=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= X E N O P H O B E =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= for the Atari 2600 Version 1.0 (10/16/14) Written by Andrew Testa Email Address: andrew.c.testa@gmail.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document is Copyright (c) 2014 Andrew Testa. All Rights Reserved. Table of Contents ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. What's New? 2. Introduction 3. Controls 4. Overview 5. Enemies 6. Weapons 7. Items 8. Frequently Asked Questions 9. Credits 10. Contact Information 11. Legal Disclaimer ============================================================================= --- 1. What's New? --- ============================================================================= Version 1.0 (10/16/14): First posted version of guide. ============================================================================= --- 2. Introduction --- ============================================================================= Welcome to my strategy guide for Xenophobe on the Atari 2600! This is my 27th guide for an Atari 2600 game, but my second for the system in ten years. I really enjoy writing small guides for these really old, somewhat obscure games, because they are all elegant in their simplicity. And, overall, they aren't all that well-covered as far as FAQs are concerned. This game is actually not as old as me, so points for that! =O As for the game, Xenophobe was released by Atari in 1990. The game has been released on multiple other platforms, including the NES, Arcade, and Commodore 64. Because of its 1990 release, you might find better versions of the game on other platforms. Namely, Xenophobe's multiplayer is not present on the Atari version of the game. But, overall, this is actually a pretty good game for the Atari 2600. ============================================================================= --- 3. Controls --- ============================================================================= Fire Button: Press to fire your gun. Joystick: Allows you to move; up to jump; and down to crouch. ============================================================================= --- 4. Overview --- ============================================================================= The basic premise of Xenophobe: run around the levels while shooting up the enemies and collecting items to rack up points. You press the fire button to -- well! -- fire your gun, and the joystick to move around. Additionally, up on the score makes your character jump, and down makes your character crouch. Jump-fire is the only way to destroy tentacles, and crouching is the only way to not get damaged when you are going past them. There are various enemies in the game, outlined in the enemies section. Each enemy has different health and damage. In addition, for killing an enemy, you will receive points. This is the main way to track your success in this game, as you just start over at the first mission when you complete the game. You can also find weapons in the game. These weapons raise your base damage, making it easier to kill enemies. See the weapons statistics in the weapons section. And in addition to upgrading your character, weapons also give you points when you collect them. You only have one life in Xenophobe, but you can find healing items in the game which restore your health. And you have a full health bar in the game, meaning you can take multiple hits before you are defeated. In addition to the above items, you will also find "hardware" in the game, which simply adds a lot to your point total. Each mission has a certain number of levels, and each level has eight rooms. When you've killed all the aliens on a level, use the elevator to reach the next level. This is why I've differentiated between "level" and "mission," since most of the time, games have levels and that's it. Here are the missions and number of levels for each mission: --------------------- | Mission | Levels | |---------------------| | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 2 | | 3 | 3 | | 4 | 4 | | 5 | 3 | | 6 | 2 | | 7 | 3 | | 8 | 4 | --------------------- ============================================================================= --- 5. Enemies --- ============================================================================= Here is a list of the game's enemies, as well as how much health each has, how much damage each does, and the number of points you get for defeating each one. Name: Critter Health: 1 Damage: 2 every second Points: 50 =---=---=---=---= Name: Tentacle Health: 4 Damage: 4 every second Points: 125 =---=---=---=---= Name: Pod Health: 2 Damage: 50 Points: 25 =---=---=---=---= Name: Roller Health: 4 Damage: 8 every second Points: 75 =---=---=---=---= Name: Snotterpillar Health: 15 Damage: 75 Points: 100 ============================================================================= --- 6. Weapons --- ============================================================================= Weapons raise your base damage, and you also receive points for picking up weapons! Name: Fists Damage: 1 Points: 0 =---=---=---=---= Name: Phaser Damage: 1 Points: 10 =---=---=---=---= Name: Laser Pistol Damage: 2 Points: 200 =---=---=---=---= Name: Rifle Damage: 3 Points: 300 =---=---=---=---= Name: Poofer Gun Damage: 9 Points: 400 =---=---=---=---= Name: Grenade Damage: 10 Points: 500 ============================================================================= --- 6. Items --- ============================================================================= Here is a list of the items in the game. There are weapons (covered above), hardware, and healing items. Hardware adds to your point total, while healing items replenish health. HARDWARE ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Name: Can Points: 500 =---=---=---=---= Name: Clipboard Points: 500 =---=---=---=---= Name: Knife Points: 500 =---=---=---=---= Name: Rope Points: 250 =---=---=---=---= Name: Skull Points: 500 =---=---=---=---= Name: Transmitter Points: 500 HEALING ITEMS ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Name: Burger HP Restored: 50 =---=---=---=---= Name: Flask HP Restored: 50 ============================================================================= --- 8. Frequently Asked Questions --- ============================================================================= This section tries to answer the most commonly asked questions about the game. Q: How many levels are in this game? A: This game has eight levels, but there are several screens within each level. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: Is there a way to beat this game? A: It's a scoring game. When you complete the eight levels, you go back to the first. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: What scores what? A: Killing enemies and picking up items scores points. See the exact amounts in the section above. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: How many lives do you get? A: You can only die once before a game over. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: So only one life? That seems kinda harsh. A: To offset that you only live once, you have a ton of health and you can even find healing items in the levels. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: Why is the name of the game floating in black on the bottom? A: This is where second player would have been in a two-player game. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: Where can I play this game? A: It's most fun to actually play this game with the, y'know, actual system and hardware. But overall, there are a few choices: buying the game at ebay or a garage sale, using a ROM, or playing it on your internet browser. Of those three, the last is probably the easiest. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: Play it on browser, you say? A: Yes, you can now play most Atari 2600 games on your browser, which is different than when I first started covering this system in 2003. The only problem is that you'd be using a keyboard, and not a game pad. Still, the new browser way is probably the best, sans finding it at a garage sale. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: How many screens for each level? A: Each level of the mission has eight screens, but missions can have more than one level. See the overview section for more details. =---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---=---= Q: How many points do I receive for _______? A: I've outlined the scoring system in the enemies, items, and weapons section. Basically, you receive anywhere between 25 to 500 points for killing and collecting stuff. ============================================================================= --- 9. Credits --- ============================================================================= In this section, we give credit where credit is due. :) * CJayC for creating GameFAQs. * Sailor Bacon, Devin Morgan, and Krystal for continuing, maintaining, and administering GameFAQs. * Brian Sulphur, for showing me that writing on old games is cool! :) * Enemy, weapon, and item names are from the official manual that came with the game. This is the only way to find out the "official" names. * You! For reading this guide, of course. :) ============================================================================= --- 10. Contact Information --- ============================================================================= If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, inquiries, spam, additions, grievances, hate mail, and general overall concerns, please email me at: "andrew.c.testa(at)gmail(dot)com" All I ask is that you put "Xenophobe" or "Old Game" or "Atari Game" in the subject line so I know what the email is about. I don't mind if u talk liek dis 2 me or whatever, so long as I can understand you. ============================================================================= --- 11. Legal Disclaimer --- ============================================================================= This document is Copyright (c) 2014 Andrew "TestaALT" Testa. All Rights Reserved. This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be sold, altered, or published in any way without the advanced permission of the author. It may not be placed on any website or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other website or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. All sources that have contributed to this document are cited and/or credited in some form. The only sites that I allow this document to be viewed at are GameFAQs , IGN , and Neoseeker . ---- Thanks for reading this guide! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :) You can see some of my other work at: _____________________________________________________________________________ Copyright (c) 2014 Andrew Testa