For many years the mighty mages of the planet Xarg have been involved in a life and death struggle to decide the fate of their world.

The world and the populace have now been so ravaged by this war that the master mage Manuras of the Many Hues (known to his enemies as Manuras the Muddy) has put his foot down (The builders will be in on Monday to repair the hole) and organised a final round of duels to decide who shall rule the planet.

As the premier wizards of Xarg, you have been selected to represent your faction in the final battle.

A game of magical combat between the Wizards of the Tri-Suns or supermacy of the planet Xarg. Both dexterity and deduction are needed in order to outwit your opponent as spell is traded against spell.

Two joysticks required.

For many years the mighty mages of the planet Xarg have been involved in a life and deaath struggle to decide the fate of their world. the world and the populace have now been so ravaged by this war that the master mage Manuras of the Many Hues (known to his enemies as Manuras the Muddy) has put his foot down (The builders will be in on Monday to repair the hole!) and organised a final round of duels to decide who shall rule the planet. As the premier wizards of Xarg, you have been selected to represent your faction in the final battle.

The contest will be a series of duels between two wizards of differing colours. Each team will start with the same amount of manna (energy), split evenly between the members of the team. For each duel, each wizard will be allowed a set amount of manna. When one of the wizards has used all his manna the duel will be over and two new wizards will be selected. When a wizard has used all his manna he dies, and the winners are the team of wizards who survive.

We who are about to watch you die salute you...

The computer will first ask you how many people are playing the game. There can be from 2 to 9 players, but if there are more than 3 they will be grouped into three teams. When you have selected the number of players, the computer will then ask for their names.

You will then be asked whether you wish to select the teams, or have the computer select the teams randomly. There are three possible teams, red, green and yellow. The colour you select (or are given) will affect which spells you can throw and how well you throw them.

The last thing you will be asked is whether or not you want to have secret spell selection. If you have secret selection then you will not know what spell your opponent has chosen until he launches it. If you choose non-secret selection then the spells chosen will be shown after both players have selected.

The first duel is now ready to start and the first two players will be displayed on the screen.

The spell selection display is divided into two halves. The top half is for the first player. This player will be on the left hand side of the duel display and shouldu= use the left joystick. The bottom half of the screen is for the second player, who will be on the right hand side of the duel display and should use the right joystick. Players may change sides between duels so always ensure you have the correct joystick.

Each display shows the name and colour of the wizard, how much manna he has remaining for this duel, and a choice of four spells. To select a spell, position your joystick in the corner which corresponds to the spell you wish to choose. For example, if you want to choose the upper left hand spell, position your joystick in the upper left hand corner. When the joystick is correctly positioned, press the Fire button to select the spell. When selected, the green "?" in the centre of the spells will change to a solid square the same colour as the wizard. After both players have chosen their spells, if non-secret selection has been chosen, these centre squares will indicate which spell each wizard has chosen.

The display will now switch to the duel display. There will be a short delay. When a red square is displayed at the bottom of the screen in the centre, you can launch your spells by pressing the Fire button on your joystick. After you spell has been launched, follow the specific instructions for that spell. At any time prior to both players launching their spells, this round of the duel may be cancelled by pressing ENTER.

Manna is deducated for casting a spell when the spell is launched, so if you are very low on manna, you can wait until your opponent's spell is over and then press ENTER at no cost to yourself.

If both players select defensive spells, the round will automatically be declared over. The round will also be declared if one player uses his offensive spell and misses and the other player has a defensive spell.

There follows a description of each spell. It states the name of the spell and its colour. If the colour of the spell is ANY then any colour of wizard may throw the spell with equal effect. If a specific colour is named, that colour wizard will throw the spell better than other wizards. The colour of the sun in the sky also affects the effectiveness of coloured spells. For example, a red wizard throwing a red spell under a red sun will be the most effective use of the spell, but a yellow wizard throwing a red spell under a red sun is better than a yellow wizard throwing a red spell without a red sun in the sky.

The suns rise and set at set intervals. The red sun will rise and set every other round, the green will be in the sky for two rounds and down for two rounds, and the yellow sun will be up for four rounds and down for four rounds.

At the bottom of each spell description is a quick guide to the spell's operation.

This is the amount of manna required to cast the spell (Low/Average/High). A defensive spell costs less to throw than an offensive one, so a high cost defensive spell costs about the same to throw as a low cost defensive one.

This is the amount of damage the spell does to your opponent.

This is how long the spell will last. An infinite duration means the spell will last to the end of the round. A limited duration speall will run out of energy after a while.

This defines the amount of joystick control you have.

FULL means you can steer the spell with the joystick.
PARTIAL means you can affect the left/right motion of the spell, but not the up/down.
NONE means there is no joystick control.
HOLD means that you must continually hold the fire button down until the spell takes effect.

Few have ever survived the wail of the banshee, but this forlorn spirit can only be bound be earth magic. If the banshee is guided to far above the earth, it will escape, but it will be destroyed if it touches the ground.

This spell acts in a similar fashion to Wall, but it will deflect Soulsucker and Ray of Ice back at your opponent, thus causing him the damage meant for you.

Ths sphere of anti-magic defends against all missile spells, can injure the dragon and the spider and has even been known to destroy thunderstorms. You must guide it close to your opponent's spell and press the Fire button.

This spell was first mastered by Gruk the Red. Few wizards have ever attained his level of skill and the unpredictable creatures often turn on those who summon them.

Through the power of naming, you can summon Zigmurl the dragon from his aeon long slumber in his lofty mountain lair. When Zigmurl is in front of the opposing wizard, you can command him to breathe his fiery breath by pressing the Fire button.

The power of the earth is yours to command through this spell. It must be guided up under your foe to wreak destruction.

Drawn from the elemental plane of fire, this ball of molten magma will devastate your worthless opponent.

By casting this spell you can project your astral essence into the ether and thus avoid your opponent's spells.

The conjuration of this magical cloud obscures all vision rendering the caster of the spell invisible. The energy released when this spell is cast teleports the wizard randomly.

This sphere of impenetrable force protects you from all hostile spells bar the unpredictable demon.

A column of molten fire, Hellfire rises from the heart of the earth to consume your opponent in a torrent of rushing flame.

One of the first things a budding warlock must learn to do is harness this primeval force to his own ends.

Invocation of this spell causes a hail of hot rocks to fall from the sky on the head of your hapless opponent.

Slimy death from the sky. Dump a plague of frogs on your opponent and watch him croak.

When this spell is conjured, an icy blast of hoarfrost will freeze the other wizard, ruining his concentration and disrupting his spell.

When this spell is cast, the soul of a star is drawn down from the heavens and will immerse your foe in cosmic fire when it hits.

By means of this spell, the presdigitator may drain the life force of his opponent, adding this stolen power to his own.

Hidden deep in the valley is the lair of Flombost the spider and her spider. She can be roused to aid you, and when she is over your foe, pressing the Fire button will cause her to drop her web and incapacitate your foe for the next round.

This is a mystical energy drawn from your sun. This spell is sustained by the power of your sun and therefore of infinite duration.

With this spell the mightly mage summons a cloud of death which must be guided towards the enemy. But beware, if the lightning from the cloud hits the ground, the energy of the spell will be dissipated.

The swirling winds of the tornado will drop from the sky, and if the opposing sorceror is caught in it, he will suffer a nasty turn.

Although this vile species of undead normally shuns the light of day, they can be lured out by the promise of dragons' or spiders' blood. The vampire must be guided near the enemy monster to suck its life blood.

When the mystic words are intoned (Fire button held down), the elementals from the plane of air will build a large wind which will force back opposing missile spells. When the chanting is stopped, the wind will die down, but can be built up again by resuming chanting, until the wizard runs out of puff.

By means of this spell, you transmute the air in front of you to an impervious wall of granite which deflects all rays, the dragon's breath and the banshee's scream.

CLOAD (ENTER)
RUN (ENTER)