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                        | C A N Y O N   B O M B E R |
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              GAME:  CANYON BOMBER
          PLATFORM:  ARCADE
             GENRE:  ARCADE SHOOTER
           CREATOR:  ATARI 1977
AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ:  Kevin Butler AKA War Doc
            E-MAIL:  kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com
       FAQ VERSION:  1.0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                              TABLE OF CONTENTS

    UNIT   I:  INTRODUCTION

1.  Legal Stuff
2.  Version Information
3.  Acknowledgements
4.  Welcome
5.  Overview

    UNIT  II:  GAME INFORMATION

6.  The Game

    6.1  The Controls
    6.2  The Playing Field
    6.3  Scoring

    UNIT III:  STRATEGIES

7.  Playing the Game

    UNIT  IV:  CONCLUSION

8.  Conclusion

_______________________________________________________________________________

To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following:

1.  Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find.
2.  Press CTRL-C
3.  Press CTRL-F
4.  Press CTRL-V
5.  Press CTRL-F
5.  You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter.

_______________________________________________________________________________

                                **************
********************************* U N I T  I **********************************
                                **************
+=================+
| 1.  LEGAL STUFF |============================================================
+=================+

This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal
private use.  It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advanced permission from the author.  Use of this guide on
any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and
a violation of copyright.  All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by
Kevin Butler.  Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this
work or to display it:

www.gamefaqs.com
www.cheats.de
faqs.ign.com

If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask.  Save yourself
the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask
a simple "Can I post your guide on <insert site>?".  If you wish to use info
in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so.

If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please
e-mail me.  If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please
e-mail me.  Just have Canyon Bomber as the subject so I know it isn't another
kooky vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have
new friends.

+=========================+
| 2.  VERSION INFORMATION |====================================================
+=========================+

Version 1.0  10/ 5/03:  A guide is born.

+======================+
| 3.  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |=======================================================
+======================+

The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ
possible:

My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard)
Atari for making a great arcade game
GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ

+=============+
| 4.  WELCOME |================================================================
+=============+

Welcome to my FAQ for Canyon Bomber.  Since the game is just a shooter that goes
until all your men are killed, there is no walkthrough per se.  Instead it will
be broken up into the game itself, strategies for survival, and some in-
teresting quirks in the game.  Input is appreciated along with constructive
criticism.  If you wish to e-mail me thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing
things, other strategies, etc., feel free.  Make sure you put Canyon Bomber as
the subject.  If you don't, I'm liable to discard the e-mail as spam.

+==============+
| 5.  OVERVIEW |===============================================================
+==============+

Atari was at the top of the arcade battle in 1977.  Releasing no fewer then
nine arcade games, Atari was the dominating force and standard that videogames
were based on.  Many of Atari's games were simple games of skill and hand-eye
coordination.  Later, when Atari released their 2600 home console system, many
of the arcade games found their way onto the cartridges for said system.  This
further enhanced Atari's reputation as the leader in not only the arcades, but
also the home entertainment arena.  Of course, with the big videogame collapse
during the early 80's coupled with poor management, Atari started a downward
spiral it would never recover from.  Canyon Bomber was a simple game in which
you and sometimes another player would bomb numbered rocks in a canyon.  Who-
ever had the highest score won.  Pretty straightforward and simple.

                               ***************
******************************** U N I T  II **********************************
                               ***************

+==============+ 
| 6.  THE GAME |===============================================================
+==============+ 

Canyon Bomber is a two-dimensional shooter.  You control either the blimp or
the plane while dropping bombs on the rocks below.  Your goal is to get the
highest amount of points (either against the computer or another player).  You
are allowed so many misses before your game ends.  Misses are counted as the
times you do not hit any rocks.  The scores for the rocks are directly pro-
portional to the difficulty in hitting those rocks.  This game boils down to
precision bombing and thinking ahead as to where the next bomb will fall.  The
author of the game referred to it as "upside-down breakout".  Good luck in
taking out all of the rocks in the canyon.

 ____________________
/ 6.1  The Controls /__________________________________________________________
--------------------

In order to become a master of this game, you must be familiar with the
controls.  The controls are pretty easy to work.  You just have to play the
game some to get used to them.

-  A bomb button

 _________________________
/ 6.2  The Playing Field /_____________________________________________________
-------------------------

The playing field consists of a canyon filled with numbered rocks.  I have
included an example of what the playing field looks like
(a little larger then normal):

    +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |     BLACK          MISSES                 WHITE          MISSES   |
    |     SCORE           LEFT                  SCORE           LEFT    |
    |       #              #                      #              #      |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    |      ____                                                         |
    |    \/    \<-PLAYER 1                                              |
    |    /\____/                                                        |
    |      \_/                                                          |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    |\                                                                 /|
    | \                                                               / |
    |  \_                                                            /  |
    |    \                                                           |  |
    |     \                                                         /   |
    |      \                                                       |    |
    |      |                                                       |    |
    |      |                                                       |    |
    |       \_                                                     |    |
    |         \                                                  _/     |
    |         |                                                 /       |
    |         |                  ___                            |       |
    |         |                 /   \                          /        |
    |         |                /     \        __               |        |
    |          \O O O O O O O /       \ O O  /  \O O O O O O O_|        |
    |            \O O O O O O/_________\O O_/_____\O O O O O_/          |
    |                                                                   |
    +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

You control your blimp or plane through this landscape.

 _______________
/ 6.3  Scoring /_______________________________________________________________
---------------

Scoring in this game is pretty simple:

You get the points that are displayed on the rocks as you destroy them.  Points
for each rock range from one to four.  The three and four point rocks are
usually located on ledges or in narrow valleys.

Depending on the machine set up, you will get 3, 4, 5, or 6 misses per game.


                               ****************       
******************************** U N I T  III *********************************
                               ****************       

+======================+
| 7.  PLAYING THE GAME |=======================================================
+======================+

When you start the game, you will be on the left side of your screen in a
blimp.  If two players are playing, then player 1 controls the black blimp
while player 2 controls the white blimp.  If you are playing one player, then
you control the black blimp.  The goal is to get as many points as you can
while avoiding misses.

-  There are two types of aircraft in this game:  Blimps and airplanes.  You
   need to know the differences between them since your bombing accuracy is
   directly related to their movements.

   -  Blimps tend to stay at higher altitudes and move slowly.  This gives you
      more time to plan your bomb run.

   -  Planes tend to stay at the middle and lower altitudes and move fast.
      This gives you very little time to plan your bomb run.

-  In order to effectively drop bombs, there are a couple of things you should
   take into account:

   -  Your forward speed will have a direct impact as to where the bomb lands.
      For example, you need to drop your bomb earlier to hit a specific target
      instead of dropping it when you are directly over the target.  The reason
      is because the bomb will drift in the direction you are flying when it is
      dropped.

   -  Your altitude has a lot to do with where your bombs will fall.  The
      higher you are, the harder it will be to hit ground targets since the
      bomb will only drift so much from point one.  Higher altitudes also tend
      to make the perspective harder when trying for rocks in valleys and on
      ledges.

-  You can only take out the rocks you are headed toward.  This may seem like
   common sense but sometimes people attempt to "lob" a bomb over a hill on the
   valley floor hoping to hit the rocks just on the other side of the hill.
   Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

-  Bombs don't "wrap" around the screen.  Your aircraft will go back and forth
   at random altitudes.  Right when your aircraft turns for another pass, start
   planning on where you want to drop your next bomb.  

-  When the game first starts, you can take out four to five numbered rocks.
   As the game progresses, though, these numbers go down sharply.

-  If you are fortunate enough to eliminate all the rocks in the canyon, the
   canyon will fill back up again.  This will happen a maximum of three times
   (counting the first wave).  After that, the game is over.

-  The game is based on misses.  If your opponent uses up all their misses, you
   can still continue until you use up all of your misses.  The same is true if
   you use up all of your misses.

-  Whenever you hit rocks under other rocks, those top rocks will settle to the
   next rock.  In other words, you can blast the middle out of the rockpiles
   but they will still settle to the bottom of the canyon.

-  Try to clear lanes to the three and four pointers for a higher score.

-  When you clear out half the rocks in the canyon, you will change over from
   the blimp to the airplane.

                               ****************
********************************  U N I T  IV *********************************
                               ****************

+================+
| 8.  CONCLUSION |=============================================================
+================+

Canyon Bomber was one of those games that required skill and a good eye.
Whether one played against another player or the computer, it still was a
matter of how well you saw the "big picture".  I remember the times I played
the game, it was a challenge at first.  As I played the game more, I learned
all the nuances and also learned how to aim my bomb before reaching my desired
target.  Scores weren't large nor did they need to be.  It was enough
satisfaction when you could defeat your opponent.  I remember a few years later
when a program, similar to the game, was released for the Apple II computer.
They gave you the code and all you had to do was program said code.  You could
even modify it to your own liking.  Although the canyon remained the same, the
randomness of the aircrafts speed and altitude is what added a degree of
challenge to the game.  the more unusual games that I had first encountered.
Unfortunately, it is very rare to find this machine anywhere.  However, through
the miracle of emulation, a whole new generation is realizing what we "old"
folks enjoyed those many years ago.  I hope this guide helps you in being able
to get the most amount of gameplay for this game.  If you do have other ideas
or thoughts, please e-mail me and share them.  Who knows, maybe I'll start a
Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough people ask the same questions.  Anyway, 
thank you again for reading this guide.

To see other FAQ's I have written please go to:

           http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html

           ~~~  No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~