Acorn Ambush! (Atari 2600)

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Winter is coming!  Help Squirrelly D prepare for the cold by collecting acorns and returning them to the nest.  But beware of Sally Spider and Harry Hawk! 

 Acorn Ambush is a Joystick game for 1 player 

•  Hold left or right to move Squirrelly D in that direction
• Press the button to jump
• Hold down and press the button to fall through the branch onto a lower one
• Jump on the fence posts for a big boost
• When on the title screen, press the button to start playing
• When on the game over screen, press the button to return to the title screen
• Console RESET switch returns to title screen

Collect all acorns and return them to the nest to clear the level.

Avoid Harry Hawk and Sally Spider, who will damage your character.

Squirrelly D needs to collect all of the acorns on the tree before moving on to the next tree.  Since the acorns are so large (they are bigger than his head!) he can only carry one acorn at a time.  Squirrelly D must run and jump his way through the tree and pick up an acorn, and then carry the acorn to the nest at the top of the tree.  Then find the next acorn, and repeat, for all eight acorns.  Once the eight acorns are safely stored in the nest Squirelly D will move on to the next tree.

Out to stop you are Harry Hawk and Sally Spider.  Harry is out to [censored - this is a family game].  He's a tricky one - one minute he's chasing Squirrelly D around the tree and the next minute he's guarding Squirrelly D's nest.  Sally Spider is simply annoyed with a squirrel jumping around *her* tree.  She hangs from the center of tree on a super strong, nearly invisble strand of webbing.  Up and down she goes, trying to block Squirrelly D as he goes from one side of the tree to the other.  Occasionally Sally will spit a ball of web in Squirrelly D's general direction.  This is just as deadly as her touch, but so much more unsanitary.

But Squirrelly D is not alone!  Out to assist him are two nature spirits, the Jumpwood Postling and the Acornwing Aurelia.  The Jumpwood Postling is an invisible tree spirit that lives in small stumps found along the ground near the base of the tree.  As the name implies, the Jumpwood Postling loves jumping!  By simply landing on its home, the Jumpwood Postling will send Squirrelly D straight up into the air.  Squirrelly D can cover a very large vertical distance this way, almost 3/4 of the way up the tree.  The Acornwing Aurelia is a small butterfly-like creature that likes to fly across the screen near the base of the tree.  Catching the Acornwing Aurelia will aware Squirrelly D with bonus points, making it that much easier for Squirrelly D to acquire a bonus health.

To recap:

• Acquire an acorn and deposit it into the nest at the top of the tree
• Only 1 acorn can be carried at a time; an acorn icon will appear in the score area, to the right of player health
• Land on the Jumpwood Postling tree stump for a big boost
• Returning all 8 acorns will reward bonus points and the player will progress to the next level
• After every completed level the speed of Harry Hawk, Sally Spider, and Sally's web projectile will increase by a small amount
• Being hit by Harry Hawk or Sally Spider, or by Sally's web projectile, will temporarily stun Squirrelly D and reduce his health by 1
• After being hit Squirrelly D will become partially transparent and immune to damage for a short period of time
• If health is reduced to 0 the game is over
• Acquire a bonus health at 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 points; health bar will show at most 4 hearts with any extra being kept in reserve until needed