Tutankham Returns

This game is a homage to Tutankham, an arcade game developed by Konami in 1982.

This version is made up of 7 completely new stages.

Overview

In this game, the player controls an explorer who is robbing Tutankhamun's tomb. The player will search for precious treasures (maps, lamps, chests of gold & jewels, and, above all, the golden mask of King Tut) and fight off the various creatures that guard the tomb to ultimately find the way through the catacombs.

Gameplay

The player must guide the explorer through a series of progressively more difficult mazes across different stages. The explorer may move in four directions, but can only fire in two directions, left and right, making the player helpless in vertical shafts. There are also "warp zones" located in random parts of each maze that allow the explorer to be teleported from one area of the catacomb to another.

There are several different creatures that constantly materialize from "spawning zones" within the maze and attack, including crows, snakes, bats, dragons, and other magical beings. Those creatures can be destroyed to score between 20 and 60 points with either bullets or a "flash bomb". The explorer has a single "flash bomb" per life (or optionally per life and stage) that destroys all the enemies on the screen.

On each stage, the explorer must pick up keys in order to unlock the door to the room where each of the treasures are kept, allowing the passage to the next stage. Along the way, the explorer may grab optional treasures (rings and coffers) for bonus points.

If the timer reaches zero, the player's ability to fire is removed.

Bonus points are awarded based on the amount of extra time left over when a stage is completed.

After the player has recovered the King Tut's treasures in all 7 stages, the game starts over again with increased difficulty and more keys to pick up.

At 30000 points and then every 80000 points, the player earns an extra life, for a maximum of 6 lives.

Tips & tricks

The creatures disappear when they are located just beyond the visible limits of the screen. Use this to your advantage to clear an area of the maze from them.

Only one creature at a time can materialize in the spawning zones scattered throughout the maze. Listen for when a creature begins to materialize elsewhere before passing by one of these zones.

The creatures randomly materialize only in the spawning zones visible on the screen and do not exceed a certain amount depending on the stage. Use this fact to make the creatures materialize in a distant area of the maze while clearing the area you are in by killing them.

While walking along a vertical shaft, if you shoot before being reached by a creature, you still have the possibility to kill it.

Options

There are 5 difficulty levels to choose from: Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, Extreme.

You can choose whether to start a game with 3, 4 or 5 lives.

You can choose whether to start a game with a single flash bomb per life or per life and stage.

Controls

Arrow keys Controller lever	Move the explorer
Left fire button *	Shoot to the left
Right fire button *	Shoot to the right
Flash bomb button *	Detonate the flash bomb
P	Pause
Home	Stop game and return to title screen
Shift+Del	Reset ranking (while the top scores are displayed)
F9	Change border color (fullscreen mode only)
F10	Change pixel effect
F11	Toggle integer scaling
F12	Toggle fullscreen
Esc	Exit game

* The keyboard keys and the controller buttons are customizable (select SET BUTTONS during the title screen).

You can also use the WASD or IJKL keys as directional keys.

The gamepad D-Pad can also be used.

History

Version 1.0

• First release.

Version 1.1

• In fullscreen mode, the game could be jerky using certain video cards.

Version 1.2

• You can now choose whether to start a game with 3, 4 or 5 lives.
• Up to 10 top scores are now stored.

Version 1.3 

• The game crashed after getting a top score.

Version 1.4

• You can now use the WASD or IJKL keys as directional keys.
• You can now use the gamepad D-Pad.
  

Version 1.5

• You can now choose whether to start a game with a single flash bomb per life or per life and stage.
• There are now separate score rankings based on the game options you choose.
• You can now use the controller to enter a top score name.
  

Version 1.6

• More controllers are now recognized.