Game Scenario

As tired as he was, the loud ringing sound could not be blocked out by his phenomenal level of exhaustion. Slowly, he opens his eyes and, pushing his remote percussion keyboard aside, proceeds to answer the phone.

"Rupert! Wake up! cries Rupert's manager, Bill Boombox frantically.

"Hardrock Harry, manager of Music Box Records, has stolen all your musical manuscripts and plans to release your song under his name!! Your entire future is at stake! Get those manuscripts back! Fast!!" Click!

Rupert stumbles to his feet wearily, quickly rubs a pinch of gel into his hair, and proceeds to the task at hand.

You must help Rupert infiltrate Music Box Records and collect all his stolen notes which are scattered throughout the complex. Ride the crazy elevators and beware of the security robots on patrol. After collecting all the stolen notes, you must work out their correct sequence before Rupert can perform his first live concert which will lift him to international fame and fortune!

Rupert Rythym is a strategy game featuring seventeen all-different, colour graphic screens and some of the hottest digitised percussion music you've ever heard on your Tandy Color Computer 3.

Gameplay

On entry to "Music Box Records", you appear in the master hall room. Here are sixteen doors which lead to the sixteen rooms of the building. A portion of your stolen rhythm has been hidden in each of these rooms. On entering a room, you will notice that all the flashing platforms are coloured magenta. By walking over these, they will change to cyan. Change all the platforms to cyan and you will retrieve a rhythm component and be returned to the master hall. A glowing musical note will appear on the door of each room searched. You will notice that all the doors are labelled from A to P. Each rhythm component you retrieve will also have a label from A to P which is displayed only when you complete a room. You must, via the control panel in the master hall, manipulate the rhythm components so that each is on its accompanying door. Once you have retrieved all the components and manipulated them in the correct sequence, you have the building to perform your debut live concert! (Graphically displayed on your computer screen)

The Control Panel

In the master hall room is a small control panel display used for manipulating the rhythm components into their correct sequence. Two keyboard commands can be issued to this panel. Pressing S displays SWAP followed by a flashing cursor. At the cursor, enter a door letter. Another cursor will appear allowing you to enter the second door letter. If the doors selected have valid rhythm components, their contents will be swapped. You must keep track of what rhythem component is behind which door. Pressing P displays PLAY and begins playing the complete rhythm retrieved at that point in the order from door A to door P. The panel will also display NO if the component played at that door is out of sequence or OK if it is correct. Holding down the P key will allow you to single step through the rhythm. Pressing the CLEAR key in either the SWAP or PLAY functions will cancel that function and return you to normal gameplay.

The Security Robots

On entering any of the sixteen doors in the master hall room, you enter a room filled with pulsing pink/magenta platforms, elevators and patrolling security robots. There are two types of robots to deal with. The first, Drogs (DROid GuardS), patrol the platforms and elevators. The second, a Scanner Ball, floats around the room relaying information to the Drogs. This one must be avoided completely while the Drogs, though still dangerous, can be confused and diverted by throwing a fire cracker in their path.

Defence And Strategy

Strategy and patience is required to successfully guide Rupert through all 16 closed rooms of the 'Music Box' building.

You start with an unlimited supply of fire crackers in your pocket (big pocket!). Use these crackers to confuse and divert the Drogs but remember that you can only light one cracker at a time. In your other pocket, you have a packet of Super Pep Energy Gum. There are five 'Peps' per packet (one pack per life). Chewing one of these makes you temporarily invincible to the robots but use them sparingly. Use these defence aids strategically to force Drogs where you want them to go therefore saving you valuable time and points.

Try and keep track of the direction of each elevator during play. Don't waste time by running to an elevator that is going in the wrong direction. Plan ahead so that an elevator will be at a platform when you arrive there.

There are several different answer rhythms stored within the program. The computer selects one of these randomly every time you start a game. It also randomly jumbles the room assignments making each game different and unpredictable every time you play.

Game Controls

Joystick left/right - Move Rupert left/right
Throw fire cracker - Joystick button 1
Activate Pep mode - Joystick button 2/Spacevar
Enter door in master hall - Joystiick button 1
Swap notes in master hall - S
Play notes in master hall - P
Pause game ON/OFF - F1
Abort game/Return to title - CTRL-F2

Scoring

The score counter always starts at 5,000 and behinds decrementing by 1 till it reaches zero. Every time you change a platform to cyan, 200 will be added to the score counter. Therefore, you must complete the room as quickly as possible to as not to lose too many points.

System Requirements

1. Tandy 128K/512K Color Computer 3
2. Cassette player
3. Television or Monitor
4. Joystick (2 button Tandy Deluxe Joystick recommended)