade. The Fireblade is complete when
you have collected all 16 fragments of it, and at this time, Hiro's
weapon will automatically switch over to the Fireblade itself.


CONTROLS :

Pushing joystick left and right makes Hiro run left and right.
Pushing joystick up makes Hiro jump upwards.
Pushing joystick up and left or right makes Hiro jump to the left or
right.   To increase Hiro's jump distance take a small run up before
you jump.
Pushing up or pulling down over a ladder makes Hiro climb up or down
it.
The fire button controls Hiro's combat moves and the firing of his
cyber-arm.

ESC key   -    quits current game
P   key   -    pauses game

Music/Sound FX selection : left-right joystick on title page.


COMBAT:

By pressing and holding down the fire button, Hiro's combat power
increases as indicated by the combat power meter on the bottom right of
the screen. When the fire button is released, Hiro will perform a
combat move or fire a weapon from his cyber-arm.

When Hiro is fighting hand-to-hand (as indicated by a fist symbol in
the weapon indicator display), the length of this meter governs the
strength and type of combat move Hiro will make when the fire button is
released.

The longer the combat power meter bar, the more powerful the combat
move Hiro will perform :

With the meter in the first quarter of the bar, Hiro will throw a
punch.

With the meter in the second and third quarters of the bar, Hiro will
do a high kick.

With the meter in the final quarter of the bar, Hiro will do a low
sweeping kick.


Should Hiro be fighting with a weapon, instead of hand-to-hand, the
type of weapon he is fighting with governs the effects of the combat
power meter.

There are 7 different weapons that Hiro's cyber-arm may fire :

Blade :
The length of the combat power meter determines the range of this
weapon.

Scorchball :
The length of the combat power meter determines the range of this
weapon, however this weapon will take multiple hits on an enemies and
will only stop when it hits a solid wall or exceeds its range.

Dart:
This weapon is of limited range and Hiro's combat power has no effect
on the power or range of this weapon.

Spinblade :
The length of the combat power meter determines the speed at which this
weapon is fired.

Needle Bolts :
The length of the combat power meter determines the hit power of this
weapon, by increasing the number of power bolts fired by the cyber-arm.

Trispike :
This weapon has unlimited range, and Hiro's combat has no effect on the
power or range of this weapon.

Fireblade :
This weapon has unlimited range and is the most powerful weapon in the
game - the only one that will defeat Havok. Hiro's combat power has no
effect on the power or range of this weapon.


BONUSES:

These are found throughout the game, hidden in walls and flasks which
must be broken open, or simply scattered around the corridors and rooms
Hiro visits. Smashing a bricks or flask is worth 10 points.

Bonus Point Gems :
These vary in size and are worth 50, 100, 200, 400 and 700 points each
for their collection.

Bonus Flask :
7000 points.

Bonus Orbs :
These vary in size and are worth 1000, 2000 and 5000 points each for
their collection. However if they hit a floor, they will shatter and
become worthless, therefore it is important to catch these as they
fall.

EXTRA and BONUS Letters :
Collectionm of these letters lights up the corresponding letters of the
words displayed at the bottom of the screen. Should either of these
words be fully lit, then a bonus will be awarded. Spelling EXTRA gains
the player an extra life and spelling BONUS gains a bonus 10000 points.

Weapons Shields :
When collected, they change Hiro's weapon to that whose symbol is
displayed at the centre of the shield, and in the case of all weapons
except for hand-to-hand combat, give Hiro's cyber-arm a full magazine
of bullets.

Bullet Shield :
This replenishes Hiro's cyber-arm with a full magazine of bullets.
However, if Hiro is fighting hand-to-hand it is worth 50 bonus points
and has no effect on his cyber-arm.

Power-Up Shield :
This increases Hiro's minimum combat power by one point on the combat
power meter, up to a maximum of eight power-ups. Each power-up remains
permanent on the combat power meter until Hiro collects a reset power-
up shield or loses a life. Should this bonus be hit by one of Hiro's
combat moves or cyber-arm weapons, it is turned into a power-up reset
shield.

Speed-Up Shield :
This increases the rate of combat power built up on the combat power
meter when the fire button is pressed. Up to a maximum of three speed-
ups may be collected, and these will remain permanent on the combat
power meter until Hiro collects a reset speed-up shield or loses a
life. Should this bonus be hit by one of Hiro's combat moves or cyber-
arm weapons, it is turned into a speed-up reset shield.

Power-Up Reset shield :
400 points
This resets Hiro's minimum combat power by removing any permanent
power-ups that the player may have collected from the combat power
meter.

Speed-Up Reset Shield :
400 points
This resets Hiro's rate of combat power build up on the combat power
meter.

Vitality Replenish :
This resets Hiro's vitality to maximum for his current life.

Invulnerability :
This gives Hiro a sixteen second period of invulnerability (indicated
by the appearance of a small ball of energy which orbits Hiro) during
which he will lose no vitality.

Fireblade Fragment :
Collection of each fragment of the Fireblade is worth 10000 points. An
extra bonus of 50000 points is given for assambly of the complete
Fireblade by collecting all 16 fragments.


HAZARDS AND ENEMIES :

Flames :
0 points

Proximity Sensing Floor Spikes :
0 points

Bladeballs :
0 points

Spikelice :
Mutant insectoids covered with poison tipped spines.
50 points

Cybats :
Lethal bat creatures that strike with blade claws.
100 points

Mansnakes :
Fierce cybernetically enchanced serpent men armed with powerful mechan-
ical claws.
100 points

Spidors :
Wall climbing robot sentries.
100 points

Crestheds :
Armoured mutant warriors that fight with razor sharp wrist knives.
200 points

Reptilons :
Powerful lizard men that rely upon pure strength as their only weapon.
250 points

Scorpiods :
Robot scorpion creature with spinning blade stings.
250 points

Flamehogs :
Savage armoured boar men, carrying arm-mounted flame throwers.
300 points

Kobras :
Merciless robot snakes with venomous hypodermic fangs.
300 points

Striders :
Hideous roborganic war machines armed with high voltage electric
stings.
300 points

Razorbs :
Robot orbs bristling with spinning blades.
350 points


BOSS ENEMIES :

Giant Spikelouse :
5000 points

Giant Scorpoid :
5000 points

Giant Cybat :
5000 points

Giant Roborganism :
5000 points

HAVOK :
50000 points
plus bonus of 20000 points for each remaining life on completion of
game.


             -----  AGAIN ANOTHER 100% POWER-TYPING  ----

                ---  DONE BY THE TWINS OF TRILOGY  ---

                         --  IN NOVEMBER  --