How to play Ghost Manor online
- Move: arrow keys
- Throw spears: Space bar
- Start or restart: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Pick who you play: F2 (the TV type switch). In colour mode a girl goes to rescue a boy; in black-and-white mode it is the other way round.
- Difficulty: F4 (left switch) and F9 (right switch). Set them before you press Reset, because the game locks them in once it starts.
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0ā9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0ā9 loads it
Gameplay
Ghost Manor is for one player. The hourglass in the middle of the screen holds eight grains of sand, and each grain is half a minute, so the whole rescue has to fit into four minutes. Your score comes from the enemies you defeat and the treasure you find.
It starts in the graveyard, where a friendly spirit, either the Rainbow Ghost or a skeleton called Bones, plays tag with you. Every catch adds to your supply of spears, shown by the Shots counter in the lower left corner. At the castle gate you spend those spears on the bats, skulls and scorpions that guard the door, and once they are gone you face their leader, the Chopping Mummy.
The two floors inside the castle are dark mazes. Unless you have the lamp, only flashes of lightning show you the walls. Brushing a wall gives you an electric shock that stuns you for a moment, and one section of wall slides back and forth and can crush you. Caskets hidden in the rooms hold treasure points and crosses. At the top of the castle Dracula stands guard over the prison and shadows your every step. Hold him off with your crosses, shut him away and lead your friend down the stairs. If dawn arrives first, you and your friend sink into the ground with the tombstones.
Difficulty levels
| Level | Left / right switch | Tag partner | Spears needed | Mummy | Lamp | Moving wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | B / B | Rainbow Ghost | 25 | slowest | yes | slow |
| Medium | A / B | Bones | 20 | slow | yes | fast |
| Hard | B / A | Rainbow Ghost | 15 | fast | no | slow |
| Hardest | A / A | Bones | 10 | very fast | no | fast |
Dracula also gets faster on the higher levels.
Tips
- Keep the right switch on B while you learn. The lamp lets you learn the castle layout before you try it in the dark.
- Donāt waste spears at the gate. The spears you collect in the graveyard are all the ammunition you get for the guards and the mummy.
- Treat the walls as dangerous. Every shock costs you time, and time is what runs out.
- Open the caskets on both floors. They are where the crosses come from, and the crosses are your only defence against Dracula.
- Watch the hourglass. If only a grain or two is left when you reach the top floor, head straight for your friend and the stairs.
History
Xonox was the video game label of K-tel, and Ghost Manor reached shops for the 2600 in September 1983. The labelās selling point was the ādouble-enderā: a cartridge with a different game at each end, so you turned it around to play the other one. Ghost Manor was sold that way together with Spikeās Peak, Chuck Norris Superkicks or Artillery Duel, and it was also released on its own and on cassette. Besides the 2600, Xonox released a VIC-20 version.
