Choplifter! Atari 7800 FAQ/Strategy Guide Version: 1.0 Author: Larcen Tyler Last Revision Date: 08/11/06 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This document is electronically published work Copyrighted ¸2006 by Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair. Permission is granted to make a copy _ONLY_ as a personal reference copy, in which case the document _MUST_ remain in its original, unedited form. Any other reproduction is strictly prohibited. This document may not be used as a promotional item or for profitable means of any kind (even if no profit is intended to be gained.) This document is only allowed to appear on the GameFAQs website and no other website whatsoever, nor may any part of this document appear on any website for any reason whatsoever. Choplifter! is a registered trademark of Broderbund Software. Atari 7800 and any accessories mentioned within are registered trademarks and/or copyrighted materials owned by Atari Games. GameFAQs is a registered trademark and copyrighted 1995-2006 by Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey. Any other names mentioned within not mentioned within this section are registered trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners. Larcen Tyler is in no way affiliated with any of the companies listed above, or their affiliates in any way. No affiliation should be assumed for any reason whatsoever. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. REVISION HISTORY 2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME 3. SCORING INFORMATION 4. TIPS 5. CONTACT INFORMATION 6. CREDITS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. REVISION HISTORY Version 1.0 02/13/06: I'm in a writing mood, what can I say? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME The Bungeling Empire is up to no good again! During a World Peace Conference, sixty-four delegates were kidnapped and imprisoned within their stronghold, being held as hostages. The Bungelings mean business, as they're armed with high-powered tanks, jet fighters, and even aerial mines, all intended as a deterrent against a rescue effort. Luckily, the allies have already made a strategic move of their own. On the outskirts of the empire is a secret base which is disguised as a post office. And with are a few special attack helicopters, armed with machine guns and bombs. You are the pilot who has been chosen for this special assignment. Your objective is to fly into the Bungeling territory, attack their prison camps, rescue the hostages, and return them to the base, while protecting them from the attacks of the Bungeling Empire. Good luck! PREPARING FOR YOUR MISSION: Set up your Atari 7800 and plug a Pro-Line joystick into the left controller jack. Choplifter! is a one player game, and can only be played with a Pro-Line joystick. Plug in the Choplifter! game cartridge, and power up your system. After a brief loading period, the Choplifter! title screen will appear, along with a brief musical introduction. Press either button or the Reset switch to begin the mission. (The Select switch isn't used in Choplifter!) You will see your helicopter on the helipad along with the words 'FIRST SORTIE' on the screen. The Battle Hymn of the Republic will play quickly, and then you will be given control of your chopper. FLYING YOUR CHOPPER: To take off or move upwards, push the joystick upwards. Push it downwards to descend. Tilt the joystick left or right to move in that direction. The left button controls your weapons. When you are facing sideways, you will fire your cannon, while facing towards the screen will allow you to drop bombs. Pressing the right button will cause your chopper to change direction. You start facing left, and pressing the right button will turn it to a forward facing direction, and then to the right. Pressing it again will face it forwards, and then left. RESCUING THE HOSTAGES: Once you have taken off, fly to the left. Once you pass the small Fuji insignias (Atari logos) on the ground, you are in Bungeling Territory. You should encounter your first prison camp shortly. Fire a cannon shot at it to blow it open, and the hostages should run out. Don't shoot at any of the hostages, as you can accidentally kill them with your shots! Land your chopper, but DON'T LAND ON ANY OF THE HOSTAGES, or you'll crush them! Instead, just sit there and wait for them to board. Watch out, though, as the Bungelings will send tanks to shoot your chopper and the hostages. When all of the hostages are either onboard your chopper and/or dead, return them to the base. Your chopper can hold only sixteen hostages at a time, so make sure you drop them off before attempting to rescue more hostages. To rescue them, land on the helipad and wait for them to disembark from your chopper, one at a time, untill none are left onboard. THE BUNGELING FORCES: The Bungelings know that you're attempting to strike them, and they're not going to sit there and let you rescue the hostages. They'll attack you with the following methods: TANK: Tanks are ground based vehicles which have cannons that can only hit things on the ground, and while you're safe from them in the air, on the ground or at low altitudes you're at risk for being hit by their fire. They can also kill hostages with their cannon fire, so be careful. Tanks must be hit with a bomb to be destroyed. JET FIGHTER: Jet fighters will either attempt to crash into your chopper or use their air-to-air missiles to shoot you. Their missiles can also be used as bombs, which can blow open prisons and kill hostages, so be careful when you're on the ground. AERIAL MINES: Shoot it or avoid it, but don't touch it or you're toast! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3. SCORING INFORMATION Scoring is slightly different from most video games in Choplifter! There are four prison camps, each one containing 16 hostages, for a total of sixty-four hostages. There are three indicators at the top of the screen, which indicate your score. RED: Dead hostages. A hostage can be killed by being shot or landed on. Any hostages onboard your chopper when it's shot down will also die. WHITE: Hostages currently onboard your chopper. The maximum that can be onboard is sixteen. If your chopper is shot down, any hostages onboard will perish. BLUE: Hostages that have successfully been rescued. You begin your game with three choppers, and cannot earn extra choppers at all. The game ends when you are shot down three times, or when there are no more hostages to rescue. Your final score is determined by how many hostages were rescued. The highest possible score is sixty-four hostages rescued. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4. TIPS -The controls in this game are rather sensitive, so take some time to get used to them before you actually go into the danger zone. -Tanks can move very quickly, so if you see one, take off and destroy it with a bomb before returning to continue picking up hostages. -Jet fighters are extremely accurate with their missiles, especially when you're on the ground. The best thing to do is dodge their missiles and shoot the fighters. If you see one while you're landed, quickly take off and evade the missile it will fire, before countering with your own shots. -This game isn't easy, don't be frustrated if you can't get a perfect 64 the first time you play. Be patient and don't give up. -And the one rule all chopper pilots remember when up in the air, HAVE FUN! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5. CONTACT INFORMATION READ THIS BEFORE YOU SEND ME ANY E-MAIL! The following types of E-Mail I will _NOT_ accept under any circumstances: -Mail that contains flaming (insults) or offensive content within. If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything! -Spam/Advertisements of any kind. This is against the law, and will not be taken lightly. -Asking if you can use this on your website/in your FAQ/Magazine/anything like that will not be tolerated. In case you missed it, I specifically stated that I won't allow it in the disclaimer section at the beginning. -Asking where to find this game in a ROM format, or any other illegal software requests will be ignored. -Asking me where to find this cartridge. (Honestly, I wish I knew where to find Atari games, but I have as much of a hard time finding them as you probably do! Your best bet is to check online.) The following types of E-Mail I will accept: -Suggestions and/or constructive criticism. -Strategies of your own. -Any information I may have left out in this version. -Generally, anything that will help me improve this guide in future revisions! (Make sure you put "Choplifter! Guide" as your subject line.) You can reach me at: larcentyler7650 (at) yahoo (dot) com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6. CREDITS Now that all is said and done, time for the credits: -My mother, for buying the Atari 2600 when it first came out, which made me learn to love video games and buy an Atari 7800 when my 2600 was on the fringe a few years back. -Dan Gorlin, for designing Choplifter! -Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey, for providing us writers with a place to share our work. -Atari, for putting out the Atari 7800 and publishing this game. -AtariAge (www.AtariAge.com) for all the information I needed to confirm while I was writing this. -And of course, YOU, for reading my guide! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ¸2006 Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair All rights reserved.