Faced with a choice between a prolonged, painful death at the hands of an enraged Llama and a rapid, glorious death wreathed in laser-fire in G-space, what could you do but represent your race in an awesome battle of skill and dexterity? Your opponents, fiercer than a Magra-Vampa with a sore nose, colder than a glass of liquid helium, faster than a greased armadillo on a hot tin root, are the devilish Warfiends of Zzyax.
(It seems that someone does not like you!)
Then all but fear drains from your mind as all sensations cease and you blast into the Laser Zone. Your only hope — SURVIVE!
Warning: These programs are sold according to Salamander Software's terms of trade and conditions of sale, copies of which are available on request.
© Copyright Salamander Software 1983
Faced with a choice between a prolonged, painful death at the hands of an enraged Llama and a rapid, glorious death wreathed in laser-fire in G-space, what could you do but represent your race in an awesome battle of skill and dexterity?
Your opponents, fiercer than a Magra-Vampa with a sore nose, colder than a glass of liquid helium, faster than a greased armadillo on a hot tin root, are the devilish Warfiends of Zzyax. Trained to this conflict since birth, they are aching to spread your atoms around the galaxy.
Steeling your nerves, you grip the unfamiliar controls and wonder just what you are sitting on … a cursory search reveals a half-eaten marmalade sandwich. You wonder which particular bear has just been sitting in your seat. Then all but fear drains from your mind as all sensations cease and you blast into the Laser Zone. Your only hope — SURVIVE!
When the game has loaded, you will be a shown a menu screen. At any time, you can press the FIRE button on your joystick to start the game.
With the menu displayed you can select the level of play at which you wish to enter the game. To do this, simply press the SPACE bar until you have reached the desired level. There are 32 levels of play in Laser Zone, of which the first 15 are selectable. To reach the others you must fight your way there!
If you want to change the number of players, first select the entry level required, then press <ENTER>. You can now use the SPACE bar to select the number of players. You should note that in a two-player game the players act as a team, rather than as competitors.
At any time while the game is in progress, you can use the following controls:
| T | - | this will cause you to enter the game's Training Mode. While in this Mode you can practise moving and firing without any aliens attacking you. Press T again to leave Training Mode. |
|---|---|---|
| BREAK | - | will freeze the game. |
| ENTER | - | will restart the game from where you left off. |
| CLEAR | - | will restart the game from the beginning (the game need not be 'frozen' first). |
You are equipped with two plasma cannon bases with which to destroy the aliens. The BASE cannon runs along the track on the bottom of the screen, while the AXIS cannon runs up and down the track on the right-hand side of the screen.
To move the BASE cannon, move your joystick left or right.
To move the AXIS cannon, move the joystick up or down.
If either cannon runs off the end of its track, it will re-appear at the other end.
In a two-player game, the right-hand joystick controls the BASE cannon and the left-hand joystick controls the AXIS cannon.
In a one-player game, the right-hand joystick controls BOTH cannons.
To fire your cannon(s), press the joystick button(s) down.
A cannon will only fire if it is opposite a notch on its track.
Diagonal fire is the key to masterful Laser Zone play. When aliens reach the track on which the cannons run, they will march relentlessly towards your cannons. There are only two ways to destroy them at this point; with Electros (see below) or with diagonal fire.
To fire the AXIS cannon at the BASE track, point the joystick in a south-westerly direction and press the fire button.
To fire the BASE cannon at the AXIS track, point the joystick in a north-easterly direction and press the FIRE button.
A cannon firing diagonally will continue to fire and will not move until the FIRE button is released. This allows you to move the other cannon at the same time.
The importance of this manoeuvre cannot be over-stressed, but be warned — a badly-aimed diagonal burst may destroy the cannon you aim to protect! Don't shoot yourself!
For maximum playability, we recommend the use of self-centring joysticks when playing Laser Zone.
You can fire Electro bolts along the two cannon tracks by pressing the SPACE bar.
These bolts destroy all aliens on either track.
You start the game with three Electros and gain one for every assault wave that you defeat, up to a maximum of four Electros at any one time.
Each assault wave consists of a set number of aliens. When you have destroyed that number of aliens, you are awarded a bonus score and an extra Electro (if you have less than four).
Later assault waves not only have faster-moving aliens, they also contain pods. These form on the screen and will stay there for a short period before blowing up. If one of your cannons is opposite an exploding pod, it will be destroyed and you will lose a life. Pods cannot be destroyed.
Should you have any problems loading the cassette, please return it to :-
SALAMANDER SOFTWARE© Copyright Salamander Software 1983
Dragon 32
Type "CLOADM". The game will start automatically.
© Copyright 1983 Salamander Software