HYDRA
The Rivers of Death!
Enemy thieves are trying to stealk the greatest treasures in Hydra. These are no 
ordinary museum pieces. Each of these valuable artifacts hides an important 
piece of the secret weapon needed to defeat the enemy. So the goverment issued 
you an experimental speed boat. You must use this powerful craft to navigate the 
treacherous rivers of Hydra and collect the treasures from the secret 
checkpoints before the enemy thieves get them first. If you succeed, you will be 
a very popular guy. Fail and you'll be all wet.
Getting Started
1. Insert your Hydra game cartridge in your Lynx. 
2. Turn on Lynx. The Hydra Screen title appears. 
3. Press the joypad to choose one of the courses, Easy, Medium, or Hard 
4. Press A or B. A picture of our hero appears with a map of the course while a 
conveyor belt carries the first treasure to dock. 
5. Press A or B to begin game. 
Playing the Game
Hydra is an aquatic racing adventure in which your goal is to deliver a series 
of treasures, weapons, and other cargo without getting toasted by enemy warriors 
or crashing into one of the many hazards along the river.
When the game begins, your UltraBoost Powercraft is docked at the river bank. 
The first cargo is onloaded, and you're ready to let her rip. The screen shows a 
power gauge, and the current score. Press down on the joypad when the cargo is 
onloaded. When your craft starts its journey, a speed gauge also appears, along 
with a picture of the cargo.
Use the joypad and option buttons to control your craft, as described below: 
Accelerate:              Press down on the joypad.
Slow Down:               Press up on the pad.
Steer Left or Right:     Press the joypad left or right.
Boost into the air:      Press Option 2
Change Weapons:          Press Option 1 (Option 1 has no effect if you 
                         have only one weapon.)
You must steer along the river without crashing into any of the many obstacles. 
Fortunately you have a high-powered weapon to help you blast everything in your 
path. As you run the river, keep an eye out for enemies, obstacles, crystals and 
money bags.
Run over blue and green crystals to get more fuel for your Powercraft. Fuel 
drums also give you more fuel. Run over orange crystals to get more boosts. 
Boosts allow you to fly for a brief period so you can collect items in the air, 
shoot flying enemies, and jump over hazards. You can only carry three boosts at 
any one time.
Run over anything else and you're likely to end up in a fiery wreck. If you 
crash, you lose your cargo and the Shawdon boat picks up your cargo and carries 
it in front of you. You must shoot the Shawdon boat to place your cargo in front 
of you in the middle of the river. If you miss the Shawdon boat and pass it, it 
will move in front of you again; if you shoot it but do not pick up your cargo, 
it will pick it up and move in front of you again.
In any case, if you lose your cargo, you must search for it as it floats 
downstream. Run over it to pick it up. But be careful. At high speeds, the cargo 
often looks alot like hazards in the water.
Each level of the game is divided into segments. You must complete each segment 
without crashing or running out of fuel. If you run out of fuel, the game ends. 
You can press A to continue, but you will lose all points. If you successfully 
complete a segment, your ship is automatically refueled and you continue to the 
next segment. The number of segments in a level depends on the level you are 
trying to complete.
At the end of each level, you reach a dock where a couple of your most gorgeous 
fans wait to take the cargo from you. After offloading the cargo, you are sent 
to a bonus phase where you have a chance to pick up extra cash by collecting 
fire rings.
After completeing the bonus round, you may purchase supplies at the shop. The 
available supplies are: 
Uzi Cannon:  Fires rapid-fire double shots.
Nuke:        Destroys everything on the screen.
Fuel:        Gets a full tank of gas.
Shield:      Protects the Powercraft from enemy fire.
Homer:       Seeks out the enemy vehicles and blows them away.
Boost:       Provides one air boost.
6-way Shot:  Fires a six shot burst.
To purchase an item, press the joypad until the selector box is on the desired 
item, then press A or B. You can continue to purchase items until you have run 
out of money or the shop is out of its very limited supplies. After doing your 
shopping, you will continue to the next level.
Strategy
Learn to recognize cargo as it float in the water. Otherwise, you will not get 
paid. Without money, you cannot strengthen your craft. That means you will 
probably be creamed by enemy missles.
Get as much fuel as possible. Without it, you don't stand a chance.
Know when to fly, and when to stay low. There are a few things in life more 
frustrating than missing all the money bags because you are in the wrong place 
at the wrong time.
Shoot enemy craft whenever possible. The rewards are great.
Scoring
Money:
 
Small Money Bags:                   $2500
Large Money Bags:                   $5000
Fire Ring (Bonus Dome Only):        $5000
 
 
Points: 
 
Deliver Cargo:                      10,000
Landing on disc in Bonus Dome:      1000 to 20,000
Collect Fire Ring:                  200 to 10,000
Sink Ship:                          5000
Destroy Flying Jet:                 3000
Destroy Punk Island:                2000
Sink Gray Shooting Boat:            2000
Blast Helicopter:                   1000
Shoot Halftrack:                    500 
Blast Hovercraft:                   500
Shoot Tug Boat:                     400
Sink Armored Boat:                  300
Blow Up Jet Ski:                    200
Shoot Down Zeppelin:                200
Blast Police Boat:                  100
Destroy Black Shawdon Boat:         100