Xari Arena

[birdie3]

Does anyone know if anyone ever converted this game from 5200 to 400/800?? I would love to get an A8 copy if there is one.

[+davidcalgary29]

I posted this question myself some time ago, and deduced, from the deafening silence that followed, the answer to be "no". It's a great game, though, and it would have made a great cartridge release for the 800.

[Curt Vendel]

Xari Arena is one of those great sleeper hits.... I think its the name that hurts it. If it was called Breakout Arena, it would've gotten more attention and that's what it really is, its like a Breakout head to head competition on a new angle.

 

I'm sure if Kenfused was asked nicely, he could do a conversion. I know right now he's been involved with some conversions to the Atari 7800 which could use a little attention, its a great system with a lot of potential, but few people want to learn to code on it.

 

 

 

Curt

[NovaXpress]

Does anyone else think that, in a Xari Arena 2-player game, they guy on the left side has it a lot harder?

[classics]

Does anyone even know what to do in Xari Arena?

 

I've played it a few times and it seems... bizzare. I could port it to the 8-bit, but is it really a playable game?

 

Steve

[classics]

Another thing to consider is that except for paddles, the 8-bit only has digital joysticks.

 

Steve

[Tempest]

Does anyone even know what to do in Xari Arena?  

 

Ask and ye shall recieve!

 

http://www.atariprotos.com/5200/software/x...a/xariarena.htm

 

 

Tempest

[rxd]

Does anyone even know what to do in Xari Arena?  

 

Ask and ye shall recieve!

 

http://www.atariprotos.com/5200/software/x...a/xariarena.htm

 

 

Tempest

 

After reading the above link and finally understanding what the hell I was supposed to be doing I gave this game a shot again. Cool game once you understand it. Pity it was never officially released...

[Dutchman2000]

Straight from the legendary John Seghers himself, here are the official instructions for Xari Arena:

 

THERE ARE THREE SELECTIONS FOR XARI ARENA PLAYERS

EACH PLAYER MAY BE IN (IN PLAY), OUT (OUT OF PLAY), OR AUTO (COMPUTER PLAY) THESE SELECTIONS ARE MADE WITH THE * FOR THE LEFT PLAYER AND THE # FOR THE RIGHT PLAYER.

 

DIFFICULTY LEVEL IS SET BY PRESSING 1-9

 

PRESSING START WHEN IN FULL AUTO PLAY OR IN SET-UP MODE WILL START A GAME. PRESSING RESET WHEN IN FULL AUTO PLAY OR IN PAUSE WILL GO TO SET-UP MODE. PRESSING PAUSE WILL PAUSE THE GAME WHEN SOMEONE IS PLAYING ONLY. IT WILL ACT AS RESET DURING ATTRACT OR AUTO-PLAY

 

DURING THE GAME PLAY (EITHER PLAYERS OR AUTO PLAY) THE MUSIC MAY BE TOGGLED OFF/ON WITHOUT AFFECTING THE OTHER SOUNDS BY PRESSING THE 0 KEY. ALSO, INTERMISSIONS MAY BE TERMINATED AT ANY TIME BY PRESSING THE 0 KEY.

 

GAME CHARACTERS:

 

THE PLAYERS ARE CREATURES COMPOSED OF ENERGY CELLS WHICH THEY MUST PROTECT WITH THEIR MAGIC SHIELDS. IF THEY CAN SURVIVE 32 WAVES IN THE ARENA, THEY WILL HAVE WON THEIR FREEDOM.

 

THE XARIS ARE THE AMOEBA-LIKE CREATURES IN THE CENTER OF THE

ARENA. THEY ARE CONFINED TO AN AREA IN THE CENTER BUT ARE

ABLE TO CAST FIREBALLS AT THE PLAYERS. THE CENTER AREA EXPANDS

WITH EACH NEW WAVE.

 

THE FIREBALLS ARE NOT DANGEROUS TO THE XARIS UNTIL THEY HAVE

BEEN DEFLECTED BY THE MAGIC SHIELDS OF THE PLAYERS. WHEN THIS

HAPPENS, THEY THEN BECOME DANGEROUS TO THE XARIS. THEY DO NOT, HOWEVER, EVER BECOME NON-DANGEROUS TO THE PLAYERS.

 

THE FIREBALLS MAY ALSO BE CAPTURED BY THE MAGIC SHIELDS. THIS IS DONE BY PRESSING THE HARD FIRE BUTTON (BOTTOM BUTTON) TO OPEN THE SIDES OF THE SHIELD. ONCE A FIREBALL HAS BEEN CAPTURED, IT CAN BE USED TO KILL A XARI BY MOVING THE SHIELD TO TAG A XARI. THE SHIELD CAN HOLD UP TO FOUR FIREBALLS AT A TIME.

 

IF A SHIELD TOUCHES A XARI AND DOES NOT HAVE A FIREBALL CAPTURED TO USE TO KILL THE XARI, THE SHIELD BECOMES DISRUPTED. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE SHIELD CANNOT CAPTURE OR REFLECT FIREBALLS. THE SHIELD MUST BE KEPT FROM TOUCHING A XARI FOR 3 SECONDS. AFTER 3 SECONDS HAVE ELAPSED SINCE THE LAST CONTACT WITH A XARI, THE SHIELD RECOVERS AND CAN AGAIN AFFECT FIREBALLS.

 

EACH PLAYER RECEIVES ONE FIRE EXTINGUISHER PER WAVE PLUS BONUS EXTINGUISHERS IF THEY START AT A HIGHER WAVE.

 

THE EXTINGUISHERS MAY BE USED TO DESTROY FIREBALLS BEHIND AND A SHORT DISTANCE IN FRONT OF THE PLAYER'S WALL. THIS ENABLES THE PLAYER TO DEFEND AGAINST FIREBALLS GETTING BEHIND THE WALL AND DOING ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF DAMAGE. THE NUMBER OF FIRE EXTINGUISHERS AVAILABLE TO THE PLAYER ARE SHOWN AS LITTLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS BEHIND THE PLAYERS WALL. UP TO 15 CAN BE DISPLAYED BUT MORE CAN BE ACCUMULATED.

 

THE GAME CONTINUES FOR EACH PLAYER UNTIL THE PLAYER LOSES ALL OF HIS ENERGY CELLS. EACH WAVE, THE PLAYERS HAVE HEALED AND THEREFORE HAVE ALL OF THEIR ENERGY CELLS.

 

THE PLAYERS SCORE POINTS FOR KILLING XARIS WITH FIREBALLS THEY HAVE DEFLECTED OR CAPTURED AND BONUS POINTS FOR THE ENERGY CELLS REMAINING AT THE END OF EACH WAVE. NOTICE THAT THE FRONT CELLS ARE WORTH THE MOST IN THE BONUS SCORING.

 

THE XARIS SCORE POINTS (CENTER SCORE ON SCREEN) FOR HITING THE ENERGY CELLS OF THE PLAYERS. FOR THE XARIS, THE BACK CELLS ARE WORTH THE MOST POINTS.

 

HAVE FUN AND DON'T LET THE XARIS GET YOU DOWN!!

[Albert]

Here's a version in mixed case, a little easier to read.

 

----------

 

There are three selections for Xari Arena players each player may be in (in play), out (out of play), or auto (computer play) these selections are made with the * for the left player and the # for the right player.

 

Difficulty level is set by pressing 1-9.

 

Pressing start when in full auto play or in set-up mode will start a game. Pressing reset when in full auto play or in pause will go to set-up mode. Pressing pause will pause the game when someone is playing only. It will act as reset during attract or auto-play.

 

During the game play (either players or auto play) the music may be toggled off/on without affecting the other sounds by pressing the 0 key. Also, intermissions may be terminated at any time by pressing the 0 key.

 

Game Characters:

 

The players are creatures composed of energy cells which they must protect with their magic shields. If they can survive 32 waves in the arena, they will have won their freedom.

 

The Xaris are the amoeba-like creatures in the center of the arena. They are confined to an area in the center but are able to cast fireballs at the players. The center area expands with each new wave.

 

The fireballs are not dangerous to the Xaris until they have been deflected by the magic shields of the players. When this happens, they then become dangerous to the Xaris. They do not, however, ever become non-dangerous to the players.

 

The fireballs may also be captured by the magic shields. This is done by pressing the hard fire button (bottom button) to open the sides of the shield. Once a fireball has been captured, it can be used to kill a Xari by moving the shield to tag a Xari. The shield can hold up to four fireballs at a time.

 

If a shield touches a Xari and does not have a fireball captured to use to kill the Xari, the shield becomes disrupted. When this happens the shield cannot capture or reflect fireballs. The shield must be kept from touching a Xari for 3 seconds. After 3 seconds have elapsed since the last contact with a Xari, the shield recovers and can again affect fireballs.

 

Each player receives one fire extinguisher per wave plus bonus extinguishers if they start at a higher wave.

 

The extinguishers may be used to destroy fireballs behind and a short distance in front of the player's wall. This enables the player to defend against fireballs getting behind the wall and doing enormous amounts of damage. The number of fire extinguishers available to the player are shown as little fire extinguishers behind the players wall. Up to 15 can be displayed but more can be accumulated.

 

The game continues for each player until the player loses all of his energy cells. Each wave, the players have healed and therefore have all of their energy cells.

 

The players score points for killing Xaris with fireballs they have deflected or captured and bonus points for the energy cells remaining at the end of each wave. Notice that the front cells are worth the most in the bonus scoring.

 

The Xaris score points (center score on screen) for hiting the energy cells of the players. For the Xaris, the back cells are worth the most points.

 

Have fun and don't let the Xaris get you down!!

[birdie3]

It appears as though a few people now would like to see this ported over to the 8 bit machines. Hopefully someone will do this.