Human Cannonball

Carefully judge angle, speed, and distance to launch your human cannonball to the target.

About the Game

Despite its kinetic cover image, Human Cannonball is a puzzle game that tests memory skills more than twitch reflexes. In most types, you adjust a single variable. Successful shots become a matter of remembering where to set that variable, based on the variables beyond your control.

The end result is a nice progression of difficulty in Human Cannonball. Start with either of the first two games to pick up the basics. Game 3 provides the most customization. The difficulty in game 4 is the result of eyeballing the placement of the cannon. In the other game variations, you adjust numbers that are plainly visible.

The addition of the barrier in the second set of games increases the challenge. During this variation, you must time the launch of the human cannonball to cross the barrier when the window is in position. In Moving Tower, you only need to set numbers correctly. The last step up in difficulty is hard mode (set the button to B), which halves the size of the target tower.

Object of the Game

The objective is to launch the man from the cannon into the target tower. Your man must enter the tower from the top. Hitting the side of the tower results in a painful fall.

One-player games end after seven successful shots or seven misses. In two-player games, the first player to record seven successful shots is the winner. However, the second player gets one more attempt if the first player reaches seven first.

How to Play

Dropping the human cannonball into the target tower is a tricky task. There are three variables to consider before launching your daredevil from the cannon.

Depending on the game type you play, these variables are either set by the computer before each attempt or adjustable by you.

The first is the distance from the cannon to the target tower. In games where the cannon’s position can be adjusted, push up to move the cannon slowly to the right, or push to the right to move quickly to the right. Push down to move the cannon slowly to the left, or push left to move it quickly to the left.

The second variable is the speed (MPH) at which the cannon launches the human cannonball. The maximum speed for all games is 45 MPH. It is possible—but not practical for scoring purposes—to adjust the speed down to 0 MPH. In games where the speed can be adjusted, push left to decrease the speed by 1 MPH or push right to increase the speed by 1 MPH.

The final variable is the angle of the cannon, which is the number below the MPH value. The minimum cannon angle for all games is 20 degrees, while the maximum angle is 80 degrees.

In games where you can adjust the cannon angle, push up on the joystick to increase the angle 1 degree, or push up-left to increase the angle 10 degrees. Push down on the joystick to decrease the angle 1 degree. Push down-left to decrease the angle 10 degrees.

In one-player games, you score one point for each successful shot. The computer records one point against you for each miss. Your score appears at the top-left corner of the screen. The number of misses is shown at the top-right corner of the screen.

The game ends after seven successful “shots” or seven misses. In two-player games, each player scores one point for a successful “shot”. Misses have no effect on scoring.

Difficulty Options

The target tower is half as wide while in the B position as it is when set to the A position.

Game Options

Features

In games 1, 2, 3, and 4, you can move the water tower back and forth after the man is launched from the cannon. Push left on the joystick to move the tower left, or push right on the joystick to move the tower right.

Games 5, 6, 7, and 8 have a scrolling barrier with a “window” in front of the tower. Time your shot so that the daredevil flies through the window in the barrier on the way to the tower.

Cannon Position

Cannon position is either fixed (FX) or adjusted by the player (AD).

Speed

The speed at which the human cannonball is launched is either assigned randomly by the computer (RN) or adjusted by the player (AD).

Cannon Angle

The angle at which the human cannonball is fired is either assigned randomly by the computer (RN) or adjusted by the player (AD).