
                                SWITCHBLADE

   Typed in by The Twins of Trilogy. Edited by Parasite and Codetapper!


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!


INSTRUCTIONS
------------
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
stealth, 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.


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.


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.

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


KEYBOARD CONTROLS
-----------------
ESC key: Quit current game
P:       Pause game


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 mechanical 
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.
