GAME PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS
Model CX-2631

ATARI, INC., Consumer Division
1195 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086
BOOK (c)1979 ATARI, INC.
 

SUPERMAN

Use your Joystick Controllers with this ATARI Game Program.  Be sure to plug the controller cables firmly into the jacks at the rear of your ATARI Video Computer System.  Hold the controller with the red button to your upper left toward the television screen.  See section 3 of your owner's manual for further details.

For a one-player game, use either the right or left controller.

Note: Turn the console off when inserting or removing a Game Program.  This will protect the electronic components and prolong the life of your ATARI Video Computer System.
 

GAME DESCRIPTION

You are SUPERMAN.  Receiving a tip on a bomb scare, you rush to the METROPOLIS waterfront.  Dropping into a nearby phone booth, you change into CLARK KENT, mild-mannered reporter for the DAILY PLANET, and continue east (right) toward the METROPOLIS Memorial Bridge.

As you approach the bridge, it explodes!  LEX LUTHOR, arch enemy of SUPERMAN, is seen leaving in a hell-pack.  Some of the LEX LUTHOR henchmen rush from the scene.  A helicopter flies by carrying LOIS LANE.  Is she in trouble, or has she hired the helicopter to scoop the story?  Another crook sneaks away.

This is a job for SUPERMAN!  You rush back to the phone booth and emerge as the MAN OF STEEL.

"UP, UP AND AWAY" you fly to capture LEX LUTHOR and his gang.  But beware!  LEX LUTHOR has released three KRYPTONITE satellites that will seek you out.  If any touch you, you become weak.  You will lose your ability to fly, and to capture and hold on to things.  Only a touch from LOIS LANE will revive you.

The destroyed METROPOLIS Memorial Bridge is important to the economy of the city.  Besides catching LEX LUTHOR and his gang, you must find the three pieces of the Bridge and rebuild it.

The helicopter may try to help, but more than likely it will be a hindrance... sometimes even removing parts of the Bridge that you have put into place.  Other times it is a definite ally by snatching away the KRYPTONITE satellite that LEX LUTHOR may be hiding behind.

After putting LEX LUTHOR and his gang behind bars, and rebuilding the Bridge, you return to the phone booth and change back into CLARK KENT.  Then you catch a subway to the DAILY PLANET and turn in your story.
 

HOW TO PLAY

The object of this game is to put all the crooks behind bars, rebuild the Bridge, change back into CLARK KENT and go to the DAILY PLANET in the shortest amount of time.

There is a timer at the top of the playfield that is incremented in minutes and seconds.  It will start when you move the Joystick after depressing either Game Reset or Game Select, and stops when CLARK KENT enters the DAILY PLANET.

There are six markers at the top of the playfield; the largest represents LEX LUTHOR, the other represent his henchmen.  As each crook is put into Jail, one of these markers will disappear.

Each "frame" denotes a city block of METROPOLIS.  They are connected at each of the four adjoining sides.  You can pass through all the city blocks of METROPOLIS by flying either east (right) or west (left).  Flying north (up) or south (down) continually will miss the phone booth and the Bridge.

You can enter the METROPOLIS Subway System through the "doorway" of any
of the four subway stations.  Once inside, to stay within the Subway
System, you must move upward (north), as each of the four different
colored areas are connected at the top.

To exit into the city from the Subway System, move east (right), west (left), or south (down).  Each of the four different colored areas will exit into a different portion of METROPOLIS.  For example, exiting west from the pink section will bring you to the Jail; exiting west from the yellow section will bring you to the DAILY PLANET.

There is a room inside the DAILY PLANET that is entered by passing through the "doorway" of the building.  Once inside, you must go through the Subway System before you can exit into the city.

If you lose LOIS LANE into the DAILY PLANET, she will tend to stay there.  But... if the Helicopter goes by outside the building, she will come out to see what is going on and wander off.
 

USING THE CONTROLLER

If you are above or below "street level", you can fly in any direction by moving your joystick as shown in the diagram.

If you have been "zapped" by a KRYPTONITE satellite or are in your guise as CLARK KENT, you can only walk to the right or left, unless you are in the Subway System or inside the DAILY PLANET.  Then you can walk in any direction.

To land, return the Joystick to the center or "neutral" position.  If you are above "street level" you will float down to "street level", where you can walk.  If you are below "street level", you will float down to the city block below.

To capture a crook, or to carry LOIS LANE or pieces of the Bridge, you must touch them while flying.  To release them, land by returning the Joystick to neutral.

To rebuild the METROPOLIS Memorial Bridge, all three pieces must be between the two buildings.  As the third piece of the Bridge touches the other two, the Bridge will be complete.

To put LEX LUTHOR or one of his henchmen in Jail, fly through the bars of the Jail while carrying the crook.  When you do this, the crook's "marker" at the top of the playfield will disappear.

If you land while carrying a crook, he will try to escape.

X-RAY VISION

X-Ray vision enables you to see into one of the four adjoining frames.  Press the red controller button and move the Joystick in the direction in which you wish to see.  Be careful!  You will not move while using your X-Ray Vision, but the KRYPTONITE Satellites will, and they can "zap" you when you are looking elsewhere.

Note: The SUPERMAN Game Program can be played by one or two people.  As a two-player game, teamwork is required between the players for SUPERMAN to avoid the KRYPTONITE Satellites and to capture LEX LUTHOR and his gang.  The player using the left Joystick Controller will have priority over the left and right movements of SUPERMAN, while the player using the right controller will have priority over the up and down movements of SUPERMAN.
 

HANDICAP (Difficulty Switches)

The right difficulty switch controls the speed of LEX LUTHOR and his gang and the speed of KRYPTONITE Satellites.  In the A position the KRYPTONITE Satellites will go after you twice as fast as in the B position.  The crooks will also run from you twice as fast.

When the left difficulty switch is in the B position, LOIS LANE will appear whenever you are "zapped" by a KRYPTONITE Satellite.  When it is in the A position, you must find LOIS LANE before you can get "revived".
 

CONSOLE CONTROLS

After beginning, the game can be stopped by depressing the Game Select switch.  To resume play and restart the tim, push the Joystick in any direction.