SHADOW RALLY

3

How to play

After the Curtain Up splash, press Start (Enter) on the title. On the MODE page choose the match length with Left and Right on the D-pad (arrow keys): TIE-BREAK (first to 7 points, two clear), ONE SET or BEST OF THREE. Then press A (Z) on one of three modes. THE DUSK TOUR is one player against five finals in one day: QUINCE LAWN CLASSIC on grass at noon, BRASA CLAY CUP at dusk, HARBOUR LIGHTS OPEN under two floodlight towers, SQUALL LINE INVITATIONAL in a storm, and THE BLACKOUT FINAL on a dark stage. Win all five for THE LAMPLIGHTER'S CUP; a lost match may be played again, twice in a tour (press Start on PLAY IT AGAIN? before the count runs out). VERSUS is two players on a split screen, each seeing the court from behind their own athlete: player 1 on top, player 2 below, and UP is always toward the net in your own view. DOUBLES is two players together, or one player and a CPU partner (press Start on the athlete page after choosing), against a CPU pair on the doubles court, where the alleys between the side lines are in play after the serve. VERSUS and DOUBLES first ask for their event: Up and Down, then A (B goes back). Pick an athlete on the athlete page with Up and Down and A; each has speed, power, control and reach. The HOW TO PLAY page and the event card go on with A. Goal: win the match by hitting the ball over the net and inside the lines until the other player cannot return it. A ball that bounces twice, lands out or stops in the net loses the point; two faults on a serve lose the point. The D-pad runs your athlete in eight directions, and during a swing it aims: Left or Right sends the ball to that side, Up deep, Down short. A (Z) drives, B (X) hits a slice that is low and slow, B with Down held is a drop shot, C (C) lobs. To serve, press A to toss the ball, then press A for a flat serve, B for a slice serve or C for a kick serve (the slowest, safest and highest bouncing) as the ball reaches the top of the toss; Left or Right as you strike aims the serve wide or at the middle. A high ball near the net is smashed, whichever of A or B you press. Start pauses. To hit well, stop before you swing: a swing plants your feet, and a hit with the D-pad still held is weaker. Meet the ball in front of you, neither stretching for a wide ball nor catching it late. A clean hit on time finds the sweet spot, which is faster and truer. Read the ball by the light. At QUINCE the shadow is straight under the ball, so the ball lands on its shadow. At BRASA the shadow is thrown long to one side and leaves the ball as it rises, so the gap is its height; the light fades as the points go by, and the shaded end of the court makes the ball dim and its shadow faint. At HARBOUR LIGHTS the ball has two shadows, one from each tower, and the ball lands where they meet. At SQUALL LINE the towers fail for two or three seconds at a time and half the court goes dark, so watch the shadows while the lights are on and the lit pool of the tower that is still burning; lightning lights the whole court for a moment. In THE BLACKOUT FINAL there are no shadows: the ball is a lamp, small and bright when it is about to bounce and wide and soft when it is high, and a followspot trails each athlete; keep inside your followspot, because the rival cannot see you outside it and, in VERSUS, you are a black figure on your opponent's screen. A ball struck from the dark is struck badly: the dimmer the ball, the wider your shot may fly. Scoring: a tie-break is first to 7 points, two clear, the serve changing after the first point and then every two; a set is first to 6 games, a game being four points and two clear (15, 30, 40, deuce, advantage), with a tie-break at six games all; BEST OF THREE is two sets. The ends change during the match, so each player gets the bad light in turn. The cartridge has a battery: your tour in progress is saved after each event won (choose CONTINUE TOUR on the MODE page), and the champions, the records (longest rally, most aces in a tour, fewest points lost) and the unlocks are kept too. Winning the tour unlocks SECOND SEASON, where every rival plays one level better, and the champion ISOGAWA as an athlete you can play. VERSUS and DOUBLES save nothing. Player 2 uses a second controller, or the keyboard: W A S D to move, F G H for A B C, R for Start.