Mouse Trap (Atari)

ATARI 2600(TM) Game Manual

MOUSE TRAP(TM)
By Exidy

An A-Maze-ing Race

   It's dinnertime, and you're simply starving.  What you would do for a nice
hunk of cheese!  A slice of old-fashioned Swiss would be nice, or, even
better, a morsel of Camembert.  Mmmmm.

   Dreaming of cheese won't get you anywhere.  You're going to have to earn
your lunch.  As a hungry but clever mouse, you'll have to chomp your way
through a maze of corridors and doors, while avoiding starving cats who want
nothing better than to eat you.  But those feline fanatics aren't as
crafty as you are.  You can outrun them.  You can confuse them by opening and
shutting trapdoors.  And, with a stash of bones in reserve, you can fool
these furry menaces by turning into a cat-biting dog!

   And the race is on!

Getting Started

1. With your TV turned on, insert the Mouse Trap cartridge into your Atari
2600 or 7800(TM) as explained in your Owner's Manual, and turn on your
console.  A maze of corridors and trapdoors appears on the screen.  The
chomping mouse is in the center, and the cats are not far away.

2. Plug a joystick into the left joystick port.

3. If you are using an Atari 2600, select color with the TV switch.  For an
even more challenging game, set it to black and white to make the mazes,
cheese, and bones invisible.  If you are using an Atari 7800, press
[Pause] to play the invisible maze.  To go back to the visible maze, turn
the power off and then on again.

4. Set the Left Difficulty switch to adjust the cats' intelligence (A for
smart cats or B for stupid cats); set the Right Difficulty switch to adjust
the cats' speed (A for fast cats or B for slow cats).

5. Press [Reset] to start the game or to begin a new game.

Playing the Game

   Hold the joystick so that the fire button is on the top-left corner.  Push
the handle up, down, left, or right to scamper through corridors and doors.

   Press the fire button once slowly to open or shut a trapdoor.  Press it
once quickly to change the mouse into the dog.

   Your goal is to eat your way through a series of mazes and win points.  To
do so, you must run over every morsel of cheese in each maze, while avoiding
the cats.  If yo usucceed and live to tell about it, you'll advance to the
next maze, as cat-infested as the previous one and even more challenging.

   To trick the cats, change the shape of the maze by opening and shutting
trapdoors.  Even better, turn into a dog, and turn the tables on them.  You'll
even win points.  Be careful.  Your dog phases are short, lasting only a few
seconds.

   This mouse-to-dog transformation is possible only if yo uhave at least one
bone on reserve.  To stockpile up to four bones at a time, gobble them up
as you run through the maze.  But watch your bone reserve.  No bone, no dog.

   You'll start the race with three mice.  If yo urun into a cat, you'll go
to mouse heaven, and the next mouse will take over.  The game is over when you
use up all of your mice.

Scoring

Eat a cheese .........................   1 point
Bite a cat   .........................  10 points
Clear a maze ......................... 100 points

   Each time your score reaches a multiple of 500, you'll earn a bonus mouse.

Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed material
after the date of publication and disclaims liability for changes, errors,
or omissions.  Reproduction of this document or any portions of its
contents is not allowed without the specific written consent of Atari
Corporation.

ATARI, the ATARI logo, 2600, and 7800 are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Atari Corporation.  Mouse Trap is a trademark of Exidy, Inc. (C) 1981,
Exidy, Inc.  2600 version (C) 1982, Coleco Industries, Inc.

(C) 1988 Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.  All rights reserved.

Printed in Hong Kong.  C3000160-146 Rev. Faith Luck

1988 ATARI

Document typed by gchance@ecst.csuchico.edu.
This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, Š1997-1998 by Greg Chance
