History

This story, like many of the most fascinating stories, begins in a far far away place...

In an enchanted land, in a dream world, Shaolin Kid, a experienced apprentice of martial arts, wandered far and wide with the intention of improving his fighting techniques and helping the oppressed by the injustices and abuse of the powerful.

One day, chance had wanted him to be an unexpected spectator of the death of Little Indian's father at the hands of a soulless assasin. Faithful to his philosophy of life, he tried to find solace for his unfortunate friend, and promised to do everything in his power to revive his beloved father.

To achieve this purpose, there was only one thing that could be done: to obtain the elixir of life. A very difficult undertaking, since nobody knows for sure where to find such a magical concoction... But the difficulty of their task did not make them give up, quite the contrary, it was the germ of an inner force that led them to cross high mountains, vast plains and lush forests in search of the desired elixir.

And it was not until after many days that in a remote village a native told them of the fantastic powers of the witch Baba Yaga. So Shaolin Kid and Little Indian, fully confident that her reasonable request would be taken care of by the witch, made their way to their majestic palace...

How To Play

Your objective is to overcome the 100 levels that compose Baba's palace. To pass each level, you must eliminate all the enemies that appear in it. Eliminating an enemy is simple, you only have to reach him from a side and our character will destroy it with a blow, to occupy its space.

There are levels where you control the Shaolin Kid and others where you can control both Shaolin Kid and Little Indian, although in the latter case you can only control one of them at a time. To change the control of one character to another, press the ACTION key (default, SPACEBAR or JOYSTICK BUTTON).

The levels are composed of the following elements, with which you can interact to achieve your goal:

1. Solid Block
   On these blocks you can walk, but you will not be able to cross them or modify them in any sense. They make up the basic structure of a level.
2. Sand Block
   This type of block can be destroyed. You can walk on them, but also cross them from the sides and destroy them, thereby modifying the structure of the level.
3. Stone
   Stones are solid elements that you can walk on and that can not be destroyed. The stones can be pushed from the sides, as long as there is a space adjoining the other side.
4. Ground Enemy
   This enemy type is always on some level element. To eliminate them you must approach them with your character from the sides. If you modify the element on it is, for example, pushing a stone, the enemy will fall until landing on another element that according to the level.
5. Flying Enemy
6. Ladder
   The ladder will allow your to move up and down. You can also jump between adjacent stairs that are at the same height.
7. Buddy
   At certain levels you can control two characters, but only one character at a time. You will not be able to push, cross, eliminate or occupy the space of the non-active character, but you can place yourself on top of it, walk over or drop it by eliminating the element on which the partner is.

After eliminating the last enemy of each level, a LEVEL CODE will be displayed, which will allow you to continue the game at another time by remembering the levels that you had already overcome.

During the game, you will see the last level code provided either by pressing ESC during a game, or returning to the main menu.

Game Controls

To interact with the menus you need to press the number corresponding to the option you want to select. Press ESC to skip intro.

When the game is loaded you can see the main menu with the following options:

1. Joystick : Start starting using the joystick as control system.
2. Keyboard : Start starting using the keyboard as control system.
3. Redefine : Access to redefine the keys of the control system.
4. Load level : Access to enter a level code to continue a game.

The default keys are CURSORS to move in the appropriate direction and SPACEBAR to change the control between characters.

In case of redefining keys, remember to use the sequence O P Q A, the quality standard approved in popular referendum on October 1, 2017 in RetroZaragoza, since if you redefine with the sequence Q A O P, handle the character will be almost impossible...

Finally, from the main menu you can enter a code level. This will allow you to continue a game remembering levels had already overcome.

During gameplay press ESC to access a contextual menu with the following options:

1. Continue : To close the context menu and continue the game (or you press ESC).
2. Restart : To restart the level with every item as it was the first time.
0. Quit : To end the game and return to main menu.

The Restart option should be used whenever, trying to solve a level, you get to a blocking situation that makes it impossible to finish that level.

Note that even if you decide to exit the main menu during the course of a game using the Quit option, the system will remember the levels exceeded, so that when you start a new game, you will start the level that you have stayed for (as if you would have used the restart level option).

Continue Game

Baba's Palace contains 100 levels and it is not easy to reach the end in a single game. To simplify this task the game uses a code system that will allow you to continue your game at another time after you have turned off your personal computer.

Each time you pass a level, the game will provide you with an exclusive LEVEL CODE consisting of 4 letters. In addition, by pressing ESC during the course of a game you will be able to access the last level code provided by the system. Also, whenever you return to the main menu, the game will indicate the highest level you have reached next to your level code.

Remember to note the level code before turning off your personal computer so that you can continue your game at another time and not lose your progress!

Hints And Tips

1. There are actions that do not involve risk, because they are reversible without affecting the solution of the level, but others will not have back. Think hard before performing a non-reversible action.
2. The first levels may seem simple to solve, but thanks to them you can learn basic mechanics that you must master in order to solve complex levels. Pay attention!
3. The more complex levels require very creative solutions, and not always the action that seems most appropriate is the right one.
4. To finish a level you have to eliminate all the enemies, but that does not imply that you must eliminate all the enemy that is within your reach. There are moments of the game where you will need them to reach places that would otherwise be inaccessible.
5. All levels have been tested one by one and have a solution! When you find yourself stuck in some, do not despair.

Loading

Tape Version:
|TAPE (ENTER)
RUN" (ENTER)

Disc version:

1. Amstrad CPC 464/464 plus
   If you have an external drive DDI-1, make sure to first turn on this unit and then the Amstrad CPC. Insert the disc into the drive, type |DISC and then press ENTER/RETURN .Then type RUN"babaspal and press ENTER/RETURN .
2. Amstrad CPC 664/6128/6128 plus
   Insert the disc into the drive, type RUN"babaspal and then press ENTER/RETURN .

Game Credits

Code & Graphics: Rafa Castillo (@azicuetano)
Music & Sound Effects: John McKlain (@elmcklain)

Dedicated to all those who in their childhood were lucky enough to play video games on 8-bit machines, and could daydream with those prodigious pixelated graphics and hum those wonderful chiptune melodies.

And our sincere thanks to:

• Our families, by the time we removed them to dedicate ourselves to these follies.
• Fran Gallego, to create CPCtelera and teach all the intricacies of Amstrad.
• Ivan Castillo and Victoria Castillo for the beta testing work.
• Alberto Meseguer for your help for testing in a real Amstrad.
• All developers that allow us to learn by sharing their source code.