THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE SPECIAL DELIVERY: SANTA'S CHRISTMAS CHAOS PUBLISHER Sparklers (Creative Sparks budget) AUTHOR Dalali Software YEAR 1984 (released 1985) DESCRIPTION A very poor arcade game designed to be bought by unsuspecting parents. At least it only cost œ1.99. CONTROLS Cursor keys (or use the Sinclair joystick keys). Kempston, Sinclair and Fuller joysticks also supported. INSTRUCTIONS Control Santa's sleigh, picking up presents that fall from the sky and avoiding obstacles. Drop them on the small houses, and enter the big houses via the chimney (avoiding snow and fireballs) in order to leave the presents by the tree. Use the key to leave by the back door, being careful not to wake the children, then go off collecting more presents. INLAY CARD TEXT [back cover] It's the happy sound of Santa Claus on his merry way delivering presents to all the excited children who have waited patiently for this special night. But what chaos as Santa awakens to find that he only has five hours to deliver his presents and worst of all he hasn't enough to go round. Santa has enlisted the help of his helpers who are supplying extra presents and you, to guide his sleigh through the sky avoiding clouds and picking up presents as you go. Then help guide Santa onto the roof tops, down the chimney and then finally place the present underneath the christmas tree. * Joystick control * Fast loading cassette [inside] SPECIAL DELIVERY It's Christmas Eve and Santa has overslept. His alarm clock has failed to wake him up and now he is in all sorts of trouble. He only has five hours before all the children wake up to deliver his gifts, and he does not have enough presents to give to all the eager children. All of a sudden he has a great idea! His helpers will help him by dropping presents from the clouds where they live. So off he whizzes on his sleigh drawn by his loyal reindeer to make his special delivery. Help Santa to collect the presents and land safely on the roofs of the houses to deliver his gifts to ensure all the children have a Happy Christmas. GETTING STARTED 1 Before switching on the Spectrum, connect the joystick (Sinclair, Kempston, AGF/Protek or Fuller) if this is to be used. 2 Connect the television to the computer and switch the television ON. 3 Connect the cassette recorder to the computer and switch the cassette recorder ON. 4 Place the cassette in the recorder and rewind to the beginning. 5 Check that the EAR lead is connected correctly and that the volume level of the cassette recorder is set correctly. 6 Type LOAD"" (do not leave a space between the quotes), then press ENTER. 7 Press PLAY on the tape recorder.. 8 When the program has finished loading, press STOP on the cassette recorder. 9 If the program does not load successfully, try adjusting the volume setting of the tape recorder and repeat the above from step 3. If the problem persists, refer to chapter 6 of the Spectrum Introduction Manual. CONTROLS Press the fire button to change the skill level which is shown by the target number. Move the joystick to start the game. Santa is moved up, down, left and right in the normal way. RULES 1 Santa must collect presents which are dropped by his helpers in the sky. 2 Obstacles such as clouds and mountains must be avoided. If Santa does collide with a mountain, cloud or other obstacle, he will lose a present from his sleigh. 3 If Santa's sleigh is hit by a lightning bolt then he will lose an hour. 4 Presents dropped by the Red Devil must also be avoided as these will cause one of Santa's presents to be lost. 5 The object of the first phase is to collect, into Santa's bag, as many or more presents than the target number. 6 If Santa fails to do this he will not have the chance to drop all of the presents down the chimneys of the large houses. Instead he will have to drop presents down the chimneys of the small houses until his bag is empty. 7 If Santa collects enough presents (that is equal or greater than the target) then he will be able to visit one of the large houses. He must land safely on the roof. 8 Once Santa is on the roof he gets off his sleigh and climbs down the chimney. Now he must avoid the fireballs coming up the chimney and the snowballs travelling down. If Santa fails to avoid these hazards then he loses one hour. 9 If Santa reaches the bottom of the chimney he must then place the presents in his bag under the Christmas tree. Then he must pick up the key, find the back door and make a quick exit. He must avoid coming into contact with the sleep-walking children, who would wake immediately. If this happens then Santa loses another hour. 10 Moving the joystick left and right will move Santa from side to side across the floor. To go up and down the ladders, move the joystick up or down accordingly. CHEATS SEQUELS/PREQUELS None. SCORES RECEIVED URLs GENERAL FACTS NOTES The back cover blurb promised a 'fast loading cassette', but unless you forced your tape recorder to run faster than usual, it loaded at normal speed.