Night Stalker Guide Version 1.0
Game Copyrighted by: Mattel Electronics 1982

FAQ by Zhuge Liang


Table of Contents:

1. Overview
2. Locations In the Maze
       A. Bunker
       B. Spider Web
       C. Robot Entrance
3. Enemies of the Maze
       A. Robots
       B. Other Creatures
4. Basic Strategies
5. Advanced Strategies
       A. Dealing with the Black Robot (II)
       B. Drawing Fire
       C. Dealing with the Invisible Robot
       D. Gun Placement Locations
6. Legal Stuff & Contacting Me



>>1. Overview:

Night Stalker is an action game that puts you in control of a character that's
trapped inside a dark maze with highly sophisticated and intelligent robots
whose goals are all the same: Destroy you.

You character's only defense is a gun, which supplies you with six shots. At the
beginning of the game you must pick up the gun before you can use it. Each time
you exhaust all of your ammunition you must pick up another gun, which is
randomly placed somewhere in the maze.

The game itself, like many from the Intellivision era is endless - you're in
until you exhaust all of your lives. You will gain one life for every 10,000
points scored.


>>2. Locations of the Maze:

A. Bunker - This is your safe house. No robot fire, until the Black Robot (II)
appears, can damage your bunker, or harm you. It is located in the middle of the
maze and is where you will always start after being defeated. Your gun is always
placed randomly after you are defeated, but if you're lucky sometimes it's
placed right above or below the bunker.

B: Spider-Web - Sort of an interesting part of the maze. While inside the spider
web, you'll be safe from enemy fire, unless the robot is on top of you. The web
deflects shots from the outside. So if you find yourself in the line of fire and
near the web, it's the best place to dive into. Of course, this is also where
the spider is spawned if you've destroyed one.

C: Robot Entrance - The robots always appear in the lower-left hand corner of
the maze.



>>3. Enemies of the Maze:

There are seven enemies that you'll encounter as you wander the maze trying to
stay alive, some are deadly while others are not. Robots are the only enemies
that can defeat your character. They other enemies can only paralyze you for a
short time.


A. The Robots


I. Grey Robot - Not a very intelligent robot; the gray robot generally wanders
around in aimless patterns, firing shots off at you only when he sees you. This
is the robot you'll face at the very beginning. He's slow, which allows you to
get used to the controls. Defeating him scores you 300 points.

II. Blue Robot - This is a craftier robot, and is more intelligent than the gray
robot. He will pursue you fairly persistently as you wonder the maze. He moves
in patters, so you'll need to learn them in order to outwit him. He appears in
the maze after you score 5,000 points. Defeating him scores you 500 points.

III. White Robot - This is a more advanced version of the blue robot. This one
too will pursue you persistently, and he also has another added advantage, which
allows him to be shot three times before he is destroyed. The first two shots
will make the force field around him flash, signaling a hit. The third and final
shot will destroy him. He appears in the maze after you score 15,000 points.
Defeating him scores you 1,000 points.

IV. Black Robot (I) - This robot is highly intelligent and has all of the
properties of the pervious robot as well as an additional one: His shots can
absorb yours. This proves to make it more difficult to score a hit on him. He
appears in the maze after you score 30,000 points. Defeating him scores you
2,000 points.

V: Black Robot (II) - Same as before, however this time the Black Robot fires
more powerful bullets that are capable of destroying your bunker - which is your
only safe haven. The shots appear yellow instead of white - this is your clue
that he has appeared. He appears in the maze after you score 50,000 points.
Defeating him scores you 2,000 points.

VI: Invisible Robot - The ultimate robot. You cannot see him, but he can
certainly see you. Your only clue as to where he is, are his bullets, and often
that can tell the tale too late. He also has all of the properties of the Black
Robot (II) in addition to being invisible. He appears in the maze after you
score 80,000 points. He is also the final robot you'll face in the game.
Defeating him scores you 4,000 points.


B. Other Enemies


I: Spider - This is the maze pest. While not deadly, he can paralyze you for a
short time if you come into contact with him. Steer clear of him, if at all
possible. The spider is present throughout the entire game and you can never
eliminate him. Defeating him scores you 100 points.

II: Bats - Annoying pests just like the spider, though short-lived. After the
Blue Robot appears, if you destroy a bat a gray robot will appear instead of
another bat. As with the spider, bats cause temporary paralysis, which leaves
you wide-open to robot fire. Defeating him scores you 300 points.



>>4. Basic Strategies:

A: Stick close to the bunker until the Black Robot (II) appears. It's helpful to
stay close to your bunker until then because it's the safest place - no bullets
can harm you inside, and you can sometimes get off a shot or two before they
come around a corner and hit them.

B: Keep close track of how many bullets you have left. Try to keep them in stock
of threes later on, so you always have enough to finish off one of the protected
robots without having to work your way over to the next gun.

C: Avoid the spiders and bats as long as you can. Killing the bats after the
Blue Robot appears will cause a gray robot to appear in its place. There will be
no bat, just a really annoying robot in its place.



>>5. Advanced Strategies:

A: By the time you've reached the Black Robot (II), you should be very used to
the gameplay, and ready to venture farther away from your bunker. It's best to
stay far away from the bunker after the robots gain the ability to destroy it
because when you're replaced in the maze, you don't want the robot to
immediately start firing at the bunker. Even though he can't see you, he'll know
you're inside. If this happens, you'll be without a bunker, and perhaps even
lose the rest of your lives. It's best to lure the robots to you, and kill them
off quickly after the Black Robot (II).

B: It's nice that only one bullet can be on the screen for each team at a time.
This might come in handy sometimes. If you can trick one of the dumber gray
robots into firing at you from a longer distance, you can sometimes sneak by the
meaner robots without them firing at you. It's sort of like drawing fire. Allow
the lesser dangerous robot take a shot at you from long distance, so it takes a
long time for the shot to hit a wall. All that time, no other robots can fire
any bullets at you. Of course, the reverse is also true, so make sure you don't
take any careless long shots if you're in danger of being tracked down by one of
the smarter robots. Once you fire a shot, you have to wait until it either hits
another robot, or the wall before you take another. Exercise caution in what you
fire at.

C: The Invisible Robot behaves exactly like the Blue, White, and Black robots.
It's helpful to know this because by now you're surely aware of their patterns.
Exploit these patters to your advantage, and lure him to you. Align yourself in
places where he's in direct line with you - but behind a wall. This will make
him fire shots and give away his location. It's very helpful to keep yourself
aware of his presence as often as possible. The only serious downfall is while
you do this, you must keep away from the other gray robots so their fire doesn't
interfere with the Invisible one's. You'll have the best luck facing him on the
right side of the maze. My favorite place to fight him is down in the lower
right hand corner. Sometimes the gun can be placed in the very right hand bottom
corner and it can sometimes get you out of a pinch.

D: There are five places where your gun can appear. One is near the Robot Entry
area (Lower left hand corner), one is directly above your bunker, one is
directly under your bunker, one is up near the top right hand corner, and the
last in the very bottom right hand corner. Keep these locations in mind as you
run down to your last few bullets. It's helpful to plan things out. From
experience, it's best to be prepared to have to retrieve it from the placement
near the robot's entry area to the maze - it's generally the most difficult to
retrieve because one of the robots is usually hanging around there - especially
after you've killed off both bats and have 2 gray robots in the maze with the
main one.

>>6. Legal Stuff & Contacting Me

This FAQ is Copyright (c) 2003 by Zhuge Liang. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No other
sources, other than myself, and the game were used to compile the information
contained herein. Furthermore, no reproduction or distribution, in part, or
full, of this FAQ is permitted without explicit written permission from myself.
If you have a question about this FAQ, or would like to suggest something for me
to add to it, you may contact me at darkdragon[at]trouble-breathing.net. I'm
open to comments, questions, and suggestions.

I do sometimes grant permissions to use this FAQ if you just ask, so please ASK
before you post this FAQ on your website or message board. I thank you in
advance for your honesty and respect for my work.

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