Mayhem in Monsterland
platform game for Commodore 64, 1993
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Mayhem didn't enjoy living in Monsterland; it was always cold, it was always
windy, and it rained every Sunday. It was clearly no place for a cute baby
dinosaur.
However, rumour has it that Monsterland has not always been such an unpleasant
place to live. The sun used to shine onto green fields with luscious
vegetation and scenic mountains... until an apprentice magic dinosaur had too
much cactus juice and decided to practice a few of his master's spells. the
next morning, when all the monsters awoke, Monsterland had been transformed
into a very dark and unhappy place. Mayhem wants to change Monsterland back,
but has no magic powers to do this, so he enlists the help of his friend Theo
Saurus, the dinosaur responsible for Monsterland's ghastly state. Theo lives
below Monsterland in a hidden cave to avoid the wrath of the monsters - here
he waits for Mayhem to collect magic dust. With this in his possession, he
flies across Monsterland sprinkling the magic dust in order to transform it
back to a happy place.
However, because Theo is only a trainee, his magic doesn't always work as well
as he'd like it to. Some of the magic dust that he spreads over Monsterland
is a little excessive, and clumps together to form magic stars. This magic
could be dangerous in the wrong hands, so Mayhem must collect any magic stars
he finds to prevent any further disasters.
GAMEPLAY
Monsterland consists of five different levels; Jellyland, Pipeland,
Spottyland, Cherryland, and Rockland. When Mayhem starts a level, the land
is dark, dismal, and downright miserable - the aim of each level is to find
all the bags of MAGIC DUST and give them to Theo to make the level 'happy'
again. Each level has a different quota of magic dust bags to collect, and
only certain monsters leave them behind. When all the dust has been
collected (see STATUS), the entrance to Theo's cave will start to animate -
Mayhem must find this entrance and drop down to hand over the dust.
Once the land has been converted, Mayhem will re-emerge in the happy version
of the level. His task here is to collect a designated amount of stars.
Again, each level has a different quota, but bonus points can be earned by
collecting more stars than necessary (see STATUS). The rotating stars spin
at different speeds - the faster they spin, the more points they are worth.
as well as the rotating stars, certain monsters leave stars behind when
killed (see BONUSES). Once the star quota has been collected, Mayhem must
find the 'finish line' (which is surrounded by black & white checkers) and
cross over it. Skidding over the live will result in an extra bonus
(see CONTROL).
CONTROL
IN GAME:
RUN STOP - Pause (move joystick to resume)
Q (from pause) - Quit game
MAYHEM
Pushing left/right on the joystick will make Mayhem walk left/right,
increasing in speed the longer the joystick is held left/right.
When Mayhem is walking at his fastest, pressing fire (still holding the
joystick) will engage his charge mode - if the charge icon has been
collected (see BONUSES). Pushing the joystick in the opposite direction to
the charge will make Mayhem skid (the longer the joystick is held, the
shorter the skid).
Pushing up on the joystick will make Mayhem jump up, increasing in height the
longer the joystick is held up. Mayhem can also jump up through certain
platforms during the game, and these vary from level to level.
Pulling down on the joystick will cause Mayhem to duck. Pulling down and
pressing fire will make Mayhem drop through certain platforms (again, these
vary from level to level).
Mayhem is also equipped with a 'half-life', which effectively gives him two
chances. If hit by a monster, Mayhem will lose his half life. If he gets
hit again, he will die (unless he picks up another half life - see BONUSES).
BONUSES
Certain monsters, when killed, will leave behind a bonus icon for Mayhem to
collect...
MAGIC DUST (DUST BAG) - Found only on the sad levels, these must be collected
for Mayhem to progress to the happy version.
CHARGE (LIGHTNING BOLT) - This enables Mayhem to charge around at immense
speeds, and is only collected once during the entire game (on the happy
version of Jellyland).
SCORE MULTIPLIER (RABBIT) - When collected, this will multiply any points
collected, starting with 2 and up to a maximum of 5 with each subsequent
multiplier. The multiplier will decrease after a short time.
SHIELD (SHOOTING STAR) - This gives Mayhem temporary invincibility, allowing
him to kill most monsters on contact.
EXTRA TIME (ALARM CLOCK) - This will freeze the time counter for a short
time.
HALF LIFE (BLUE HEART) - This restores Mayhem's half life (if previously
lost).
EXTRA LIFE (RED HEART) - This will add an extra life to Mayhem's current
reserve.
CONTINUE (RAINBOW HEART) - This increases Mayhem's supply of continues.
STARS (BIG STAR) - This rewards Mayhem with 10 extra stars.
STATUS PANEL
SCORE - This shows the player's current score. Score multiplier grades
(x2, x3, x4, and x5) appear alongside this.
MAGIC (SAD ONLY) - This shows the amount of magic dust bags still to be
collected, and flashes when they have all been recovered.
STARS (HAPPY ONLY) - This shows the amount of stars remaining on the level,
and flashes when the quota of stars has been collected. Any further stars
collected will earn Mayhem extra bonus points.
TIME - This shows the amount of time remaining on the current level, and
flashes when the time reaches 60 seconds and 30 seconds (which is accompanied
by a warning alarm).
LIVES - This shows the lives left, and flashes if Mayhem loses his 'half
life' (see CONTROL).
MONSTER FEATURES
SPRINGBOARD MONSTERS - These fling Mayhem high up into the air, and are
especially useful for reaching those places which other monsters can't
reach.
INFLATORS - These have the same effect as springboard monsters, but are
equipped with deadly spikes. Mayhem must land carefully on this monster when
his chest is inflated, and not when the spikes are showing.
BANDITS - If Mayhem collides with this monster, it will steal stars from him
(up to a certain amount, which varies from level to level).
SPIKES & SHELLS - Mayhem will die if he runs into (or lands on) spikes.
Likewise, running into a shell or an indestructible monster will cause him to
bounce off.
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Some useful keyboard shortcuts
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[PAUSE] - stop/continue game
[F9] - quick load game state
[F12] - quick save game state (still stored after leaving the site)
[F11] - toggle fullscreen mode
[ScrollLock] - quick switch control ports
[PageDown] - make a screenshot (320x200)