
                                 FUZZBALL
                                 --------

   Typed (in bloody capitals) by Scooter/Skid Row. Edited by Codetapper!


FUZZBALL - THE STORY
--------------------
Another day had come and gone just as slowly as they always had.  The
wizards apprentice was growing more anxious by the day and his over
enthusiasm had landed him in big trouble on more than one occasion.  He was
fed up.  His master still hadn't named the day when he had been able to
boast of joining the ranks of high order wizards.  There was still a lot of
teaching to do.

Though his heart yearned for the good times ahead and the evolution of his
magical prowess, his young head told him time and time again not to be
eager and to appreciate that the drawn out training process was for his own
good.  After all, his most coveted possession was the knowledge that one
day, eventually, he will have the power.  He would have served his time
well and be awarded with his own magical staff, his own snug fitting
elaborate robes and his own naive apprentice just as intent on learning the
ways of wizardry as he was.  Daydreaming of the future helped him through
the arduous schooling.

Home to the young apprentice had always been the ancient mystical castle he
shared with his wise old mentor.  As he had grown, he had always tried to
see the sheer size of the castle from ground level right to the very top.
But he could never see past the vast stonework piercing through the dark
and sinister clouds above.  The clouds were always there.  Swirling black
clouds that hung above the castle like some great rambling canopy.  Forever
throwing lightning bolts and lashing torrential rain down upon the stone
mass of the castle.  This was how the old wizard liked it.  The electrical
storms helped feed the magic he was master of, and his magic was
particularly powerful at times of high storms.

It was one of these particularly stormy nights that the apprentice found
himself alone in one of the wizards chambers.  The chamber had a strange
aura about it and the apprentice could feel the electrical energy generated
within the air by the heavy storm blowing outside.

The mischievous apprentice had come to the chamber to have another look at
the big old chest, the contents of which had been a closely guarded secret
by the wizard for many years.  The youngster had been coming here for some
time to touch and feel the mysterious chest.  He wanted to know why the
wizard would not show or even tell him what was inside.  He wanted to know
if all the pictures he had been painting in his mind were as vivid in real
life.  The apprentice had convinced himself that the great oak and brass
chest housed a wealth of beautiful treasures of gold, rubies, diamonds and
pearls.

His impetuous youth had got the better of him and what was initially
innocent curiosity had turned into a burning desire to find out what was in
the chest.  The apprentice scanned the room for any hint of something that
would help him gain entrance to the mysterious chest and, after trying
numerous gadgets and props unsuccessfully in the lock, cast his eyes on the
wizards grand spell book.  Positioning himself in front of the old book, he
began to thumb through the dusty pages.  He was amazed at how much he still
had to learn.  He didn't really know what he was looking for, but he wanted
any clue, any hint of a spell to help him.

He thumbed and thumbed through the pages, pausing occasionally to blow dust
from in front of his face.  His pace quickened with the beat of his heart
as he began to fear the impending return of the wizard.  Faster and faster
he looked over the pages until finally something caught his eye.  A spell
to open he thought.  This is it.  His unpredictable enthusiasm had returned
and he began to read out the spell.  A magic glow appeared in his hand.
His face lit up, the magic was coming.  If only he had read out the entire
spell command from the book and not just what he thought acceptable.

The storms outside were high and the boys eyes lit up with the excitement
as the magic began to appear in his hand.  He aimed the glowing energy at
the lock of the chest and then launched his creation at the target.  The
chest began to make strange noises and rattled violently around the table
it was placed upon, as the thunder and lightning rumbled around the castle.

In an instant, the lid of the chest flew back and hundreds of strange balls
of fluff began to leap from imprisonment within the chest.  "What could
they be?" and more to the point, "What have I done?" echoed in the lads
head as fuzzball after fuzzball leapt to their freedom and began to fill
the chamber.  The stream of fuzzballs seemed endless, and as they hit the
floor they began to grow and grow.

As the fuzzballs grew the apprentice tried to identify them through his
blind panic.  The fuzzballs were round and leered menacingly through huge
angry eyes.  Some had pointed ears, some horns, some even resembled circus
clowns.  The fuzzballs were back - and they knew it.  They were clutching
various gems and valuable food taken from the chest as they launched their
mass exodus.  These items would help them set up fuzzball communities
within the grounds of the castle.

The apprentice on realising the error of his ways, then tried to reverse
the DIY spell he had created in order to send the fuzzballs back into the
chest.  His inexperience and confusion brought out another spell, but
something was not right, something was definitely not right.  The magic
energy did not go where it was directed to go and instead loomed briefly
above the apprentice before engulfing him in a huge florescent blue flash
of light.  The vision held for some time as a metamorphosis began to appear
within the mystic light.  Arms seemed to be shrinking back, legs receding
into nothing and all the time big eyes were forming on a by now large
spherical object.

The apprentice, in his haste to reverse the spell about which he knew
nothing had turned himself into a large fuzzball.

The fuzzballs then roamed free and took over the vast corridors, mazes and
chambers of the wizards castle.  As time passed they evolved to suit their
particular environment and the fuzzball colonies became more diverse and
increasingly vicious.  As for the young apprentice, he got no sympathy from
the old wizard who instead sentenced the boy to remain as a blue fuzzball
for his punishment.  The fuming wizard laid down the law, the apprentice
could only return to his human form once he had collected and returned all
the fiendish fuzzballs and all the jewels they took with them, back to the
strange old treasure chest from whence they come.


PLAYING THE GAME
----------------
Keyboard controls:

F1 - One player mode.
F2 - Two player mode.
P  - Pause the game.

Joystick pushed top and centre   - Jump (straight up)
Joystick pushed top and left     - Jump diagonally left (long jump)
Joystick pushed top and right    - Jump diagonally right (long jump)
Joystick pushed centre and left  - Move left (jump/walk)
Joystick pushed centre and right - Move right (jump/walk)

Press the fire button to shoot.

Note:  You can control fuzzball in mid flight.  eg.  By pulling the
joystick left or right while fuzzball is in mid air.  This gives greater
control, a variety of jumps (ie.  Tap joystick up and then pull gently to
the right gives very short jumps) and allows you to pull into platforms
directly below where fuzzball is sitting.


GENERAL GAMEPLAY TIPS
---------------------
* The first aspect of the game you should master is the joystick controls.
* Collect all the jewels and fruit to complete a level.
* Before starting each level, observe the scenery and the platform layout.
  One wrong move and you're stranded.
* Blast the fiendish fluffies until they shrink to size and then knock them
  off the platforms to score points.

But beware, if you are not quick enough the fluffies will regrow into
nastier enemies which are more difficult to kill.  They change colour and
carry higher points.  This allows you to vary your gameplay as you may wish
to let fluffies regrow into different colours and then kill them to add to
your score.

The enemy colour and score progression is as follows:

* Green .... 2000 points.
* Purple ... 4000 points.
* Black .... 6000 points.
* Red ...... Final colour change, so these explode when destroyed and 
             cannot be knocked off the platforms.

Please note:  Once the enemies have changed to purple and upwards, they
have their own intelligence and will turn and track you once you land on
their platform.

Be swift with your thinking and gameplay as each level is on a time limit.
Take too long at your peril!

There are hidden bonus screens on certain levels of the game.  These can be
found by shooting blocks in the scenery.

It is important to remember that it may be easier to find a hidden screen
at certain points than to complete the actual level you are on, as the
secret screen will allow you to progress to the next level.

Finally an extra life will be given every 500,000 points, but you can only
carry a maximum of 6 at any one time.
