Once you've inserted your coin into the cabinet of Atari's 1983 arcade game Cloak & Dagger and pressed the Start Button, you will have fifteen seconds to choose whether you want to start from Floor 1, Floor 5 (with a 50000-point bonus if you clear it), or Floor 9 (with an additional life, and a 100000-point bonus if you clear it); push either joystick to the left or right to select the floor you wish to start on, then press the Igniter Button to confirm your choice (if a previous player had made it to Floor 29 that day you will also have the option of starting on Floors 13, 17, 21, 25 or 29 with 150000-, 200000, 250000- and 300000-point bonuses if you clear them, but if one only made it to between Floors 13 and 28 that day, only some of those options will be available). The game will now cut to the opening cutscene shown above - and as the text of "YOUR MISSION: RECOVER THE STOLEN PLANS FROM THE EVIL DR. BOOM AND DESTROY HIS UNDERGROUND BOMB FACTORY!" appears at the top of the screen Agent X will walk into view from the left side of the screen. Dr. Boom will then rush into view from the same side of the screen, steal the top-secret plans from Agent X and say "HEH, HEH, HEH..." as Agent X says "STOP THIEF!"; a secret elevator will then emerge from under a pine tree in the background as Dr. Boom gets into it and Agent X follows him inside. Agent X shall now descend to the first floor - however, if you hold both joysticks down when Agent X is in an elevator, the word "EXPRESS" will appear on the elevator's wall, and it will descend quicker, which can sometimes allow him to skip particularly troublesome floors (like the minefields in a case of not collecting all three secret maps on the three previous floors). Refer to the table below, to find out what you will encounter on each floor:
Floor | Conveyor belts | Enemies | Items | Additional hazards |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 1 robot guard | 1 secret map, 9 unarmed explosives, 1 armed explosive and 1 mystery box | None |
2 | 4 | 2 robot guards | 45 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, 3 armed explosives and 1 mystery box | None |
3 | 4 | 2 robot guards and 1 forklift | 41 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map and 5 armed explosives | None |
4 | 5 | 2 robot guards | 25 unarmed explosives, 4 armed explosives and 2 mystery boxes | 45 mines |
5 | 0 | 3 robot guards and 1 crawling eye | 11 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, 1 armed explosive and 3 mystery boxes | None |
6 | 0 | 3 robot guards | 3 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map and 1 mystery box | 1 acid pit |
7 | 1 | 3 robot guards and 1 crawling eye | 9 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, 1 armed explosive and 2 mystery boxes | 1 acid pit |
8 | 2 | 3 robot guards | 8 unarmed explosives, 3 armed explosives and 2 mystery boxes | 57 mines |
9 | 6 | 3 robot guards and 3 forklifts | An indeterminate number of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate number of armed explosives and 5 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter |
10 | 6 | 3 robot guards and 4 forklifts | An indeterminate number of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate number of armed explosives and 5 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter |
11 | 8 | 3 robot guards and 4 forklifts | An indeterminate number of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate number of armed explosives and 4 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter |
12 | 3 | 3 robot guards and Dr. Boom | 18 unarmed explosives, 4 armed explosives and 3 mystery boxes | 47 mines |
13 | 8 | 4 robot guards | An indeterminate number of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate number of armed explosives and 5 mystery boxes | 2 bomb converters |
14 | 7 | 4 robot guards and 3 forklifts | An indeterminate number of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate number of armed explosives, 9 mystery boxes and 1 extra box | 1 bomb converter |
15 | 7 | 4 robot guards and 2 forklifts | An indeterminate number of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate number of armed explosives and 10 mystery boxes | 3 bomb converters |
16 | 5 | 4 robot guards and Dr. Boom | 23 unarmed explosives, 13 armed explosives and 3 mystery boxes | 89 mines |
17 | 5 | 4 robot guards | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 2 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter and 4 box compressors |
18 | 6 | 4 robot guards | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 3 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter and 8 box compressors |
19 | 5 | 4 robot guards | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 6 mystery boxes | 2 bomb converters and 12 box compressors |
20 | 5 | 4 robot guards | 15 unarmed explosives, 13 armed explosives and 3 mystery boxes | 124 mines |
21 | 8 | 4 robot guards, 2 forklifts and 2 crawling eyes | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 7 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter |
22 | 2 | 5 robot guards and 2 crawling eyes | 6 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, 5 armed explosives and 2 mystery boxes | None |
23 | 7 | 5 robot guards, 4 forklifts and 4 crawling eyes | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 9 mystery boxes | 2 bomb converters |
24 | 3 | 5 robot guards, 2 crawling eyes and Dr. Boom | 23 unarmed explosives, 10 armed explosives and 4 mystery boxes | 77 mines |
25 | 3 | 5 robot guards and 2 forklifts | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 5 mystery boxes | 2 bomb converters and 6 acid pits |
26 | 6 | 5 robot guards | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 5 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter and 14 acid pits |
27 | 8 | 5 robot guards | 63 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, 5 armed explosives and 6 mystery boxes | 6 acid pits |
28 | 4 | 5 robot guards | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 3 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter, 3 acid pits and 65 mines |
29 | 7 | 5 robot guards, 2 forklifts and 2 crawling eyes | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 8 mystery boxes | 2 bomb converters and 4 acid pits |
30 | 2 | 5 robot guards and 2 crawling eyes | 5 unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, 4 armed explosives and 1 mystery box | 4 box compressors and 2 acid pits |
31 | 3 | 5 robot guards and 2 crawling eyes | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, 1 secret map, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 3 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter and 6 box compressors |
32 | 3 | 5 robot guards, 2 crawling eyes and Dr. Boom | An indeterminate amount of unarmed explosives, an indeterminate amount of armed explosives and 4 mystery boxes | 1 bomb converter, 2 box compressors, 3 acid pits and 81 mines |
33 | 6 | 6 robot guards (2 regenerative), Dr. Boom and 25 electrical nodes | 2 extra boxes and the top-secret plans | None |
The Fuse Bonus for each floor starts out at 100 x the floor's number and increases by 100 every time Agent X shoots an armed explosive or robot guard, or collects an unarmed explosive or a mystery box (and by 200 every time he shoots a crawling eye); also, when Agent X ignites the fuse of a bomb, you will receive between 2000 and 9000 points for it (depending on its length), and all points received for the remainder of the current floor shall get doubled. Although the amounts of explosives and mystery boxes are consistent for most floors the placement of them (and the bomb converters) on the conveyor belts is randomly-generated, which is part of the reason why the amount of explosives on floors with bomb converters is indeterminate - and once Agent X has recovered the top-secret plans, for 100000 points, he'll have to make his way back up to the surface. If he should exit an elevator on a floor where the bomb exploded on the way down the hole where it was shall have a new type of flying electrical nodes emerging from it (which shall, again, increase the level's Fuse Bonus by 200, when killed); however, if he should exit one on a floor where the bomb hadn't exploded on the way down, a "superguard" will emerge from the elevator to join the pursuit of him (which will once again increase the level's Fuse Bonus by 200, when killed). All floors also feature an extra box on the way back up to the surface; once Agent X has made it all the way back up to the surface, the text "CONGRATULATIONS! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! YOU ARE ONE OF OUR BEST AGENTS!" shall appear on the screen as he reemerges from the secret elevator under the pine tree. The text "YOUR REWARD: 1 FREE GAME! X-LIFE BONUS: X00000" shall then appear, at the bottom of the screen (X being your number of remaining lives) - and the game will then go into high-score mode. Your score will most likely be the highest value on the cabinet to date, so you should enter your initials at the top of the table with pride; once you have done so, the game shall go back into attract mode, but it is your choice if you want to play again.