Toy Bizarre

How to play:

To get keyboard access on ClassicReload, you have to select “Joystick Swap Ports (Player 2)” from the dropdown below the emulation window.
Then, as indicated on the emulation window, press spacebar or click to start.
I type “N” to decline “Unlimited Lives.”
From the title screen in the emulator, press spacebar to get to the main animated title screen.
From the animated title screen, press {F1} to start the game.
If step #1 is followed:
Cursor keys should move the Mario-like player (I forget his name, unfortunately).
Both the space bar and {Ctrl} keys should make him jump.
{F1} will restart the game (so be careful not to press {F1} when you’re making a high score!)
Those are all the keys I could get to work—using the [Run/Stop] button below the emulator will pause the game and the [Save] and [Restore] buttons seem to work as expected.
Goal of game:
Mario-like guy must clear each “1-hour” level of toys.
The clock at the top right of the screen ticks off 1 “minute” about every 3 seconds or so. If it gets to the next hour without all the toys being cleared, you lose a life.
The toys start out as balloons that are released from one of the 6 valves. When the balloon pops, the toy is activated and starts hopping around on the screen.
Different colored toys have different behaviors—the yellow is the easiest and blue is the hardest (though green is very hard too).
The screen wraps—that is, if any item moves beyond the left-most side of the screen, it will appear on/wrap to the right-most side, and, vice versa.
To capture a toy:

i. Earn 200 points if you make the Mario-like guy run into a balloon before it pops.

ii. Earn 100 points if you capture the toy once it is hopping around. To capture a hopping toy:

You must first jump over it from left to right, or right to left, to “deactivate” it. A deactivated toy will then start flashing colors and you can make Mario-like guy run into it to capture it. If you do not capture the flashing toy right away, after several seconds it will stop flashing and turn gray. A gray toy can still be captured, but after a bit of time, it will turn back into a hopping toy again and it becomes harder to catch (i.e., moves faster).
Alternatively, toys can be deactivated by “boosting” the toy. To boost a toy, you have to make the Mario-like guy jump onto a raised section of the floor which will cause that section to be flattened while its paired section boosts up. If a toy is on the section of the floor that gets boosted up, it will be deactivated and start flashing so that you can capture it.

iii. If you run into an activated toy (one that is hopping around), you will lose a life.

Valves:

i. The lower 4 valves that let out balloons can be turned off by making the Mario-like guy pass across the valve. The word “OFF” will appear below the valve.

ii. When a valve is turned off, it will not release balloons. But, the top 2 valves always remain on, so they can always release balloons.

iii. You get 40 points for turning off a valve.

iv. If all 4 valves are still turned off at the end of a level, AND Hilda (see below) is on the screen, you get a 4000 point bonus.

Hilda:

i. There is another toy—a female character who is Mario-like guy’s nemesis.

ii. If you run into Hilda, you lose a life.

iii. Hilda cannot be deactivated by jumping over her. However, she can be boosted off the screen for a period of time by following the boost procedure mentioned above for toys—that is, if you jump on a raised section when Hilda is on the corresponding flat section, Hilda will be boosted off the screen when the section on which she is standing gets boosted up.

iv. Hilda will turn back on any valves that you have turned off if she moves over the valve.

v. Hilda tries to get to where you are on the screen but her movements are constrained by the floor sections, etc.

Coffee Break:

i. Occasionally, a cup of coffee with the words “Coffee Break” will appear on the screen. If you run your Mario-like guy into the cup of coffee before it disappears, for a brief time:

You can run into toys to capture them even if they are not flashing/deactivated.
Hilda will stop moving, but the toys will keep hopping around.
Safety Check:

i. After clearing every 2 levels, the 3rd level is a “Safety Check.” During a safety check there are no toys, only Hilda(s).

ii. You must turn off all 8 valves (there are 2 additional valves at the very top that are not present on the standard levels) as rapidly as possible. The faster you get all the valves turned off, the more bonus points you get—either 10000 or 3000 I believe. You have to be super speedy to get the 10000 bonus.

iii. While you are turning off the valves, Hilda is turning them back on.

iv. On the first safety check, there is 1 Hilda turning on valves; on the second safety check, there are 2 Hildas turning on valves; on the third safety check, there are 3 Hildas turning on valves. On the fourth safety check, you are back to just 1 Hilda, but the platforms become invisible. On the fifth safety check, there are 2 Hildas with invisible platforms. On the sixth safety check there, are 3 Hildas with invisible platforms. If I remember correctly, this pattern of 6 types repeats after the 6th safety check but I believe Hilda gets speedier on subsequent safety checks.

Other:

i. Toys and Hilda can boost *you* off the screen (i.e., you lose a life) by jumping onto raised sections when you are on the corresponding flat section—so, be careful when walking over flat sections.

ii. Occasionally, a floating Mario-like guy head will appear randomly on the screen for a short period of time—if you run your Mario-like guy into it, you get an extra life.

iii. When you start the level and after losing a life, your Mario-like guy will flash for a few seconds. During this time, neither toys nor Hilda can take a life. This gives time for them to pass “through” you if they happen to be right at the starting point.

iv. Although the Mario-like guy typically starts by jogging in from the left-hand side of the screen and stopping about 1.5 inches in, it is possible to make him jog in from the right-hand side by holding down the left cursor key when he is jogging on. This is sometimes essential if toys happen to be sitting right where you start on the left-hand side on some of the higher levels.

v. The number and color of balloons/toys that remain to be captured is shown at the top left of the screen below your current score as a line of colored balloons representing what color toy will be released next. The balloon at the far left is the next balloon color that will be released.

vi. After you have cleared all the toys from the room, you have a brief period left to control/position your Mario-like guy before he runs off the screen along with Hilda running off the screen. Once he starts running off the screen to the right, you have *one* jump left. This can be used strategically to turn off valves that might still be on as you exit. But, Hilda will also turn on valves that she passes over on her way off the screen, so, it is quite a feat to get all the valves set to off and remain off after Hilda has run off the screen to the left.

vii. At the end of the level, you get 50 bonus points for each minute left on the clock before the next hour. For example, if you clear level 1 at 12:50, there are 10 minutes left on the clock, so you will accumulate 10 minutes * 50 points = 500 bonus points.

viii. I think you get an extra life every 20000 points, but I’m not entirely sure. It might be every 10000 or some other score.