How to play Unknown Datatech Game online
- Walk the paths: arrow keys
- Start a game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Change the game setup: F11 (the consoleās Select switch) probably cycles through the speed levels and the one- or two-player modes
Gameplay
The playfield is a randomly built grid, and you canāt see which parts of it you can actually walk on. You pick a starting path at the bottom of the screen and try to reach a symbol at the top before your energy runs out. Each symbol does something different:
| Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|
| Plus | +1000 points. Go back to the start of your path to refill your energy. |
| Minus | ā300 points. Go back to the start of your path to refill your energy. |
| Sword | +500 points. The grid disappears and every path becomes walkable. Go back to the bottom of the screen for new energy. |
| Flashing UFO | 500 points if you touch it after reaching a plus or a sword |
You lose a life if a UFO that isnāt flashing hits you, if your energy runs out, or if the paths shift under you and you fall. Sometimes you can also jump from one vertical path to another. The game has a two-player mode, where players take turns, and eight speed levels.
Tips
- Go for the sword. Once every path is open, getting around is much easier, and the flashing UFOs turn into points.
- Remember the safe routes. The paths are invisible, so remembering which turns worked is the only way to get faster.
About the cartridge
Datatech Enterprises was a small label, and AtariMania lists its cartridges as coming from Mexico. AtariMania knows this game as āUnknown Game 2ā, because another untitled Datatech cartridge turned out to be a copy of Activisionās Chopper Command. It rates both the Datatech cartridge and the European Mazy Match release, sold by Pet Boat, as extremely hard to find. No dump of Mazy Match is known. AtariMania thinks the game was originally made for Home Vision, another small 2600 label, but who programmed it is not known. Some ROM collections label it a prototype, but AtariMania lists it as a released cartridge.
