Chip's Challenge (Europe, USA) - Software MAME

Atari Lynx cart. published 36 years ago:

Chip's Challenge © 1989 Atari Corp.

Chip will do anything for Melinda the Mental Marvel. More than anything, he wants to join Melinda's exclusive computer club, the Bit Busters. Chip is ecstatic when Melinda sits down next to him in the cafeteria and offers him membership!

But not so fast, Chip! Keep your sweaty digits off that Bit Busters T-shirt. Before you can become a card-carrying Bit Buster, your'll have to do some heavy interfacing with a few interesting puzzles. Melinda will monitor your progress as you enter and work your way through 144 levels of challenging maze-like paths and puzzles. And once you accept the challenge, you can't escape. Monsters, traps, and the ticking of the clock all conspire to delete you before you complete each level.

You must ram blocks of soil together to create bridges over water traps, or use them as buffers against cherry bombs. Invisible partitions will impede your progress. Colored keys will open doors that lead to other keys that will open still more doors! To make it through, you must keep puzzle sequences stored in your memory.

Most levels have a specific number of... chips that you must collect before you can progress to the next level. And sometimes you must snatch those chips from under the very noses of deadly bugs who are just aching to take a byte out of you!

Well, Chip, are you still up for the challenge? You just can't get that Bit Busters T-shirt out of your system, can you? OK buddy, make tracks for level one of Chip's Challenge!

TECHNICAL
Model PA2028

SCORING
You can earn points two different ways in Chip's Challenge. On each level, time bonus points and level bonus points combine to give you your level score. During each play session, your level scores add together and display as your total score.

The number of level bonus points you earn depends on how many times you have to repeat the level before successfully completing the level. If you complete the level on the first try, you receive 500 points multiplied by the level number. Each time you die or have to restart,the number of points you receive decreases by 20%. The minimum level bonus is 500 points or 20% of the level number x 500, whichever is greater.

You receive 10 time bonus points for every second remaining on the timer when you complete a level. On levels that are not timed, the time bonus is always zero.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Take notes and draw maps of difficult levels.
• Leave yourself an escape route whenever possible.
• Timing is crucial on some levels. Use PAUSE to give you time to think.
• If the obvious solution doesn't work, try a bizarre solution. The bizarre will usually pull you through!
• Monsters often move in predictable patterns.
• Many objects affect monsters the same way they affect Chip.
• If you get stuck in an impossible situation, use OPTION 1 to restart the level.
• Final Level Password: Enter GVXQ as password to play level 144 (Fireflies).
• Extra Levels: On level 34 (Cypher) you can read: JHEN which is the password for level 146. The game has indeed 4 extra level labeled 146, 147, 148 and 149 whose passwords are the following...

Level 146 (Cake Walk): JHEN
Level 147 (Force Field): COZA
Level 148 (Mind Block): RGSK
Level 149 (Special): DIGW

• Fractal Generator: If you enter MAND as password, you will access the hidden fractal generator called Mandlebrot Explorer. The program will take a few minutes to complete the display of the fractal (during which you should not press any button), then you can explore the image by zooming in with A and zooming out with B. By pressing PAUSE you enter a menu where you can change the fractal generator parameters: when you unpause the program, press OPTION 1+OPTION 2 to generate the new fractal. You can also switch between Mandlebrot's fractal to Julia set, by pressing PAUSE and then pressing OPTION 2

STAFF
Programmer: Chuck Sommerville

CONTRIBUTE
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