HOW TO PLAY

As Basil you are caught within the most sinister and fiendish criminal plan of Ratigan's career. You must rescue Dr Dawson from Ratigan's lawless London prison.

To rescue Dr Dawson you must collect clues from each of three scenarios - the shops and docks of London, London's sewers and Ratigan's den. Five clues must be collected which will lead you to the next scenario and finally into Ratigan's den. To find your clues examine objects such as jam jars, tin cans, small sacks, cider jars, chests and carpet bags.

Pressing the SPACE BAR allows Basil to investigate an object. The object under scrutiny will appear in your magnifying glass in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

As you look through your magnifying glass you will notice that to its left a red "DROP" symbol begins to flash. Pressing UP or DOWN selects between "PICK UP" and "DROP" on this symbol. Press FIRE to choose between "PICK UP" and "DROP" whatever object is in each of your five pockets.

If all your pockets are full, selecting "PICK UP" will make a cursor appear, allowing you to select an object to discard, thus making room for a new one.

Professor Ratigan, however, has cunningly covered his tracks by leaving eight false clues in each scenario. Only when you have filled all five pockets can you deduce which clues are false and discard them. Do this by holding down the ? on the keyboard, and your magnifying glass will tell you the answer.

When you have collected the fifth correct clue you will be given a message which asks you to go to an area where the exit to the next scenario can be found.

If by chance you should lose your way you can use each of your five clues to give you a hint as to which direction to go. This too is done by holding down ? on the keyboard. The best direction to go will appear in place of the clue.

In addition to clues you will also find CHEESE, MOUSETRAPS and NOTHING AT ALL. Cheese will top up your energy; mousetraps can be kept in your pockets and later dropped in the path of Ratigan's henchmen, who will be caught and made harmless. Press T to drop a mousetrap. NOTHING AT ALL speaks for itself!

CONTROLS

Spectrum/Amstrad

K = walk/run left or select pocket
L = walk/run right or select pocket
Q = climb ladder or select PICK UP
A = descend ladder or select DROP
ENTER = jump or choose PICK UP and DROP

(or use joystick)

SPACE BAR = inspect a clue
T = drop a mousetrap
? = clues and hints
P = pause on/off

LOADING INSTRUCTIONS

CASSETTE: Insert cassette into cassette unit. Press CONTROL (CTRL) and the small ENTER keys simultaneously. Press PLAY on the cassette unit and then any key. The program will load and run automatically.

DISK: Insert the disk into the drive, label side up. Type |CPM and press ENTER. The program will load and run automatically.