Phantomasa, the most famous heroine from Andromeda, conceived by mistake in the Androids Factory, returns for a new adventure. Her path finding the Truth costs good money (nothing is free nowadays), and now it has ran out. So, what could be better than follow her original "robbery instincts" and use all her abilities to steal the Grunge Wizards, two mysterious entities who gather huge amounts of gold near the Ogonshiro Castle?

The objective is simple: get all the boxes containing gold which are spread all over the map so you can keep your search with a nice amount of cash. The task won't be easy: the Grunge Wizards will surely try to stop you.

Will you be able to get all the money?

How to play

Controlling Phantomasa is very easy:

O walk left
P walk right
Q jump

The game works with a nice gravity engine. That means that Phantomasa will accelerate little by little when you press a directional key until she gains momentum and gets to her maximum speed.

Jumping works in a simmilar way. The longer you press the jump key, the higher Phantomasa will reach. If we want to land in a ledge which is relatively far, we have to gain momentum running a bit before jumping.

If you have played console platform games such as Alex Kidd or Super Mario Bros the controls will be quite familiar to you.

The objective is to get all gold boxes which the Grunge Wizards zealously keep in their realm. You'll find a box per screen, so you'll have to visit each screen at least once. Eventually you'll figure out the best path to do this.

Randomly, you'll find some special boxes which will come handy: a box with a battery will refill a bit of our energy; a box with a ray will make Phantomasa invincible for a short while.

Beware with high falls! If you fall from a ledge which is about one screen from where you land, Phantomasa will be highly harmed.

The Grunge Wizards can fly thru' walls and will bully you constantly. The only way to scape is keep moving.

And last but not least: you must be careful with lava pits, which will suck your life if you walk over them, and with falling stones in caverns.

FX Double Version

Although this game was conceived and coded originally for 128K Spectrums (making use of the extra memory and the AY chip), we didn't want to turn our backs on 48K users. That's why this game has two different, separate versions:

1.- 128 Version: It has 50 screens (thus 50 boxes to get) and you start with 200 energy points. In this version, the Star Caves are accessible with 15 boxes of money. You'll enjoy great AY music and sound effects during gameplay.

2.- 48 Version: It has 35 screens (35 boxes to get), and you start with 100 energy points. In this version, due to bad weather (look at the rainy sky!!) the entrance to the Star Caves is blocked. This version comes with a nice beeper tune in the title screen and good ol' beeper sound effects during gameplay.

Even having dedicated versions for 48 and 128K spectrums, any user can load any version in any Spectrum. 48K Spectrum users can load the 128 Version, albeit without sound. 128K Spectrum users can load the 48 Version, but they must do it in USR 0 mode or simply from 48 BASIC.

There are several differences in graphics and map between the two versions. Besides, the 48 Version is slightly harder and faster than the 128 Version.

Loading instructions

* Spectrum 128/+2/+2A/+3:
- To load the 128 Version select "Loader" from the main menu and press ENTER, then PLAY on tape.
- To load the 48 Version select "48 BASIC" from the main menu, type LOAD "" and press ENTER, then PLAY on tape.

* Spectrum 48/+:
- To load either version type LOAD "" and press ENTER, then PLAY on tape. Remember that the 128 Version will be completely silent as no AY chip is present.