6th June 2182, Mars

The Space Station Factory orbiting the planet is undergoing an unprecedented mutiny.
The main computer of the space station UNSS ASAMI has gone rogue during decommissioning and
gained control of the guardian droids.

After winning a short battle with the UN army dislocated on Mars, the rebellious mainframe is now
pointing the station towards earth with its load of uncontained radioactive material.

You are the android L-3573-R, the first of a new generation of guardian droids independent from a
central AI. Given your strengths, you are the only hope to stop this threat and figure out what
happened to the station.

GOOD LUCK!


FEATURES
- An entire space station to explore
- 60+ rooms full of Metroid Vania action
- Upgradable weapon, special powers, map and inventory
- 11 tracks OST
- THEC64 (Maxi and mini) compatibility


A NOTE FROM THE DEVELOPER

Welcome to Lester!

This game takes inspiration from modern MSX Metroid Vania's like Ghost / Minighost (which is clearly
the most direct inspiration for it) and the old Konami's productions like The maze of Galious.

Lester is my first release for the Commodore 64. Actually this is my hello world project started
fiddling with a TRSE tutorial which then, in a three year arc, became a graphic adventure engine, a
Zelda-like engine, a single screen platform engine, an attempt to convert Minighost and then a
standalone game. It's been quite a long and twisty road... But here it is!

I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed making it.



CONTROLS

The game is played with a joystick plugged in port 2.

JOY UP: Jump
JOY DOWN: Descend Stairs - Enter through doors - Access terminals
JOY LEFT/RIGHT: Moves left/right
TAP FIRE BUTTON: Fire weapon
HOLD FIRE BUTTON AND RELEASE: Activate special power
P KEY: Pause


THE PANEL
LIVES: number of tries Lester has to complete the mission. Once you loose them all you can still
restart from the first room keeping all your equipment.
HP: Your energy.
XP: Increases by one every time you kill an enemy or you dare to wake up a sleeping drone. Once
you reach the maximum XP you'll be rewarded with an extra HP.
COINS: Number of coins collected / Maximum number of coins collectable
SPECIAL POWER SLOT: Special power currently equipped.


THE STATION

You'll start your mission on the upper left bridge. The station was going through decommissioning at
the moment of the incident. The last updates on the status of the work confirm that you may find
uncontained radioactive fuel in the lower part and some rooms not covered by auxiliary power.

During your mission to regain the control of the station you'll also find some objects with various
functions.

BARRELS: Scattered through the station, they hide useful items and a lot of coins.
TERMINALS: Use them to save a checkpoint, view a map of the station, restore health and
upgrade your weapon spending your coins. You can collect coins killing enemies and
destroying barrels.
TRIGGERS: Activate them to open new passages inside the station.
SPECIAL POWERS

Other than coins, you can gain also some useful extra powers by shooting to enemies.
EMP: A single pulse that can pass through walls and destroys everything in the line of fire.
Armoured droids are not affected.
BOMB: Destroys everything visible on the screen. Armoured droids are not affected.
SHIELD: Temporary invulnerability, even from armoured droids.

You can carry only one special power at a time, use them wisely!


ITEMS

You can achieve permanent upgrades and more coins shooting to the barrels disseminated through
the station.

SMALL AND BIG COINS: Spend them when connected to terminals to restore your hp and
upgrade your weapon. One big coin counts as 5 small coins.
PASS: Gives you access to the same numbered area
BATTERY: Increases your maximum HP
WALLET: Doubles your maximum amount of collectable coins.
INFRARED: Allows you to see through dark areas
RADIOACTIVE SHIELD: Protects you from radioactive liquids



SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND RELEASE NOTES
A Commodore 64/128 (PAL or NTSC)
A Joystick plugged in port 2
Supports THEC64 (Maxi and Mini), VICE, and FPGA solutions



CREDITS
Design, Code, Gfx and Sound by Knifegrinder.
Thanks to Nicolaas Ervik Groeneboom and Andy Hewitt.


Distributed with the Commodore 64 Ultimate with permission from Knifegrinder.