KNIGHTS ON BIRDBACK! 

• How on Earth did you fall into this alien world? Look around you-- the sky is full of knights astride enormous armored buzzards. These characters look mean, and the buzzards they ride don't look very friendly either! 

• To defend yourself, and to score points, you must unseat each of your opponents in a joust. The winner of a joust is the rider whose mount is highest at point of contact. If the mounts are of equal height, the joust is a draw. 

The Buzzard Riders: 
• Your opponents are the Buzzard Riders. There are three types, each more dangerous than the last: the Bounders (wearing red), the Hunters (wearing grey), and the Shadow Lords (wearing blue). 

• When you unseat a Buzzard Rider, in a joust, his mount turns into an egg. If you or your mount grabs the egg, you'll score points and the egg will disappear. (For even more points, try to catch the egg before it hits the ground). It will eventually hatch into an even more dangerous opponent. 

• You and the Buzzard Riders materialize on grey regeneration pads at the tops of the ledges. Until a bird and rider completely materialize, they're protected from attack. Once moved, however, they become fair game for a joust. 

The Lava Troll and the Pterodactyl 
• In the fire pits of the lowest ledge lives the Lava Troll. After the second wave of game play, the fire pits are uncovered and any jouster who flies close to the pits may be captured by the Troll, but as the game progresses the Troll's grip become stronger. 

• At certain times during the game, a deadly pterodactyl appears. Pterodactyls will try to eat you, but if you have the skill to hit one directly on the beak, you'll destroy it and earn bonus points. 

SPECIAL WAVES 

• When all of the Buzzard Riders have been unseated, a new wave of game play begins. The longer you play, the harder the game becomes; you'll have more opponents to fight, and you'll need more skill to successfully joust them. Certain waves allow you to earn special bonus points. The waves are: 

• Survival Wave (one player) or Team Wave (two player)--In the one-player version, you are awarded 3000 points if your player stays alive through the entire wave. In the two-player mode version, both players are awarded 3000 points if neither player unseats the other. 

• Gladiator Wave (two player)--the first player to unseat the other is awarded 3000 points. 

• Egg Wave--All the buzzard Riders begin this wave as eggs. Collect the eggs quickly before they hatch. 

• Pterodactyl Wave--This wave starts with the pterodactyl on the screen. 

• Each player's current score and number of lives are shown at the bottom of the screen. You start the game with five lives and earn an additional life every 20,000 points. 

SCORING 


Feat                              Points
Unseating a Buzzard Rider
  Bounder                           500
  Hunter                            700
  Shadow Lord                      1500

Collecting Eggs
  1st Egg                           250
  2nd Egg                           500
  3rd Egg                           750
  4th Egg, and every               1000
     egg thereafter

Catching an egg in midair    Bonus  500
Losing a life                        50
Unseating another player           1000
    (two-player)
Surviving a Survival Wave          3000
Cooperating in a Team Wave         3000
Unseating another player           3000
    in the Gladiator level
Destroying a pterodactyl           1000



USING THE CONTROLLERS 

• Plug one 5200 controller firmly into jack 1 for one-player games; plug a second controller into jack 2 for two-player games. The player using jack 1 controls game selection and starts the game. 

• Use your joystick to move your bird left or right. Use the lower fire buttons to make your bird flap its wings. To make your bird fly, press any lower fire button repeatedly, or hold in the button. 

CONTROL KEYS 

Press START to begin the game.
Press PAUSE to freeze the action;
press PAUSE again to resume game play.
Press PAUSE then RESET to return to
the game option screen.
Press the * key to choose a skill level.
Press the # key to select a one- or two- 
player game. 

GAME OPTIONS 

• There are four options in JOUST: NOVICE, SKILLED, ADVANCED, and EXPERT levels. In the novice level, the pterodactyl and the lava troll do not appear, and the eggs do not hatch into Buzzard Riders. In the SKILLED, ADVANCED, and EXPERT levels, game play becomes increasingly difficult: The number of opponents increases, the Lava Troll's grip becomes stronger, and the pterodactyl appears more often. 

HELPFUL HINTS 

-- Play the NOVICE version first to learn how to control the bird. Try keeping your flight even and steady, rather than bouncing off of ledges. 

-- Stay away from the sides of the jousting arena, since a Buzzard Rider or Pterodactyl could appear unexpectedly. 

-- Collect eggs quickly after they reach the ground. If you wait too long, they'll hatch into new Buzzard Riders. 

-- Clear your screen of opponents as quickly as possible. The pterodactyl will appear if you wait too long. 

-- Stay as high as possible on the screen, then drop down on your opponents. 
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