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This page attempts to provide a complete description of the game. Click on one of the following icons for more details.
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ScenesA game of Mr. Do! consists of a number of "scenes". Scenes 1 to 10 have different layouts. After that, the layouts repeat. Each scene, however, has four subtly different varieties, which vary randomly. See the Screen Shots page for pictures of each scene.
A scene can be finished in any of the following ways:
Once a scene is completed, the next scene begins. Scenes get more difficult as the game progresses, though the level of difficulty reaches a maximum at around scene 30.
A summary screen appears after scenes 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 16, 19, 20, etc. See the Screen Shots page for details.
PointsThe object of the game is to score as many points as possible. Points can be scored in the following ways:
| Number Killed | Points |
| 1,000 | |
| 2,000 | |
| 4,000 | |
| 6,000 | |
| 8,000 |
Mr. Do!Mr. Do! moves around the screen under your control. He can dig through earth in any direction, but he moves slightly faster when he doesn't have to dig.
He is armed with a ball which he can throw at monsters. When he throws the ball, it bounces along the corridors until it hits a monster or returns to Mr. Do! If it hits a monster, you score 500 points and a new ball reappears in his hands. After the first ball, a new ball appears immediately. After the second and subsequent balls, however, you have to wait for three or four seconds, which is quite a long time to be unarmed. After shooting a letter, the ball always reappears immediately. If the letter and munchers are out, the ball also reappears immediately, regardless of what it hits.
Sometimes the ball bounces around the screen for ages without hitting anything, or get stuck in a loop. If this occurs, the ball will eventually self-destruct and a new one will appear.
Mr. Do! can push apples to left and right, but not up and down. If Mr. Do! passes directly under an apple, the apple will fall, but only after Mr. Do! has passed. If Mr. Do! walks under an apple and pauses, the apple will not fall until Mr. Do! moves away.
Mr. Do! is killed if caught by a red monster, digger, letter or muncher, or if an apple falls on him.
You normally start off with three "lives". However, machine dip-switch settings allow this to be altered.
Red Monsters and DiggersThe red monsters start in the "nest" at the centre of the screen. There are a total of six in scenes one and two, and eight in scenes three and beyond. They come out of the nest in pairs.
Red monsters travel slightly faster than Mr. Do! They speed up as the scene progresses. They travel faster in later scenes.
Red monsters always travel along the corridors. They do not tunnel through earth. They are therefore quite easy to avoid. Unfortunately, they have a tendency to turn into diggers, which are an altogether much more formidable foe. You have about a second's warning when a red monster is about to transform; it stays still and flashes a couple of times before it starts digging. Any red monster can turn into a digger at any time, but the transformation is more common when their path is blocked by an apple. Transformation occurs earlier in the later screens.
Diggers can dig straight through earth, and consequently are very powerful. They can dig in any direction, but generally they dig straight towards Mr. Do!
If you kill all the red monsters and diggers, the scene ends.
LettersAt any time during the game, one of the five letters spelling EXTRA at the top of the screen is highlighted. Whenever your score passes a multiple of 5,000 points, the currently highlighted letter starts running around the screen. If you manage to kill the letter, with a bullet (most common) or by dropping an apple on it (difficult - see Strategy page), you score points and the letter at the top of the screen gets coloured in yellow. If you manage to get all five letters to spell EXTRA, the scene ends and you get an extra life!
Certains aspects of the letter appearing should be mentioned. The highlighted letter starts at E, moves across through X, T and R to A, and then back through R, T and X to E again. Each letter is highlighted for about 5 seconds. If a letter has already been killed, and so is coloured in yellow, the highlight only remains for about 1 second. If the last points on a scene cause the score to pass a multiple of 5,000 points, a letter will appear at the start of the next scene. This does not happen if a letter is already out. There is an exception to this, however: if you kill the letter with an apple and end the scene passing a multiple of 5,000 points, the same letter will appear at the beginning of the next scene.
Another way of getting a letter out is to eat the food in the nest. However, in this case, the letter is escorted by three munchers, and the task of killing the letter is harder.
Letters only appear for a certain time. After a while, they return to their home at the top of the screen. Letters pursue a cowardly strategy. If Mr. Do! has no ball in hand, they chase him. If he has a ball in hand, they run away from him.
Letters eat any apples they encounter.
When a letter is shot, it turns into an apple. If accompanied by munchers, the munchers also turn into apples.
MunchersMunchers only appear when you eat the food in the nest. Three of them appear, chasing Mr. Do!, slowly catching up on him, and are followed by the letter. The munchers' actions are predictable. They always head straight for Mr. Do! by the shortest path. They travel faster than Mr. Do! They gradually speed up as they move, and they move faster in later scenes. They cannot dig through earth.
Munchers eat any apples they encounter.
When a muncher is shot, or the letter it is escorting is shot, it turns into an apple.
The three munchers usually travel one behind the other, such that if the leading muncher is shot, and turns into an apple, the following muncher immediately eats the apple. However, sometimes two munchers travel together, one on top of the other. Rarely, all three travel together.
FoodOnce all the red monsters have left the "nest", they leave behind some "food". Mr. Do! can then eat the food by passing through the nest. This scores a number of bonus points, which increases with each scene, and triggers the "Blue Muncher Phase".
In the Blue Muncher Phase, the screen changes to a hellish red colour, and all red monsters and diggers are immobilised until the end of the phase. A letter appears, preceeded by three munchers. You can still kill the red monsters and diggers in the usual way, but since the munchers will be chasing you at a rate of knots, you won't have much time for this!
The Blue Muncher Phase can end in a number of ways:
This table shows the type of food in each scene and its points value. Authorities differ as to an accurate description of each type of food. This site, not wishing to add to the controversy, merely shows you a picture of each.
| Scene | Points | Food | Scene | Points | Food |
| 1 | 1,000 | |
9, 10 | 4,000 |  |
| 2 | 1,500 |  |
11, 12 | 4,500 |  |
| 3 | 2,000 |  |
13, 14, 15 | 5,000 |  |
| 4 | 2,500 |  |
16, 17, 18 | 6,000 |  |
| 5, 6 | 3,000 |  |
19, 20, 21 | 7,000 |  |
| 7, 8 | 3,500 |  |
22+* | 8,000 |  |
* but see under Bugs section
ApplesEach scene initially contains six apples. They are not positioned randomly. There are only four possible configurations for each scene. Refer to the Screen Shots page for more details. More apples can be created by shooting letters and munchers.
You can push apples to left and right, but not up and down. By pushing an apple over a vertical corridor you cause the apple to fall. This will crush any red monsters and diggers in its path. It is also possible to crush munchers and letters in this way, but it doesn't usually work, because they tend to turn to face the apple and eat it. Red monsters are very stupid when it comes to falling apples. As soon as the apple starts falling, any red monsters in its path "dither" back and forth beneath the apple, instead of running away. This makes it quite easy to kill them with apples. The number of points you get for crushing monsters depends on the number killed. See the Points section for details.
If you pass directly beneath an apple, the apple will fall, but only after you have moved away. It will wobble for a second or two before falling, so you get some warning before it is about to fall.
If an apple falls onto another apple, both apples break.
Red monsters and diggers can push apples, cause them to fall, and crush you or each other. If a digger kills itself with an apple, which is not uncommon, you still score the appropriate number of points. When you or a monster causes an apple to fall, the apple falls immediately; it does not first "wobble" as it does when you walk underneath one.
Apples cannot appear in the bottom row. If an apple falls to the bottom row, or a letter or muncher is shot in the bottom row, the apple disintegrates.
CherriesEvery scene has forty cherries, arranged in five groups of eight cherries each. On any given scene the cherries always appear in the same place. You score 50 points for each cherry you eat. If you manage to eat eight consecutive cherries without hesitating, you score 500 points for the last cherry in the group, making a total of 850 points for the group. Diggers may eat cherries, but you won't score any points if they do!
If you (or the monsters) eat all the cherries, the scene ends.
DiamondsA sight to set the pulse racing, diamonds are a rare occurrence! Very occasionally, when an apple falls, it breaks open to reveal a diamond, which remains on the screen for a few seconds. If you manage to reach the diamond, you get 8,000 points and a free game, and the scene ends.
All comments welcome! Please email [email protected]
Mr. Do! is copyright 1982 Universal