MAXIMILLIAN B.ACTION/STRATEGY GAME BY JD CASTENHey, kids!  Help the intrepid duckMax (Slyvester Biffdrop's clevercousin) conquer the mechanicalmonster that's making mouse livesmiserable.  This BASIC programworks on Atari 8-bit computers withat least 32K memory, disk orcassetteMaximillian B. approached the largeoak doors slowly and cautiously.  Ashe drew ever closer, the doorscreaked open, revealing an office thesize of a basketball court and barrenexcept for a large desk."Hurry up, Maxy babe," echoed a voicefrom behind the desk.  "My oh my,what a beak you have!  You know,plastic surgery can do wonders thesedays."  Max's bill began to clatter.Aunt Icked, the family's wealthyoddball, always gave him the chills."You asked to see me?" gagged Max.Aunt Icked rarely summoned him justto make fun of his long beak."Yes Max, I have an assignment foryou.  This is big-time, Max."  AuntIcked pulled a few documents and atrain ticket out of her desk andhanded them to Max."Shouldn't cousin Sly handle mattersof this sort?  I'm an inventor, notan inspector."  But Max's heart beganto pound harder: this was a dreamcome true for him."No," replied Aunt Icked, "this jobrequires someone with extrabrain-power -- but you'll do.  Youand your Clijum-9 aircar are perfectfor this mission.  Besides, Sly hashad terrible nightmares lately, andhe needs all the rest he can get.""What's the mission?" questioned Max.Max swelled with pride: he had becomean inspector.Aunt Icked sighed gravely.  "AMechanical Electrical OperationalWeapon manufactured by IckedIndustries has gone haywire.  Thecontraption took off in the middle ofthe night and holed up somewhere inthe Rodentential section of Burgercity.  Evidently the machine has beenterrorizing the mice and other rodentresidents.  Your mission is to enterthe fortress and destroy theMechanical Electrical OperationalWeapon.  The details are in thosedocuments.  Get your little ducktailmoving."THE MISSIONOn the train ride to Burger City, Maxstudied the material.   Apparentlythe mechanical menace had built afortress in a large mountain ofdeadly vampire vegetation.  Max wouldhave to climb and jump on theframework of the fortress, but couldhe avoid the vampire vegetation?The fortress has nine rooms, most ofthem isolated from one another bylocked doors.  The only way for Maxto unlock a door is to overload thepower pulsar in each room by feedingall the power charges from the roominto the pulsar.  The power chargesmove in straight paths untilsomething blocks their way, makingthem turn counter-clockwise.  Thecharges are lethal, so Max will needto move special blue inso-cubesaround to change the paths of thecharges.Once Max finds the MechanicalElectrical Operational Weapon, hemust neutralize it with charges tocomplete his mission.CLIJUM-9 OPERATIONIn his amazing Clijum-9 microminiaircar, Max can move horizontally,jump, climb walls and pick up anddeposit inso-cubes.To move, push the joystick left orright.  To jump, push the trigger.To climb, hold the joystick indirection of the wall (this makes theClijum-9 grasp the wall) and pressthe trigger (this moves it up).  Topick up an inso-cube, push thejoystick up, and to put one down,push the joystick down.  Combinationsof operations can (and must) be usedby pushing the joystick in diagonaldirections.To pick up an inso-cube, the cubemust be in front of Max's aircar.When he picks it up, Max carries iton his back, so there must be spacebehind Max before he can grab aninso-cube, or else it might bedestroyed.  If a power charge hitsthe inso-cube while Max is carryingit, the cube will be destroyed.Max begins with nine lives in RoomOne of the fortress.  If Max loses alife, he'll have to start over at theroom entrance.  This "room restart"can also be activated at any timewithout losing a life by pressing anykey.  The game ends when Max destroysthe Mechanical Electical OperationalWeapon or when he loses all ninelives.HINTSFirst, get thoroughly familiar withthe Clijum-9 aircar.  Remember thatleft and right motion in jumps can becontrolled continually with thejoystick.  Max is tough and can takefalls from any height.  He can't fly,but he can glide down in anydirection.  Inso-cubes can be putanywhere -- even in mid-air -- butnot where they won't fit -- say, downa small hole.Maximillian B. is just as much alogic game as one of action.Completion of the game rests heavilyon strategic positioning of theinso-cubes.  It only takes one cubeto change the direction of a charge.In some cases (such as room one --this is a hint) the charges will betrapped by inso-cubes, and Max mustset them free.  On these screens, itis wise to set up a path for thecharges to follow before letting themfree.There are many ways to solve eachscreen, and it is possible tocomplete the mission.  Good luck toyou and Max.