| BEACH HEAD II
US Gold 1985 CONTROLS : Keyboard, Kempston, Cursor --------------------------------------------------------------------- AIM : The evil dictator from BEACH HEAD I, the Dragon, has rebuilt his army and is challenging the Allies' power in the Pacific once again. Stryker, the Allies' best commander, leads the attack on the dictator's stronghold to kill him... GAMEPLAY : You can play BHII as either the Allies or the Dragon in the one player game, or play head-to-head in the two-player version. There are a number of levels, all of which you must win to capture the stronghold / defeat the Allied attack. 1. Parachute Assault - Allied troops are airdropped into the battle zone from a helicopter. Pressing fire drops a soldier, but if the helicopter is too low for the chute to open, the soldier will not live to tell the tale! On landing, the soldiers make a dash for the nearest wall, but they must brave machine-gun fire from a gun turret controlled by the Dragon. However, the machine gunner is hampered by the fact that it takes time for him to react and turn the gun on the troops. 2. Frontal Attack - Once all the men are hiding behind the walls at the top they have to make their way to the bottom of the screen, avoiding the gunfire. The edges of the walls flash in a cycle along the edge of the line. Pressing fire brings a man out, and you must control him as he runs down to the next section of wall. From the third wall, nearest the gun turret, the troops must be manoeuvred to the bottom of the screen. The control method is the same as before, except that pressing fire lobs a grenade roughly in the direction of the gun turret - you might get lucky and destroy it. Pressing fire twice when you select a wall sends down a computer- controlled soldier who is useful as a decoy! 3. Protect Hostages - You must protect a group of hostages from the now-desperate enemy forces. The Allies have captured a gun turret which can be used against the enemy attacks. The hostages run across the screen from left to right and have to face four types of enemy attack: a soldier drops stones from the top of the wall the hostages have to walk beneath; a tanks rolls on from the right and squashes anything in its path; an armoured car drives from the left, firing a machine gun; and enemy troops lay mines, popping up out of trapdoors (!) to lay them. All of these obstacles can be shot by your turret to safeguard the hostages' passage. If you shoot a hostage by mistake it only stuns him, but this could give the enemy the opportunity to kill him. 4. Evacuate Hostages - Having rescued the hostages, you must ferry them to safety in four helicopters that fly over a vertically-scrolling landscape. Tanks and guns placed on the terrain try to shoot your 'copters down; the difficulty of the terrain is decided by the Dragon before this section starts. 5. Showdown - Commander Stryker gets to meet the Dragon in face-to-face combat. The two opponents stand opposite each other on parallel platforms on either side of a river. The idea is to hit the other man with poonta sticks - javelins, in effect - until he falls into the water. Each time a combatant is hit three times he takes a fall and there are five rounds to be fought before the game is won - or lost. COMMENTS : "A pretty simple and boring game." RATING : 74% (CRASH #24, January 1986) NOW : A rather poor game which is not much fun to play, as well as being somewhat bizarre towards the end. I wonder how the Gulf War would have ended if George Bush had had to hurl poonta sticks at Saddam Hussein? --------------------------------------------------------------------- KEYS : Redefinable ********* The Project 64 etext of the Beach Head II manual. Converted to etext by anonymous, retrieved from the "Doc's 'R' Us" BBS, 914/668-3664. Supplied and formatted by Frank Jeno Kontros <jeno@kontr.uzhgorod.ua>, the Non Stop Cracker. Please note that the BBS phone number may no longer be valid. BEACH210.TXT, November 1996, etext #124. Readapted for the Spectrum in 2001 AD by Alessandro Grussu http://www.ag-online.da.ru ********* B E A C H - H E A D II PLAYING THE GAME Select Play Mode (normal or practice): Normal: Sets up the game, zeroes correct scores and only allows the player to play screens in the pre-set order. Total scores that are high enough can be saved to the Top 10. A player may choose to play either side of almost any screen by picking up the appropriate joystick as a new screen starts. If you do switch sides during play, your score for each screen will be kept on the side you play. In Single Player Mode, the "ESCAPE" screen can only be played on the Allied side. Practice: Practice allows a player to go to any screen, in any order to improve his play. He may play all screens and the computer will keep track of his score. A single player can play either side (the Allies or Dictator) by simply moving the appropriate joystick when the screen appears. The computer will automatically take the opposite side. In Single Player Mode, the "ESCAPE" screen can only be played on the Allied side. Select Joystick: The joystick in Port 1 controls the Dictator. The joystick in Port 2 controls the Allies. If you are playing against the computer, wait until the screen appears; then move the stick with which you wish to play. (This does not apply to the "ESCAPE" screen where the computer must play the Dictator.) OPTIONS: There are numerous options featured in Beach-Head II to make your playing time more enjoyable. Top Ten Display: You may observe the present Top 10 scores and record your scores by typing (T) during the title screen. If your score is high enough, the computer will display your ranking. Move the stick left or right to select a letter, then press the fire button to enter your initials. If you just want to see your ranking, do not enter your initials, but instead type "N". SEQUENCE 1 - "ATTACK" Overview: Allied forces have moved inland by helicopter and are ready to begin their assault against "The Dragon's" sanctuary to rescue hostages captured during previous battles. The full weight of the Dictators arsenal will come to bear on Allied troops in a war of attrition. Allied Control In Sequence I: The Allies control the helicopter in the background as the scene starts. The controls for the helicopter are as follows: Pushing the Stick Left or Right will move helicopter in the desired side to side direction. Pushing forward on the stick will elevate the helicopter. Pulling Back on the stick will lower the helicopter. The helicopter cannot move toward you and neither the helicopter nor the men in the air can be hit by the machine gun. Pushing the Button will release the paratroopers to begin their assault. If the chopper is too low to the ground, the chutes will not have enough time to open and you will lose soldiers. after the soldiers have touched down, they will advance to the first wall. Make sure when dropping paratroopers that you distribute them as evenly as possible (eight behind each section of wall #1). Placing more than eight behind any wall will overcrowd that area causing the extra men to desert, leaving you short-handed. After your men have reached the first wall, they must then advance to the second wall. The control sequence is as follows: a) Press the button to stage your men. b) Move the stick left or right to advance them. The yellow indicator light determines which gap the soldiers will run through and which wall they will be taken from. The men that reach the second wall will try to scramble to safety, out of reach of the machine gun. If a single man gets past the gun, he will be able to blow the door and thus proceed to the next scene. All your men, however, will have to challenge the gun. The control sequence for this segment is as follows: a) Select a Wall by pressing the fire button when the indicator light is on for that wall. Move stick left or right to turn off the light and activate a man behind the wall. If the light does not stop alternating then there are no more men behind that wall. b) Control your man. He is just behind the wall that you have selected. His controls are up, down, left, right, down left (diagonally), down right (diagonally). He cannot retreat at a diagonal but may charge at a diagonal. c) Send a man over the wall (optional). You may send a man over the wall to act as a diversion and draw enemy fire. This man is completely computer guided and counts the same as your controlled man. (If he makes it, of course)To start a man over the wall you must position your controlled man behind the wall and press the fire button. If nothing happens then there is no one behind the wall but your controlled man. d) Throw a grenade. Destroying some of the machine guns will significantly enhance your score. Your controlled man can throw at anytime, but his feet must be within the "grenade window" (a rectangular imaginary box directly above the gun and extending as far as the front of the first wall) to score a hit. When all men have faced the gun, the scene will end. If at least one man make it passed the gun, the game will continue. DICTATOR CONTROLS IN SEQUENCE #1 The dictator controls the machine gun in the foreground. The joystick controls left, right, up and down movements. When you are ready to fire, push the button. When shots are fired, you will see the tracer effect of each shell leaving the barrel There is no limit to your supply of ammunition. Firing your weapon slows movement in all directions. Because of this, it is better to stop firing when you need to quickly move the machine gun to another target. Point total is based upon the number of soldiers stopped. The machine gun cannot hit the helicopter or the men parachuting out of the helicopter until they hit the ground. Obviously, the closer in the Allied forces are the easier they are to hit. Also, the Allied men can move out of the range of the machine gun by moving past the front wall to the extreme right or left. If they reach these points, you will not be able to stop them unless they come back into range. If no Allied men make it to safety, the game will end. NOTE: If ANY Soldiers reach the Second wall, they will be joined by reinforcements which will double the number of men remaining. SEQUENCE II "RESCUE" Overview: Allied forces are inside the sanctuary and attempting to rescue the hostages. "The Dragon's" men are low on ammunition but are still determined to prevent the rescue of the hostages. The prisoners face the formidable task of having to cross the open courtyard with "The Dragon's" men throwing anything they can find at them. Allied Forces: The Allies have captured the Dictator's machine gun to protect the prisoners as they come out. The prisoners will appear on the far left of the screen and attempt to cross the courtyard to a point where helicopters are waiting to take them out. Your mission is to protect the twenty hostages from "The Dragon's" men. He has four weapons which can stop the prisoners: one soldier dropping stones along the top of the wall, one man who can place mines through trap doors along the hostage pathway, a tank that has no shells but will come straight at the prisoner to run him down and a truck with a small caliber machine gun to stop the hostages . The tank must be hit directly. You can speed up the hostages by shooting either of the three doors that appear along the corridor wall. Your machine gun fire can accidentally hit the prisoners, but it will not harm them. They will however, stop for a moment and then resume at a slower speed. Remember, the gun moves more quickly when the button is NOT pressed. DICTATOR - The Dictator controls the following four weapons: Man on Top of the Wall: To use this soldier, push the joystick straight forward. With the stick in the forward position, move it right or left. This controls his movement along the wall. This soldier is now under your control. When he is in proper position over the prisoner, the soldier can drop objects to stop the prisoner. When he is positioned correctly, push up and button to lift the object. Once his arms are extended, push up and button again to release the object. If the soldier is shot, he will be replaced after a short delay. Tank: To deploy the tank, push the stick directly to the right and press the button. Once the tank has started moving, it is computer controlled. Every time a tank is destroyed, a new tank can be sent by following the same procedures. The only time a tank cannot be sent is if the prisoner has passed the door farthest to the right. Truck: The truck can be started by moving the joystick directly to the left and pressing the fire button. Once the truck has started, it is computer controlled. When a truck is destroyed, another can be sent immediately. The prisoner must pass the first door along the wall before the truck can be activated. Trap Door To use this man, pull back on the stick. With stick in the back position, move it right or left to move the trap door along the ground. When you are ready to set the mine, pull back on the stick and push the button. A man will then appear and set a land mine in the prisoners path. If the trap door man is hit, he will be replaced after a short delay. The best strategy for the Dictator is to keep as many items on the screen as possible. This keeps the Allied gunner occupied. For example, once a tank or truck has been destroyed you should, immediately send another. Coordinate your use of the trap door and the man on the wall. The key to success is keeping the machine gun moving around and busy. SEQUENCE III - "ESCAPE!" Overview: The rescue helicopters now must get the prisoners off the island by running the Dragon's gauntlet. In addition to an automated defense system, the Dragon controls the tanks on screen. There are three helicopters. Each is capable of taking all or some of the prisoners out. The dictator, however, determines which level of difficulty each helicopter will face. There are three levels, and each level can be used only once. For example, if you try to take all hostages out on the first run and the Dragon programs in the higher level off difficulty, chances are slim that you will make it. Nevertheless if you do escape, you will be awarded a considerable number of bonus points. (To be merciful, we have allowed two helicopters for each run; thus, you could actually lose up to six helicopters.) Dictator: The Dictator controls the difficulty of the individual escape run and the tanks located throughout enemy terrain. The player must be ready to move his tank into position as soon so it becomes visible on the screen. The tank must be lined up directly in front of the helicopter to destroy it. When you are properly lined up, push the button to fire your shell. Tanks are located throughout the escape run. NOTE: It is to the Dictator's advantage to prevent his opponent from seeing the level selection. Allied Forces: You must select the number of hostages for each helicopter by pushing forward or back on the stick. Press the button when the helicopter is loaded, and the engine will start. To fire the helicopter rockets, push the joystick button. To get past walls you must fly through the openings. You cannot fly over the walls. The difficulty of the escape is set by the Dictator so the speed will not be known until you start your run. SEQUENCE IV -"BATTLE" Overview: Before "The Dragon" invaded the island, the bastion he chose as his sanctuary was an ancient temple where islanders would worship their gods. Underneath the temple is a series of caves. These caves were used in ancient times for combat between natives in ritualistic ceremonies. Commander Stryker has finally tracked down the dictator in his last hiding place. Far beneath the sanctuary, the stage is set for a showdown between madman and liberator - only one will survive. Allies and Dictator Control: The only weapons remaining are heavy sharpened sticks known as poontas. The poontas were used by natives in ceremonies long ago. The natives would stand across from each other and attempt to knock the opponent off his platform by hitting him with this weapon. If the opponent was hit enough times, it often caused unconsciousness and death. "The Dragon" has challenged Stryker to a final contest of superiority. The players are isolated on platforms and face each other across an underground river. To control movement along the platform, push the joystick up or down. both players can jump or duck to avoid being hit. To jump, push the stick towards the cave wall. To duck, push the stick towards the water. When you feel you are in the proper position to throw the poonta, push the button. You can control the direction of travel by doing the following: Straight Throw - push the button. Curved Throw - push the button. When the throwing motion has started, push up or down on the stick in the desired direction and then release. The battle will be fought in nine rounds. A round ends when a player has been hi t four times. After each round, the score will be displayed. To start a new round, push the button. In addition to points scored for each hit, a player can get bonus points for winning the round and winning by a blitz (4 - 0 round). ********* End of the Project 64 etext of the Beach Head II manual. ********* |