Pharaoh's Curse

Commodore Vic-20 Version

Programmed by Alick Dziabczenko

Original by Steve Coleman

Web page by Eric Lundquist.

Pharaoh's Curse is the best Vic-20 game I've ever played. I own the cartridge, I think I picked it up for a couple of bucks on clearance at the K*B Toys in Northtown Mall in Spokane back in the mid 1980s. I don’t know if I still own the manual, I am sure the box is long gone.

Looking inside the ROM image I used with VICE on Mac OS X 10.4.1to get these screenshots, it says COPR HES,1983 V1.3x.

Looking inside the actual cartridge I own, those ROMS have stickers saying PHARAOH HES 1983 V1.4. I need to pull out one of my two Vic20s, find a power supply for it, fire it up, and check to see what that ROM image says. If there *are* two different versions, I need to see if I can figure out any differences in V1.4.

The game consists of 16 screens, each with a "treasure". You start outside the tomb with one life, and for each treasure you pick up you gain an extra life. To beat a level you need to exit after getting all 16.

The display will only show 8 extra lives, but you can have more, I've had 10, the screen showed 8, I had to die three times before the screen showed 7.

There are three mobile characters, a mummy, a pharaoh, and a bat. The mummy and pharaoh act the same, running around and occasionally shooting you. You can shoot back at any of them by pressing the fire button. Firing only goes horizontally.

If the bat gets near your head, it may pick you up and give you a flash view of some levels until it drops you off somewhere, usually at the start but sometimes elsewhere.

There are little dots on the ground, these are traps. Stepping on or near them can set them off, which causes one of four shapes of fire to gout out, killing you if it touches you. The mummy and pharaoh will not set off traps, but they will die by them if the trap goes off on them.

There are ropes you can climb up, and elevator platforms you can ride to go up as well. Falling any distance doesn't hurt you, the only ways to die are trap flames, moving beams, arrows, and monster shots.

There are keys in some rooms, collecting one will make you flash until you use the key or die, bumping a door while flashing opens it permanently.

Occasionally near an exit you'll hear a warbling tone and see a flashing shape near one of the exits. This will resolve into either a crown or an arrow. The crown is worth an extra life if you can get it in time, and the arrow moves about a third of the way across the screen, touching it costs you a life.

First, I'll show all the screens individually, then one large poorly-edited map.

Start:

The treasure on this screen in that hatch down the middle hole. The easiest one!

Dropping down this leads to S1. Before it starts you can either press the joystick button to start level 1, or you can type the secret code to start at higher levels. Fortunately the secret code is super easy to hack if you have a reset button, since pressing a correct key shows the letter, and pressing an incorrect key immediately starts the game at the level indicated. The code for level 2 is DEA, add DMU to start at level 3, and MMY to start at level 4. DEADMUMMY. At level 4 the floor traps go off nearly constantly.

Exits: Down the shaft to S1.

S1:

This treasure is also a gimme, right next to where you start at the top center.

Notable features are the elevator in the middle, complete with trap at top and bottom, a key and rope, and in the bottom left you can see a one-way door going into this room from S2.

Exits are on the top left to S2, and the bottom right to S4.

S2:

The treasure here is in the top left corner. In the middle on the right side are four beams that rise and fall, touching these is death as well. Elevator shaft in the middle, locked door in bottom right.

Exits are bottom right to S3, and either right side goes to S1.

S3:

The treasure is in the middle on the left side. There is a central elevator, one-way doors on both sides on the bottom, and a trap at the top center.

Exits are to the left to S4 and the right to S2.

S4:

The treasure is on the bottom left. There is a central elevator, a locked door on the right, three traps, and a shaft.

Exits are the shaft down to S7, the locked door to S3, and both left sides go to S1.

S5:

The treasure is on the bottom right. There is an elevator on the far right, a one-way door going right in the center on the left, a locked door on the left, and a key in the center.

Exits are center right to S8, either of the left ones goes to S6.

S6:

The treasure is at the top left, and the only access to the upper half of this level is from S5. You'll need to bring a key to unlock the door in the upper center. There are two ropes in the upper section, an elevator in the lower right and a key in the lower left.

Exits are to the left to S7, either of the right ones goes to S5, and the shaft drops down to S9.

S7:

The treasure is on the bottom left, a one-way trip to S12. There is an elevator in the middle, and 3 traps in a row in the center are rather tough.

Exits are to the left for S8, to the right for S6, and down to S12. You can also ride the elevator up to S4.

S8:

This is a fun one. The treasure is at the top a little to the left. There is an elevator in the middle. Your only access to the top is via that elevator, and you get there from either side by sliding uncontrolled down the bowl. If you timed it right, you ride the elevator up. If you didn't, you drain down to S11. I'm not 100% sure how to time this one, but I *think* if you just charge in you'll make it, and if you pause a bit, you'll drain. More testing is needed. Also, I think you have to jump when you get to the top or you die.

Exits are the drain in the bottom to S11, the left goes to S5, and the right goes to S7.

S9:

The treasure in in the top center a little to the left. There is an elevator in the middle, two sets of rising and falling beams, and a few traps.

Exits are to the left to S12, to the right to S10, and through the locked door down a shaft to S14.

S10:

The treasure is on the top to the left. You have to make some very long jumps to pull this one off.

There is a short elevator in the bottom right corner, with traps at each end, this is a pain to use without dying unless you time it right and jump onto the elevator. There is a one-way door going right in the bottom left.

Exits are to the left for S9 and to the right for S11.

S11:

The treasure is on the right side in the middle. I normally enter this when I drain out of S8 after missing that elevator. There is a rope in the middle, a locked door, and a short elevator in the bottom left that is part of a section I think is normally only accessable via Bat.

Exits are to the left to S10 and to the right for S12. I am pretty sure the locked door goes to S12 as well.

S12:

The treasure is in the bottom center. There are three ropes, and a central shaft into a trapped pit of doom with no escape.

Exits are out the right to S9, up the top rope to S7, and down the hole to S13.

S13:

The treasure is in the bottom right. There are two locked doors, two sections of rope, and a set of rising and falling beams. Once you drop down that top shaft, if you go to the left (after unlocking that door) you still have access via the long rope back to the top, if you go to the right you only have access to the bottom.

Exits are to the left to S15, to the right to S14 (either top or through the locked bottom door) or down the shaft in the bottom left which puts you way back up in S3.

S14:

The treasure is on the bottom towards the left. There are 14 traps, a key, two locked doors, and a long rope.

This level is a pain, those traps take careful timing, and by the time you are done the mummy and pharaoh are usually on that bottom level.

Exits are to the top and bottom left (through locked door) to S13, to the bottom right through that locked door goes to the Start screen.

S15:

The treasure is near the bottom on the left. This is the final screen, and fairly difficult. You have to exactly time 10 jumps to make it from the top to the treasure, and half of those platforms have traps in their centers. There is an elevator on the left wall to give you another shot when you inevitably fall.

Exit is to the right to S13.

Last modified June 23, 2005