ATARI® 2600® Game Manual


KLAX™


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the date of publication and disclaims liability for changes, errors or
omissions. Reproduction of this document or of any portion of it's content is
not allowed without the specific written consent of Atari Corporarion.

Atari, the Atari logo, 2600 and 7800 are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Atari Corporation.

Copyright © 1990 Tengen Inc. All rights reserved. Klax is a trademark of
Atari Games Corporation, licensed to Tengen.

Original game by Mark Stephen Pierce and Dave Akers.

ATARI®
Copyright © 1990, Atari Corporation
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1302
All rights reserved



Tic-Tac-Tiles!

You've selected your level, and now the colored tiles start to tumble
down the ramp. you zoom your paddle back and forth to catch
the tiles and flip them into the bins to create rows of same colored
tiles, The rows can be vertical, horizontal or diagonal, and three
or more tiles ina row create a Klax.

Sounds Easy, right? It is, until the tiles speed up and tumble down
the ramp so fast you can barely keep up! Faster and faster , your
paddle becomes a blur as you struggle to keep up with the pace.
Will you ace the wave or are you destined to fail? Either way, you'll
find yourself quickly addicted to the good klean fun of tic-tac-KLAX!


Getting Started

Klax is a fast-paced game of concentration, skill and chance.

Follow the steps listed below to start the game:

1. With your 2600 (or 7800™) game system switched off, insert the
   Klax cartridge into the cartridge slot as described in your owner's
   manual.

2. Connect a controller to the left controller port.

3. Switch on your TV and 2600 (or 7800) game console. the Klax
   title screen appears.

4. Press the fire button once to bypass the title screen. The
   Wave Select screen displays. Press left or right on the
   joystick to move the Klax Hand. When the Klax Hand points to
   the desired skill level, press the fire button to select that skill
   level and display the Wave Description screen.


Optional Game Controls

To enhance play, the following optional game controls allow you
to pause and restart the game:

If you are using an Atari 7800 press PAUSE to pause the game.
Repeat to resume play. On a 2600 push the TV TYPE switch
to "BW" to pause the game. Switch back to "Color" to
resume play.

To return to the Wave Selection screen and restart the game
with the current selected options or to choose a different
wave, press SELECT.

Playing the Game

The object  of the game is to accurately place colored tiles that
tumble faster and faster down the ramp. To earn points and to progress
from level to level, you must place the tiles in vertical, horizontal,
or diagonal patterns called Klaxs. Three or more same colored
tiles in a row is a Klax.

The colored tiles advance down the ramp toward a paddle that
you control with the joystick. You must move the paddle back and
forth in the paddle slide to catch the tumbling tiles as they arrive at
the bottom of the ramp. Move the paddle by pushing the joystick
right or left. The tiles fall onto the paddle. You can stack a maximum
of five tiles on your paddle at a time.

To form Klaxs you must flip tiles into five bins below the paddle
slide. To flip a tile from the paddle into a bin, position the paddle
over the desired bin and press the fir button. The top tile on your
paddle flips into the bin.

Each time you make a Klax the entire Klax highlights and disappears
from the bins. That gives you more room to place more
tiles. You receive points for every Klax you complete. If you plan
ahead and create more complex Klaxs, you earn more points. You
also receive points for empty spaces left in the bins and for any
tiles left on the ramp when you complete a wave.

Use wild tiles (which count as any color) to complete especially
complex Klaxs. Wild tiles flash multiple colors in turn as they tumble
down the ramp.

You can also make the tiles come down the ramp more quickly. Just
pull the joystick toward you to increase the speed of the tiles.

If you don't  want a particular tile on your paddle anymore, or you
want to rearrange the tiles on your paddle, push forward on the
joystick to flip the top tile back up the ramp. but be careful! You don't
want too many tiles on the ramp at one time. If your paddle is full,
or you don't get to a tile in tile,the tile falls into a deadly drop
zone. You don't want that on your consience, do you? And if too
many tiles fall into the drop zone abyss, it's the end of the game.

Each of the 100 Klax waves has an objective. The objective is
displayed before you begin each level. On some waves you must
archieve a certain number of horizontal or diagonal Klaxs. Some
waves require you to survive a number of tiles any way you can,
placing the tiles quickly to make Klaxs and freeing up space in the
bins for the tumbeling tiles. Still other waves require you to earn
a certain number of points.

Tiles move faster and faster and you become more and more frantic
to place them before they fall into the drop zone. The game ends
if you fill up all 25 spaces in the bins before you have completed
the level objective, or if you let too many tiles fall of the ramp.

If you fail to successfully complete a wave, you will be given the
choice of continuing or starting over. Move the joystick up or down
to move the arrow next to your selection, and press the fire button.
Starting over returns you to the Title screen. continuing allows
you to try the level again.


Screen

Score your current score.

Wave Number the current wave.

Drop Meter shows the number of drops that will cause the game to
end. When you drop a tile, one Drop Meter space is filled in. The
game ends when all empty spaces in the drop meter are filled. All
drop meter spaces are cleared when you get a warp wave or
restart the game. If you successfully complete a wave with
some of the Drop Meter slots filled, those slots remain filled when you
begin the next wave.

Paddle moves from side to side in the paddle slide and catches tiles,
flips them into the bins or back up the ramps.

Tile Ramp the ramp that the tiles tumble down.

Loading Bins receive the tiles flipped from the paddle.

Wave Objective Status the number of Klaxs, tiles, or points needed
to complete the wave.


Waves

A wave is a level to be completed. Every wave has itsown wave objective
that you must complete to progress to the next wave. Warp
screens appear between some waves. When you reach a warp
screen, the Wave Selection screen displays. From the Wave Selection
screen you can choose to either continue with the next wave, or
warp ahead to a higher wave.


Wave Selection Screen

On a warp screen, the Wave Selection screen appears and allows you
to choose between three wave levels. Two of the choices are
higher wave levels than the level just completed. See below for an
example of a Wave Selection screen.

Wave Number is the number of the wave to which you can warp.

Drops Per Game is the number of tiles that can fall into the drop
zone. If that number of tiles falls into the drop zone the game ends.
The number of tiles you can drop is represented on the drop meter.
(See Drop Meter.)

Bonus Points lists the number of bonus points you will receive
when you successfully complete that warp wave. the higher the
wave, the higher the number of bonus points you will receive.


Wave Objectives

There are five types of wave objectives, each more difficult to
achieve as you progress to higher wave levels. On some waves the
tiles tumble down the ramp more quickly. On others there are more
tile colors (up to a maximum of eight different colors). And on
higher wave levels you must create a greater number of Klaxs
to achieve your objective. For example, a Klax Wave requires you
to create a number of Klaxs to complete the wave. You need to
create 3 Klaxs to win the level 1 Klax Wave, but the level 6 Klax
Wave requires 10 Klaxs to win. Another way waves become more
difficult is an increas in the number of tiles on the ramp at one
time.

You receive points for every Klaxs you create, no matter what the
wave objective is. But only those Klaxs that match the wave objective
will count toward completing the wave.

The following is a list of all wave types:

Klax Wave requires a number of Klaxs to complete the level. All Klaxs
types count toward completing the wave objective. Four and five
tile Klaxs always count as more than one Klaxs. See Scoring.

Diagonal Wave requires anumber of diagonal Klaxs to complete the
wave objective. The more complex the diagonal, the greater the number
of points received.

Horizontal Wave requires a number of horizontal Klaxs to complete
the wave objective.

Points Wave requires a number of points to be earned to complete
the wave objective. You can create any type of Klaxsto earn points,
but only the more complex Klaxs will earn points fast enough for
you to successfully complete the wave.

Tile Wave requires you to survive a number of tiles. Every tile that
either lands on your paddle or falls of the end of a ramp counts
as one tile. But if you want to meet your wave objective, you
must create Klaxs to free up bin space to place more tiles.You can
place the tiles in any type of Klaxs, but you will probably want to
keep it simple when the tiles start tumbling down the ramp more
quickly.


Strategy

Try for complex Klaxs on lower level waves to increase your score.
Go for chain reactions and simultaneous Klaxs.

Don't throw too many tiles back up onto the ramp. You can get
into trouble very quickly!

Try for more complex Klaxs on Points Waves. Get the big points
quickly - you probably will not be able to complete the level with
simple, vertical Klaxs.

Sometimes simple Klaxs work best. Don't get cocky on a high level Tile
Wave, or you will end up with five full bins and a bunch of tiles with
nowhere to go.

Use wild tiles to complete multiple Klaxs.


Scoring

During game play you receive points for the Klaxs you create.
When you complete a wave,  any of the following bonus points earned
will be added to your score: points for the empty spaces left in the
loading bins, all tiles left on the ramp when you complete a wave,
and any warp bonus points that apply to the wave.

Sometimes placing a tile will result in a multiple Klax. For example, you
could complete both a vertical and a diagonal Klax with the placement
of a single key tile. If this occurs, you receive multiple Klax
bonus points in addition to the points for each Klax. Multiple Klaxs
are also worth more than one Klax towards the completion of certain
waves.


Vertical Klax

3 tiles.....   50 points.....1 Klax
4 tiles.....1,000 points.....2 Klaxs
5 tiles.....1,500 points.....3 Klaxs


Horizontal Klax

3 tiles.....  100 points.....1 Klax
4 tiles.....  500 points.....2 Klaxs
5 tiles.....1,000 points.....3 Klaxs


Diagonal Klax

3 tiles.....  500 points.....1 Klax
4 tiles.....1,000 points.....2 Klaxs
5 tiles.....1,500 points.....3 Klaxs


To create a four tile vertical Klax, place two tiles of the same color
in one bin. Then place a tile of a second color in that same bin,
and finally two more of the first color. Now make the middle tile
disappear by involving it in a horizontal or diagonal Klax.

You can also create four tile vertical Klaxs by stacking tiles very
quickly while another Klaxs is being scored.



ATARI®
Copyright © 1990, Atari Corporation
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1302
All rights reserved