From: tsr@www.komkon.org (|tsr) NES-2A-USA The Adventure of Rad Gravity(tm) Player's Guide Activision --- [comic book.. sorry] Kakos Listen to me, Rad Gravity! Listen to Kakos, last of the Compuminds! Listen before all is lost! Long, long ago, your ancestors on the world of Quark developed galactic travel to an art. They found many wondrous worlds as they soared among the stars. And over the centuries, they colonized nine worlds in three star- systems! They forged the United Planets! The United Planets were held together across the light-years by a network of three unification Compuminds, which communicated instantaneously on the star- warp uplink! I, Kakos, was the Compumind here on Quark! But the United Planets looked for possible threats to their existence only from the worlds beyond the union! Over time, we forgot that evil is everywhere! -- even in our own back yard! A wizard arose from among the Quarkians! Agathos was born a man, but he opened himself to the interstellar magick, and he mutated! .. Mutated to become a living brain! And in his cosmic madness, he thought himself beyond normal people.. beyone normal alien lifeforms.. beyond even the Compuminds! And he destroyed the Union! He shut down the Compumind network, cutting the instantaneous links between the worlds! He placed a guardian before each of the far Compuminds, and buried me.. forever, he thought!.. in a cave! He laughed as the planets became isolated, and fell into decay! Recently, I was discovered and reactivated! And now I have devised the means of reactivating my fellow Compuminds, to revive the Union! You are the means! Union president You're the most promising of our space cadets, Rad! We need to pilot our last remaining ship, to find the nine planets, the three unification Compuminds.. Rad Find? Union president They've been lost for generations, Rad! When the network was shut down, Kakos lost all data concerning them! Through heroic efforts, it has recovered the coordinates of one, solitary world in the nearest alien solar system! That's where you'll begin! Kakos I will be installed on board your ship! Once you and I reach the first world, you must search the world for a Compumind.. since I do not know which worlds boasted Compuminds.. and you must search for clues to help us find the eight other worlds! I will process your data as best I can, but you are the one who must master the worlds if we are to reconnect the network and restore the United Planets! Union president Will you do it, Rad? The magnitude of the task is almost inconceivable-- but so is the magnitude of the reward! Will you do it? Rad I will! Narration And so, Rad Gravity begins the quest that will carry him far beyond the life he's known thus far-- to the strange, twisted world of Cyberia, where killer robots guard information that is vital to his mission! But Cyberia is a beacon of hope compared to the rotting carcass of Effluvia, where the garbage of the universe does not go to die! From the lands of the decadent future it's too short a trip to the land where dinosaurs still walk and fire ants nip your toes - Sauria! Then it's on to the old-fashioned beauty of the cloud city hovering high above verdant Vernia! Cool and serene, it's the absolute opposite of-- --the down-and-dirty antics of the gnomes who plague passers-by on Odar! And between the worlds are the shifting terrors of the asteroid belt, where the only means of avoiding the constantly swirling stones is the principle of action and reaction! To move in one direction, a space cadet must fire his weapon in the other direction, to push him along! But the weirdest world of all awaits where gravity has gone wild-- on the upside down sphere of Turvia! And this is but a fraction of the fate to be found in-- The Adventures of Rad Gravity! --- Getting Started 1. With your game system and TV or monitor off, insert the Rad Gravity cartridge into your Nintendo Entertainment System, as described in your owner's guide. 2. Turn on your game system and TV or monitor. Press Start. 3. At the selection screen, press either the up or down arrow keys on the + pad to select either Start or Continue. Press Start or A to begin the game. You can't Continue until you've reached a Password screen. 4. If you want to turn off your machine and pick up where you left off later, you must first die during gameplay for the game to send you to a Password screen. Write the password down for future use. When you want to re-enter the game at the same level, choose Continue at the Rad Gravity title screen and push the A button. Use the + pad to choose the correct letters and numbers by moving the cursor. Every time you want to enter a letter, push A. After entering the complete password, push Start. If the password is incorrectly entered, the words "TRY AGAIN" will appear at the bottom of the screen. Press A to re-enter the Password screen. Use the + pad to move forward or backward and correct the wrong letters or numbers. 5. If you die during gameplay, you automatically begin again on the same level. 6. The game can be paused in mid-play by pressing Start. This will put you on the Object Selection screen, where you can wait indefinitely. --- Space Travel When the game begins, you, Rad Gravity, are on the bridge of your ship, hovering over the first world you want to explore. On the planet's surface is a blinking point marking the Teleport Locaitons given to you by Kakos the computer. There is also a blinking point in space, marking the edge of the solar system. Use your + pad to choose the point you want, then press the A button to travel there. At the edge of the solar system, you can see all the worlds in that system, and you can visit them, but you can only land on worlds whose Teleport Locations you've found. Thus, as the game begins, you can only land on the one world where you began, and that's what you should do. Whenever you're at the edge of the solar system, choose the world you want with your + pad and press A to go there. When you near your chosen world and see the Teleport Locations blinking at you, press A to beam down. If you don't see a blinking point, there is no way to land. When you start to beam down, Kakos will tell you about the world. In each location, your primary goal is finding new Teleport Locations, but there are other treasures, and some are hidden in very strange places. Explore each world thoroughly, read any messages carefully, and listen to the music... To return from a world to your ship, use your Communicator by selecting it and pressing Start (see Objects below). You'll usually do this after completing a world, but every time you return, all your life points are restored, so don't be afraid to bail out of you're about to die on a world. When you return to the world, you'll be back at the beginning of its adventures, but at least you'll be alive. --- Movement Move Left, Right, Up and Down with the + pad. Jump with the A button. Remember that gravity differs on different worlds, so the height of your jump will change. To jump through -some- obstacles, or jump to a lower level, use the A button while pushing the + pad down. --- Objects During play, push Start to pause the action and see your inventory. Move Left and Right to choose an object with the + pad. Push Start to restart the action with the object you selected. Activate any weapon with the B button. Here are the objects you'll find - Teleport beacon - Very useful. Pressing B throws it where you want it, and B again teleports you there. Communicator - Allows you to teleport back to your ship after your mission on each planet is complete. Also, at any time during gameplay, you can use it when you're in need of energy and about to perish. Translator - Gives you the ability to comprehend alien messages. Energy Disk - Lets you float over dangerous areas for a short amount of time. But you can only use one object at a time, so you can't shoot, say, while floating on the disk - and using the energy disk costs Rad life energy. Armor - There are three types of armor, each with a different level of protection. Try them out! Weapons - There are seven types of weaponry: Laser Sword - This hand-to-hand combat weapon is given to you at the start of the game and is useful at close range. Super Sword - A high powered version of the laser sword, this weapon gives you a higher level of attack and longer range. Power Pistol - A gun that fires electrobolts that can vaporize your enemies in milliseconds. Vertigun - Similar to the power pistol, but with this weapon, you can fire up and down to take out enemies above and below you. Maxigun - The most powerful of all pistols. Saurian Crystals - Highly explosive crystallized nitroglycering that, when thrown, detonates and destroys your enemy instantly. Crystal Bombs - Even worse. --- Top Secret Clues Cyberia - Let your enemies destroy each other by jumping or ducking out of the way of their attacks. - Remember to check for secret items. - You can avoid the big robots by jumping over them. Effluvia - Don't let the "aluminum foil" monsters get near your head. If they grab on to you, "use your head" to dislodge them. - Step into a fire pit occasionally. You'll get burned but you may find a nice surprise. - When jumping on bubbles, your momentum will carry you after you clear the first bubble. Sauria - Try not to bother the baby dinosaurs. They can be nasty when disturbed. Turvia - The tree branches are great platforms for jumping. - Remember to talk to the mayor. He'll give you valuable information. Vernia - Learn the flying pattern of the birds and fire before they appear on the screen. - An item picked up on Sauria will help you defeat the deadly Trogs. Asteroid Belt - Fire as often as you can when floating through the asteroids, to push yourself along. - Once inside the derelict ship, you'll need to find the keys. Utopia - Watch out for exploding robots. - Try moving damaged robots. Odar - When grabbed by an enemy, push the jump button to release Rad from its deadly grasp. - It will require some thought to get to the underground maze. - In the maze, the blocks can be very useful. Volcania - Check out all craters. - In the cavern, beware of falling stalactites. Take it slowly when jumping from ledge to ledge. Telos - Its origin and purpose remain a total mystery... ---