Item description:

Manic Miner in the Lost Levels v1.00

(c) Copyright 2009 Proteus Developments and Headsoft

Credits

ASM Coding - Flash
Coding Support - Headkaze
Graphics - Lobo
Music - Space Fractal
Concept, Research & Story - Rev.Stu
Introduction

The tale of Miner Willy and his incredible adventures in the mines, and then the mansions, of Surbiton is legend. But like all legends, it doesn't tell the whole story.

Most people know Willy simply as a digger who got lucky and lived happily ever after in decadent luxury. Far fewer know the secret - suppressed for quarter of a century by the government - of how he also saved Planet Earth from alien invasion.

It wasn't until an eccentric but dedicated historian writing a paper for a renowned academic journal (Retro Gamer issue 63) pieced together the complete saga of Willy's heroic exploits from fragments of scattered evidence - in the form of obscure retellings of the 'Manic Miner' folk fable in ancient languages readable only via long-obsolete machines - that the whole truth was finally revealed.

Welcome to Manic Miner - The Lost Levels!

Installation

Copy the .NDS file to the root of your memory card. It's recommended to launch the game directly from the card's normal menu, rather than through secondary interfaces like Moonshell. The game will not currently run on DSTT cards. We're hopeful of solving this issue soon. It should run on any other type of flashcart. The game also runs well under emulation, and we recommend no$gba for this purpose. It offers the best compromise between speed, compatibility, and audio, though you will need the NDS BIOS ROMs. We cannot provide these, but Google should find them for you. (The filenames should be BIOSNDS7.ROM and BIOSNDS9.ROM.)

iDeaS will also run the game under emulation without requiring the ROMs, though audio will be compromised.

(Sadly, neither emulator will save your progress, however, due to unavoidable technical issues with the DS.)

Remember - nothing beats playing the game in hardware!

Controls

D-pad left - move Willy left
D-pad right - move Willy right
A button - make Willy jump
B button - make Willy jump
Start button - pause
R button - speed up text scrolling
L button - slow down text scrolling; swap top and bottom screens
Gameplay

Collect all the flashing objects to open the door and escape each stage. Beware enemies, conveyor belts, sharp objects, crumbling floors and long falls. Flip switches to alter various aspects of the stage.

The game contains 50 levels, arranged in three sections.

- The Lost Levels -

The Lost Levels are 20 levels from genuine Manic Miner ports. They are stages which didn't appear in the original ZX Spectrum version of the game, but were added to subsequent official ports for the Oric, BBC Micro, Dragon 32, Amstrad CPC and Game Boy Advance, sometimes as additions to existing levels and sometimes as replacements.

They were first compiled and ordered into a notional sequel by Stuart Campbell in 2004 on his website World Of Stuart, then described by him in a feature in Retro Gamer magazine in 2009, before being turned into the reality you now hold in your hands.

- Willywood -

Unlocked on completion of The Lost Levels, Willywood is a standalone 10-level game featuring original stages designed by the authors of this game.

- Bonus Stages -

The 20 bonus stages are a mixture of original levels and classic levels from both Manic Miner and other related games. They're played for speed rather than points (each keeps a record of your fastest time), and are unlocked one at a time, by finding secret areas in stages of The Lost Levels and Willywood.

If a level has a secret area to find, a small seal will appear at the top right corner of the descriptive scroll which occupies the DS' second screen. On finding the area (you'll know when you've done it) a new bonus level will be unlocked. You don't have to complete the level after finding the secret area, just getting there is enough.

Notes

The save system works by saving game data either when a new level is found or when a level is unlocked, and also on the game returning to the title screen, so do not turn your DS off during these times.

Miner Willy Softography

1983 - Manic Miner (ZX Spectrum)
1984 - Jet Set Willy (ZX Spectrum)
1984 - The Perils Of Willy (VIC-20)
1985 - Jet Set Willy 2 (ZX Spectrum)
Miner Willy was created by Matthew Smith, to whom we send love.

Thanks

Wintermute for devkitARM, Chishm for libfat, Martin Koth for DSTek & No$GBA, Eris & Noda for EFS / NitroFS. Also thanks go to LiraNuna, Blasty, Cearn, Dovoto, Joat, Dekutree, Elhobbs, Ruben, SimonB, DarkCloud and everyone on gbadev.org.

Contact

Visit the offical website for Manic Miner in the Lost Levels, our official forums or contact us at:

Official Website
Forum
E-Mail: flash [at] greatflash.co.uk

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Download contains both the EFS and FAT version.