Skate or Die!

01 · Joysticks and keys

Either port, or the keyboard

Everywhere but the two events for two skaters, the Downhill Jam and the Pool Joust, the game reads both joystick ports at once and combines them, so a stick in either port works ($0D23). One row of the keyboard shares its wires with joystick 1, so the keys on it steer too: SPACE fires, 1 is up, the left arrow is down, CTRL is left, and 2 is right. That is also why SPACE leaves the title screen.

Two keys work in every event. The Commodore key turns the music off, or on again ($1A24), and the event manager keeps the choice from one event to the next. RUN/STOP abandons the event ($1A08); from High Jump it goes back to Rodney's skate shop.

02 · The shop and the town

A pointer, then a skater with no brakes

In the shop the stick moves a pointer over the picture, a step of two pixels across or two lines down at a time ($1E4C), and fire chooses what is under it. Names are typed on the keyboard, up to fifteen letters; RETURN accepts a name, and DEL rubs out a letter ($1D5B).

In the town square, left and right turn the skater a step every two frames, pushing the stick forwards adds speed, and only pulling back slows the skater down. With the stick centred the skater keeps rolling.

03 · Freestyle

Pump with fire, lean for the trick

On the platform, up and down choose where on the ramp the skater sets off, and fire pushes off ($0D58). Riding, the first fire press low in each half of the ramp is a pump that adds speed ($1BAF). Left or right on the way up, with or against the direction of travel, together with the number of pumps, chooses the trick ($1C81). In the air the stick spins the skater and fire starts a grab.

04 · High Jump

Waggle for speed, fire at the top

Any newly pressed direction while the skater is low in the ramp pumps ($16E3): the faster the presses come, the faster the skater goes. Fire in the air above the right wall starts the jump trick, which adds half a foot and ends the attempt ($0F4B). Holding fire for twenty frames or more spins the skater ($107D).

05 · Downhill Race

Down to push, fire to jump, spin or duck

In the Downhill Race, down pushes, a step of speed every eight frames, and left and right turn. Fire with up jumps, fire with left or right spins, and fire with down ducks ($2B41). Before the start, any direction switches between REGULAR and GOOFY FOOT, and goofy swaps up with down and left with right, except that fire with up still jumps and fire with down still ducks ($0998, $3984).

06 · Downhill Jam

Twelve attacks from fire and a direction

Each skater in the Jam has a port of their own: whoever presses fire first at the start takes the left-hand skater ($325B).

The controls of the Downhill Jam ($2DC7). GOOFY swaps up with down and left with right for the moves without fire, but not for the attacks.

07 · Pool Joust

Fire swings the pole

In the Pool Joust the first skater plays on joystick 2 and the second on joystick 1, and whoever presses fire first in the introduction takes the left-hand skater ($1C98). Up and down move across the pool ($1962), and left or right below the coping choose the next trick, as on the Freestyle ramp. Fire drops in from the deck, swings the pole, and gets up after a knock-off. On the opponent screen, up and down move the arrow over the three computer skaters ($2086).