First Samurai manual
BACKGROUND In a tiny village of ancient Japan, Lord Akira and his young samurai were collecting taxes from the local peasants when the Demon King descended from the mountain. The village was destroyed, all the inhabitants murdered, but the Demon King paid special attention to the Warrior Lord. Fifteen minutes later, the young samurai was alone with the Demon's final words; 'Tell them about me, Tell them I'm ready to take back everything that is mine by right. Tell them their true Master has returned...!!' On that cold morning the young samurai swore revenge for his fallen Master. For years the good people of the hills fought the Demon as best they could, until the Wizard-Mage arrived from the sea and challenged the Demon. They fought long and hard atop the Demon King's mountain, lightning and fire keeping the night aglow, until the Demon, fearing defeat, escaped into time, hurling himself far into the future where people had forgotten the magic and where he feared no opposition... The good people were safe, but for the young samurai there was no rest, for his soul could not be at peace until he avenged his murdered Lord. So he begged the Mage that he might follow the Demon into the future to bring the Demon King back so that he could be destroyed at the foot of his own mountain throne... This was how it began. CONTROLS All the action takes place on the playfield. A 'camera' follows the first Samurai's movements throughout the environment. NOTE: BACKWARDS Move in opposite direction to the one you are facing. i.e. if you are facing right - backwards is left. UNARMED COMBAT Walk left/right - Push left/right on the joystick. Punch forward - Push forwards and press fire button. Low punch forward - Pull down joystick and press fire button. Leg sweep - Pull down diagonally left or right. Flying kick forward - Push up and press the firebutton. Turn and punch - Backwards with fire button. High kick backwards/forwards - Up diagonally left or right with fire button. ARMED COMBAT Flying slash - Up and fire button. Slash - Hold down fire button and push left/right. Crouch slash and dig - Pull down diagonally left or right with fire button. Overhead slash - Up diagonally left/right with fire button. Turn and slash forwards - Fire button and backwards. THE FOLLOWING MOVES CAN BE MADE WHILEST UNARMED OR ARMED Jump - Push up joystick. Crouch - pull down joystick. Cling to walls - push up once you have stuck to a wall. Pull away from walls - Pull backwards. Jump away from walls - Push up backwards. Throw missiles - Press Fire button. Use Special Icons - Hold fire button whilst stationary. Use Bell - Hold fire button and pull down or press space bar. FREEZING THE ACTION Press the 'P' key to freeze the action. Press the joystick button or any other key to resume play. QUITING THE GAME Press 'Q' while the game is paused. BAD CREATURES - THE DEMON KING'S MALEVOLENT MINIONS There are many and varied and each has its own characteristics and strengths. Note that an adversary which has been hit will flash but that does not mean it will die as aot all minions can be killed. Points are given for each kill. THE STATUS PANEL The PHYSICAL ENERGY is that of the hero and is represented by an arm. The shorter the arm, the weaker the hero. When the hero's physical strength runs out, he dies (unless he possesses the Magic Sword - see MAGIC SWORD). Physical Energy is lost whenever the hero is hit by one of the Demon King's minions. The hero begins his quest with his Physical Energy at maximum. MYSTICAL ITEMS THE BELL This is the most powerful mystical item. Use it only when no other course of action can solve the problem you face. ADDITIONAL WEAPONRY There's no doubting the hero's unarmed combat skills - he's a lean, mean fighting machine. But occassionally he may need a helping hand in the form of an additional weapon. These may be found during the Samurai's journey, but some types may only be collected if the Samurai has sufficient magical energy. Only one weapon can be held at one time: it is shown on the panel below the playfield. If the hero is holding a weapon when he picks up another, the old weapon is lost. Additional Weaponry is activated by pressing the joystick firebutton while the hero stands still. When the player has sufficient magical energy a magical item will appear as a sparkling star. Walking over the item will reveal its true form but the player will not be able to collect it. DAGGER Throw out a deadly dagger. Better still, collect a maximum of three daggers and you can have three on the go at once. SEEKER A deadly star orbits the hero until one of the Demon King's minions nears. It then instinctively attacks the enemy. The hero can have a maximum of three Seekers on the go at once. Bear in mind that a Seeker will disappear when it runs out of hit power. AXE Throw a single axe. There can be no more. MAGIC THE WIZARD MAGE The Samurai is not adept in the ways of magic. Fortunately for him, the Wizard Mage is highly skilled in the mystical arts and may be summoned through time to aid the Samurai. NOTE: The Wizard Mage occasionally makes a fleeting appearance in times of trouble. When he appears you know it's time to summon him. SPECIAL ITEMS The Wizard Mage is powerful but sometimes the problems presented are not soluble without a helping hand. On each level the hero needs to collect Special Items. When a Special Item is collected, the Wizard Mage appears to take it from the hero. When the moment comes, the Wizard Mage will use the Special Items to solve a particular problem. Note that you do not have to collect EVERY Special Item on a level - just most of them! The MYSTICAL ENERGY is that of the hero's Magic Sword (see THE MAGIC SWORD). The energy of every creature killed is absorbed by the Magic Sword and shown as this bar. The longer the bar, the greater the quantity of Mystical Energy stored. The Mystical Energy is used to charge pots. The hero begins his quest with a small amount of Mystical Energy, which is increased by defeating the Demon King's minions in battle. REGENERATION POTS Regeneration Pots are dotted around the landscape in opportune places. A charged Regeneration Pot marks the position of the landscape to where the hero will be returned when he is reincarnated following the loss of a life or when he uses a transport option. A pot is charged by positioning the Samurai over it and crouching down. The Mystical Energy accumulated during play will then flow into the Regeneration Pot. Only one pot can be active at any one time, but the hero can reactivate a previously charged Pot and so determine a restart position for the hero. POTIONS Pick up a Potion and the hero is transported to the last charged Regeneration Pot. THE MAGIC SWORD The hero begins his quest without his Magic Sword. The Magic Sword is only given to the hero when he collects sufficient Mystical Energy. Not only does the Magic Sword effectively extend the Samurai's reach, it also spares him instant death. When the hero's Physical Energy reaches zero, the Magic Sword is lost but the hero lives on, his Mystical Energy converted to a small portion of Physical Energy. TRANSPORTERS Watch out for transporters. When the hero touches one, press and hold down the joystick firebutton to transport him to a new area of the scenery. It could even be another transporter. PLAYERS LIVES REMAINING The player's mission begins with five reincarnations of the hero. See if you can discover how to acquire extra lives. YOUR PERSONALIZED ACCESS CODE So what is your Personalized Access Code? Well, when a level is completed, the program 'remembers' the stage reached, along with a number of lives and the score at that time and the time spent playing thus far. The player can store this information on Disk Two and then access it to avoid playing what's come before. This effectively determines the starting position of play. The player can save the Personalized Access Code at the end of a game or after quitting. At this time the game will go to the high score table and then the title screen. From the title screen credits, press 'F1' to call up the Personalized Access Code menu. There are 10 slots to which the state of play can be saved, one for each level. Any previously saved situations will be shown. To save your current status, press the 'S' key. Note that any existing code for the level in question is replaced. To load a saved situation, press the corresponding function key for the level required. For example, press F1 to restart at level 1. BONUSES The First Samurai rewards the player for good play in the form of bonuses. The Statistics for the bonuses acquired during a level can be viewed by pressing the 'B' key. However, the actual bonuses are not given until the level in question is completed. Press the firebutton to return to the action. BONUS REPORTS COURAGE BONUS Awarded for the number of Demon King minions killed. CHEST BONUS The number of chests opened. TREASURE BONUS The quantity of treasure collected. FOOD BONUS The quantity of food collected. SPECIAL OBJECTS HELD The quantity of Special Objects collected by the player for the Wizard Mage. SPECIAL OBJECTS NEEDED The number of Special Objects required by the Wizard Mage. TIME TAKEN How long the player has been in action.
Back to the game