Hydra
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
Publisher: Domark
_________________________

If being the best speedboat racer in the world were all there was to life, you'd live on easy street. But when the government of Hydra has asked for your help in defeating Hydra's enemies by couriering parts to a secret weapon, and those enemies know you're coming... well then, life gets interesting.

Race down narrow swamp lanes to deliver parts of a secret weapon to bases at the finish of each section. Enemies will be shooting at you, but you can shoot back with Uzi Cannons and Nukes. Collect crystals along the way to boost your speed or shields.

---

HYDRA

The Rivers of Death!

Enemy thieves are trying to stealk the greatest treasures in Hydra. 
These are no ordinary museum pieces. Each of these valuable artifacts 
hides an important piece of the secret weapon needed to defeat 
the enemy. So the goverment issued you an experimental speed boat. 
You must use this powerful craft to navigate the treacherous rivers 
of Hydra and collect the treasures from the secret checkpoints 
before the enemy thieves get them first. If you succeed, you will 
be a very popular guy. Fail and you'll be all wet.

Getting Started

1. Insert your Hydra game cartridge in your Lynx. 
2. Turn on Lynx. The Hydra Screen title appears. 
3. Press the joypad to choose one of the courses, Easy, Medium, or Hard 
4. Press A or B. A picture of our hero appears with a map of the 
course while a conveyor belt carries the first treasure to dock. 
5. Press A or B to begin game.   

Playing the Game

Hydra is an aquatic racing adventure in which your goal is to deliver 
a series of treasures, weapons, and other cargo without getting 
toasted by enemy warriors or crashing into one of the many hazards 
along the river.

When the game begins, your UltraBoost Powercraft is docked at the 
river bank. The first cargo is onloaded, and you're ready to let 
her rip. The screen shows a power gauge, and the current score. 
Press down on the joypad when the cargo is onloaded. When your 
craft starts its journey, a speed gauge also appears, along with 
a picture of the cargo.

Use the joypad and option buttons to control your craft, as described below:  

Accelerate:           Press down on the joypad.
Slow Down:            Press up on the pad.
Steer Left or Right:  Press the joypad left or right.
Boost into the air:   Press Option 2
Change Weapons:       Press Option 1 (Option 1 has no effect if you 
                      have only one weapon.)

You must steer along the river without crashing into any of the many 
obstacles. Fortunately you have a high-powered weapon to help 
you blast everything in your path. As you run the river, keep 
an eye out for enemies, obstacles, crystals and money bags.

Run over blue and green crystals to get more fuel for your Powercraft. 
Fuel drums also give you more fuel. Run over orange crystals to 
get more boosts. Boosts allow you to fly for a brief period so 
you can collect items in the air, shoot flying enemies, and jump 
over hazards. You can only carry three boosts at any one time.

Run over anything else and you're likely to end up in a fiery wreck. 
If you crash, you lose your cargo and the Shawdon boat picks up 
your cargo and carries it in front of you. You must shoot the 
Shawdon boat to place your cargo in front of you in the middle 
of the river. If you miss the Shawdon boat and pass it, it will 
move in front of you again; if you shoot it but do not pick up 
your cargo, it will pick it up and move in front of you again.

In any case, if you lose your cargo, you must search for it as it 
floats downstream. Run over it to pick it up. But be careful. 
At high speeds, the cargo often looks alot like hazards in the water.

Each level of the game is divided into segments. You must complete 
each segment without crashing or running out of fuel. If you run 
out of fuel, the game ends. You can press A to continue, but you 
will lose all points. If you successfully complete a segment, 
your ship is automatically refueled and you continue to the next 
segment. The number of segments in a level depends on the level 
you are trying to complete.

At the end of each level, you reach a dock where a couple of your 
most gorgeous fans wait to take the cargo from you. After offloading 
the cargo, you are sent to a bonus phase where you have a chance 
to pick up extra cash by collecting fire rings.

After completeing the bonus round, you may purchase supplies at the 
shop. The available supplies are:  

Uzi Cannon:  Fires rapid-fire double shots.
Nuke:        Destroys everything on the screen.
Fuel:        Gets a full tank of gas.
Shield:      Protects the Powercraft from enemy fire.
Homer:       Seeks out the enemy vehicles and blows them away.
Boost:       Provides one air boost.
6-way Shot:  Fires a six shot burst.

To purchase an item, press the joypad until the selector box is on 
the desired item, then press A or B. You can continue to purchase 
items until you have run out of money or the shop is out of its 
very limited supplies. After doing your shopping, you will continue 
to the next level.

Strategy

Learn to recognize cargo as it float in the water. Otherwise, you 
will not get paid. Without money, you cannot strengthen your craft. 
That means you will probably be creamed by enemy missles.

Get as much fuel as possible. Without it, you don't stand a chance.

Know when to fly, and when to stay low. There are a few things in 
life more frustrating than missing all the money bags because 
you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shoot enemy craft whenever possible. The rewards are great.

Scoring

Money:
 
Small Money Bags:             $2500
Large Money Bags:             $5000
Fire Ring (Bonus Dome Only):  $5000

Points: 
 
Deliver Cargo:                 10,000
Landing on disc in Bonus Dome:   1000 to 20,000
Collect Fire Ring:                200 to 10,000
Sink Ship:                       5000
Destroy Flying Jet:              3000
Destroy Punk Island:             2000
Sink Gray Shooting Boat:         2000
Blast Helicopter:                1000
Shoot Halftrack:                  500 
Blast Hovercraft:                 500
Shoot Tug Boat:                   400
Sink Armored Boat:                300
Blow Up Jet Ski:                  200
Shoot Down Zeppelin:              200
Blast Police Boat:                100
Destroy Black Shawdon Boat:       100



    Video Game Advantage WWW manual archive -- http://www.io.com/~vga2000
