How to play Off the Wall online
- Move Kung Fu Lu: left and right arrow keys
- Begin play: Space bar
- Choose skill level and one or two players: F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Change Lu’s speed: F4 (the Player 1 difficulty switch; A is faster, B is slower)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
According to AtariMania, the game also has a hidden pause: flip the TV type switch (F2) twice to pause or resume.
Gameplay
You move Lu along the bottom of the screen and put him in the path of the falling ball, which he knocks back up into the wall. You start with five lives, shown as squares in the top left corner, and lose one each time a ball gets past you. A wave ends when you clear all the bricks or hit the dragon behind them six times, and either way you earn an extra life. Each hit on the dragon makes the background behind the bricks a little lighter. From the second wave onwards a blackbird flies between the bricks and the ball and sends the ball back down if it gets in the way.
Once you have hit the ball the first time, tokens start dropping at random. Catch one and Lu keeps its power until he misses a ball or the timer bar in the top right corner runs out:
- Z (zig zag): the ball zig-zags on its way up.
- Bomb (nuke ball): the ball knocks out a much bigger chunk of the wall.
- Flame (mega paddle): Lu gets a much longer staff.
- M (magnetic paddle): the staff pulls the ball towards Lu and lets you steer it after the hit. Because it is so strong, its timer runs twice as fast.
- ? (mystery): an extra life, bonus points, a frozen blackbird, or, the one bad outcome, a faster ball.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Brick | 1 to 5 |
| Mystery token | 50 (Peasant), 75 (Student), 100 (Master) |
| Hitting the dragon | 100 |
There are three skill levels, Peasant, Student and Master, with four waves each. Finish all four and the game moves you up to the next level. In the two-player game the players take turns on the same wall, swapping each time one of them loses a life.
Tips
- Hit at an angle. A ball sent in at an angle bounces around inside the wall and clears far more bricks than a straight hit.
- Don’t overshoot. Lu moves quickly, especially with the difficulty switch on A, so small taps work better than holding the arrow key.
- Save the M token for the dragon. Steering the ball makes the six dragon hits much easier.
- Use the blackbird. It sends the ball straight back to you, which can buy you time to get into position.
History
Axlon was a game studio owned by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. Off the Wall uses a 16K ROM, and it was one of the last cartridges Atari released for the system. AtariMania credits the programming to John Vifian.
