Starball -------------- The Origins of Starball In the year 2164 the planet Utalis is invaded by the arrogant and much-dreaded Jitter-Bobs. The inhabitants have become humiliated slaves to these wicked but fun-loving creatures. The Jitter-Bobs, however, have offered you the chance to win back the freedom of the Utalians - this chance is called STARBALL! The Jitter-Bobs are renowned as being the best STARBALL players in the whole Universe - and there can only be one winner in this competition! Will you be able to save the Utalians......? Highscore The highest scores may be saved on disk. The you can see the 10 best STARBALL players on the display. Match On/Off When the Match Off mode is chosen you can play alone against the computer or against another person. In the Match On mode you can play STARBALL with up to 8 players in a tournament. Player Here you can enter the names of the players. If you are playing with less than 8 players, after all names have been entered you should press RETURN. The computer will automatically enter cpu for a computer-controlled player. Start The game begins..... The course of the game The blue Bumper-Jet on the left side is controlled through port #1 and the red Bumper-JET on the right side is controlled through Port #2. The Bumper-Jets can be moved upwards and downwards. With these movements, and with help from the space Cosmos-Capsule, you should try to score as many points as possible! In the universe between the two Bumper-Jets, various Para-Space-Floaters appear. When the Cosmos-Capsule touches one of these, the last-touched Bumper-Jet receives points. The Stro-Bars behind the Bumper-Jets can also be destroyed, and they are worth 10 points each. If the Cosmos-Capsule goes though a hole in the Astro-Bars, the opponents has scored a "Galactic Goal" and receives 1000 points. To reach the further levels, you must score at least 2000 points in the present level. After eliminating a Para-Space-Floater a bonus symbol will appear. This can also be touched with the Cosmos-Capsule. On the bonus symbol there is a letter which represents the following words: F Fast S Slow B Blink M Mirror H Half D Double Should a bonus symbol be touched, the appropriate word will be displayed in one of the four display-tables that are constantly xhanging from red to blue If a table with text in is touched by the Cosmos-Capsule, the Bumper-Jet that has the same colour as the table when it is touched will become faster, slower, double etc., according to the text. The four bubbles above and below the playing field only affect the path of the Cosmos-Capsule. The playing time for one level is 1 minute. If, when in the Match Off mode,none of the players have scored 2000 points, the game is over. If one player scores more in the first level than his opponent, the losing one is exchanged for another. In the Match On mode, you only play one level in which you must beat your opponent. If both players score the same number of points, the level is repeated.