Introduction

Welcome to Popeye, a Spectrum 48K/128K conversion of the Popeye arcade game.

Olive, who stands or walks around at the top of the screen, tosses out hearts, musical notes or the letters of the word "HELP!" for Popeye to catch. He must chase after these items and collect them before they fall to the ground and break.

Other Popeye characters to make an appearance in the game are Wimpy, Sweetpea, the Sea Hag and her Vulture. Each of these characters appear at various points throughout the game.

The game has three levels - the dock, the street and the shipboard. These repeat with increasing difficulty.

The Levels

On the first level, Olive Oyl stands at the top of the screen and tosses 24 hearts one at a time down to the bottom, hoping that Popeye will catch them all. If a heart reaches the bottom of the screen, you will have about ten seconds to pick it up before it breaks, costing you one of your lives.

The second level is much like the first, except Olive Oyl is dropping musical notes, now 16 of them, one at a time. The major difference is the layout, with Wimpy on the plank in the lower corner. If Popeye jumps off the second floor, he will be catapulted up to the third floor. With some careful timing, you can even make Popeye leap all the way up to the fourth floor, where Sweetpea is waiting on a balloon platform.

The setting for the third level is a ship, with a sliding platform on the top floor. At the beginning of the board you should be able to slide Popeye across the platform several times, catching the letters H-E-L-P that Olive Oyl is dropping directly above.

Try to catch the hearts as high as possible, since they decrease in value as they get closer to the bottom.

Every time Popeye catches a letter, one step is added to a ladder which goes up to Olive Oyl. When the ladder is finished, Olive Oyl is rescued.

The third level is the most difficult, because a large number of letters are needed to complete the ladder and save Olive Oyl. The Vulture will constantly appear from the left side of the screen. While sliding back and forth across the platform, you should try to punch The Vulture as many times as possible, to score 1000 points per punch.

After Popeye has rescued Olive Oyl on the third level, there will be an intermission that will have Popeye's face while "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man" plays followed by Popeye blowing his pipe and going "Toot! Toot!". Afterwards, the game begins again with increased difficulty.

Bluto

If Bluto harasses you, cross the edge of the screen from left to right and wait for him to stop directly underneath the bucket. Hit the punching bag at this point and the bucket will fall onto his head, rendering him helpless for a while. This will score you 2,000 points and give you some time to catch a few more hearts.

Like in the cartoons, Popeye becomes stronger after eating spinach. A can of spinach moves between the second and third floors of the screen and you can have Popeye eat it by punching the can. Afterwards, Popeye become stronger than Bluto for about 10 seconds. If you can punch Bluto at this time, he falls into the sea, temporarily knocked out, and you will be awarded 3,000 points.

Bluto will eventually recover so make good use of this time by catching as many falling hearts as possible. They are worth twice as much when Popeye is under the influence of spinach, so catching some of the higher hearts can really help your score. And since extra lives are only awarded at a very high score, you should be as greedy as possible.

To make up for his lumbering slowness, Bluto is capable of throwing beer bottles at Popeye. These must be either avoided or punched.

On all levels, Bluto can reach from underneath or bend down from higher floors to lower ones - be careful that you are not underneath him!

The Sea Hag

The Sea Hag also throws bottles, except she only throws one at a time. The Sea Hag materializes on the edge of the screen for a moment, chucks a bottle, and disappears. She can also be on both sides of the screen at once. So if you are caught between two Sea Hags or between Bluto and The Sea Hag, you will need to be quick on the joystick and Punch button to survive.

Hints And Tips

1. Cans of Spinach
   The can of spinach can only be used once per level, and it is not restored after you lose a life. Do not use it too soon! Collect about two thirds of the total number of hearts, and have as many hearts fill the air as possible before getting the spinach.
    
   Note: If you touch the bottom of Sweetpea whilst under the influence of spinach, you will score 1,000 points instead of 500.
2. Punch Bluto Then Stun Him
   You can double the points awarded by dropping the bucket onto Bluto by doing the following: Firstly, wait until you have punched him - best done when after eating spinach! - and then position Popeye to the punching bag. After Bluto comes out of the sea, he will move underneath the bucket but will be on the bottom floor.
    
   With some practice and timing you should be able to drop the bucket onto his head.
    
   Note: Touching Bluto while the bucket is on his head is not fatal. But be careful, because after the bucket comes off he can easily knock out Popeye.
3. Maximise The Beer Bottles
   Try to force Bluto to throw bottles as often as possible - four at a time - and punch instead of avoiding them. This scores extra points.

Scoring

Extra life at 20,000 points

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Spectrum 128K owners select Loader from main menu.

Note: The Spectrum 128K version contains additional music.