SMURF RESCUE IN GARGAMEL'S CASTLE(Atari 2600) FAQ version 1.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Please do not reproduce this for profit without my consent; however, a mail addressing me by name should be enough if you want to post this document on your website. ****NOT AS BAD AS THE POP-UP AD THAT WOULDN'T DIE**** Check out my largely stagnant Atari games page at: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/games/atari.htm ...and the "sister page" games.htm for more general old games. ======== OUTLINE INTRODUCTION POINTS SCENES(FIRST LEVEL) HIGHER LEVELS VERSIONS/CREDITS ======== INTRODUCTION You are controlling some random and certifiably generic Smurf who must run past various obstacles into Gargamel's castle and rescue Smurfette. Your reward is that you get to do something harder again later, usually more repetition of a scene, up to four times. Persistence is smurfy! Controls are pretty simple. You could never use a "fire" button in a Smurf game, so there's only moving(nice Leisure Suit Larry walk there, smurfo--say, you're wearing Larry's colors, too!) left and right and jumping(move the joystick up.) Now if you are moving left or right, your smurf jumps in that direction. If you are standing in place, he jumps in the air. If you tap the joystick up twice, his second jump will be greater than the first. If your smurf was standing in place, he will jump in the direction he was facing. This game isn't too bad as it requires some reflexes on the higher levels(you can start on levels 1-4) and yet is still cute on the easiest level. I use some terminology you should be aware of throughout the faq. To "one-jump" means to jump once, and to "two-jump" means to make two quick jumps in a row, the second being longer. A "running two-jump" means that you will be moving in a certain direction before you jump. A "standing two-jump" means you are standing still and when not specified this is what "two-jump" means. POINTS You get 300 for a one-jump over an obstacle and 400 for a two-jump-- though the animals(snake, bird, spider) don't give you any points when you go past them. In many cases, you can't make a one-jump over an obstacle, so you can only get 400. Rescuing Smurfette gets you 1000 points, and you don't seem to get any more extra lives after the one at 10000. You also can't hog points on the same screen, even if you go back to a previous screen for a moment. SCENES(FIRST LEVEL) 1. The scene where your smurf leaves the house. Not much to do here except walk to the right. 2. The fence scene. To jump over the fence, get a few steps to the left, and do a two-jump. You will get 400 for clearing the fence. 3. The river scene. Get just to the left of the river and do a two-jump. You will get 400 points. 4. The stair scene. Do a two-jump, move a bit forward, and do another two-jump. 800 points. 5. The spider scene. Go a bit forward, do a two-jump, wait unti the spider has just passed above you, and go forward. Before the edge of the pit, do another two-jump. 800 points. 6. The river scene, repeated. Get just to the left of the river and do a two-jump. You will get 400 points. 7. Gargamel's Castle. A quick two-jump(a one-jump will work too) followed by moving backwards to the edge of the first purple platform and another two-jump, followed by another two-jump onto the top of the chair and a final two-jump(from the edge if you want to be sure) to get to Smurfette. 1600+1000=2600 points. Total=400+400+800+800+400+2600=2800+2600=5400 for the first level, assuming you never one-jump, which is the safer way to complete levels. HIGHER LEVELS The scenes are still in the same order, but there are more of them. On level X, you will have to repeat scenes 2-6 (X or 4, whichever is less) times before you get to the next scene. If you die, you lose credit for the number of times you've passed a scene. The monsters, which appear for the first time on the second level, also tend to go faster as you increase levels. The bird is not too annoying in scene 2. Be aware that the fence disappears and the bird appears when you cross the halfway point. A quick two-jump will see him off, but to make sure of things, keep jumping until you're off the edge. Jumping is faster than running, and the bird may turn around or leave stage left and re-appear on the right. The snake on scenes 3 and 6 can be a random nuisance. There's no assurance you can get past it, but you'll want to get to the edge of the river and two-jump. By level four you'll want to do so before the snake is in the river. Again, keep jumping after your two-jump, as you'll go faster and avoid the snake running the other way. The bird in scene 4 can be a nuisance. Again, wait for it to come to you(maybe nudge yourself forward so that you can bounce all the way through after your two-jump. Bouncing from your starting point will get you killed by the second step.) Don't be shy about backing out of the scene and returning if the bird comes in too quickly and catches you by surprise. That's an easy way to start over. You shouldn't get killed by the snake on the previous scene(which would be a nuisance.) Be advised that you'll have to do some walking or a one-jump besides the consecutive two-jumps. The spider is not a problem in scene 5, as you have many chances to time your run correctly. So points for finishing level 2 without losing a life = 2800*2+2600=8200 Points for finishing level 3 without losing a life = 2800*3+2600=11000 Points for finishing level 4+ without losing a life = 2800*4+2600=13800 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS Time is on your side for the first four levels. Maybe after that the game gets really sadistic, but I don't know. If you want to find out, don't blame me if you find yourself in a smurfy white straitjacket singing "La, la, la, la, la, la..." repeated playing of this game cannot be healthy. I feel playing this game is a lot like listening to "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" or that masterpiece by Napoleon XIV. There are several ways to die. Basically if you run into anything, you're toast. You just sit down and pout, and there's not much less smurfy than THAT. Scene 2: fence, bird. Scene 3, 6: snake, river(drown rather cutely, with air bubbles) Scene 4: walk or jump into stair, or touch bird Scene 5: touch the spider or jump into sloped pit walls Scene 7: touch the bird, run into a platform, or miss a jump. Note that the cloud on the left is an illusory platform--you'll take a big fall if you try to jump on it. Same for everything to the right of the chair. You can also die by jumping over the first platform. Long ago, in the '80s newsgroup, someone pointed out that the Smurf theme song and the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" have eerie similarities. Smurfette doesn't seem to be wearing a top in this game. Hmm. The top of your cap disappears if you double-jump while at the highest platform in any scene except the river scene. VERSIONS/CREDITS 1.0.0: submitted to GameFAQs 7/16/2001 as I had nothing better to do and needed to write something to get motivated. Greg Chance's History of Home Video Games page for getting me interested in this.