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''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' is a ThreeQuartersView ShootEmUp MazeGame with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, and (with some changes due to graphics limitations) to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer and UsefulNotes/Tandy1000. (Note: this page mostly describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)

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''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' is a ThreeQuartersView ShootEmUp MazeGame with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Platform/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer Platform/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, Platform/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, Platform/{{Amiga}}, and (with some changes due to graphics limitations) to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer Platform/IBMPersonalComputer and UsefulNotes/Tandy1000.Platform/Tandy1000. (Note: this page mostly describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)
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* CopyProtection: The PC version requires a passphrase entry from the manual. Additionally, there's an integrity check on the manual check routine which results in invulnerable enemies (that don't even receive knockback.)
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[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] ''Film/TimeBandits''.

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[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] ''Film/TimeBandits''.
''Film/TimeBandits'' or the [[Videogame/TimeBandit2023 2023 stealth/puzzle game.]]
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* AggressivePlayIncentive: The faster the player moves, the more points they get for killing enemies, from 50 for constant movement down to zero for standing still for long enough.
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Per TRS, this is now Trivia


* {{Abandonware}}: The author of the game has published a print-on-demand strategy guide over 20 years after the game's publisher went out of business, and acknowledges that the game is only available via emulators and questionable downloads at this point.
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[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] ''Film/TimeBandits''.
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** Film/{{Ghostbusters}}: When a ghost is shot, it is briefly shown as the Ghostbusters "no ghost" logo before disappearing.

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** Film/{{Ghostbusters}}: Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}: When a ghost is shot, it is briefly shown as the Ghostbusters "no ghost" logo before disappearing.
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* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original TRS-80 game was more closely based on the arcade game Tutenkham, including restrictions like only being able to shoot left or right. It also had 21 worlds, seven each of fantasy, science fiction, and western.

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* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original TRS-80 game was more closely based on the arcade game Tutenkham, VideoGame/{{Tutankham}}, including restrictions like only being able to shoot left or right. It also had 21 worlds, seven each of fantasy, science fiction, and western.
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** In the overworld, after you've completed a couple levels, indestructible UFOs spawn. Shooting them will knock them back, but will not stop them. If they touch you, they drop you into a random gate.

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** In the overworld, after you've completed a couple levels, indestructible UFOs flying saucers spawn. Shooting them will knock them back, but will not stop them. If they touch you, they drop you into a random gate.



* HubLevel: The overworld area with all the gates in it.

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* HubLevel: The Timegates, an overworld area with all the gates in it.to the other worlds.
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''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' is a ThreeQuartersView ShootEmUp MazeGame with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} and to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer. (Note: this page mostly describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)

to:

''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' is a ThreeQuartersView ShootEmUp MazeGame with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, and (with some changes due to graphics limitations) to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer.UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer and UsefulNotes/Tandy1000. (Note: this page mostly describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)
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''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' was a ThreeQuartersView maze shooter video game with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} and to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer. (Note: this page mostly describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)

to:

''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' was is a ThreeQuartersView maze shooter video game ShootEmUp MazeGame with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} and to the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer. (Note: this page mostly describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)
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** VideoGame/{{Berzerk}}: The red Elmo enemies are a reference to Berzerk's Evil Otto.


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** Film/{{Krull}}: The indestructible glaives are modeled after the protagonist's weapon.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/time_00001.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An early view of The Timegates, with Excalibur and Welkin Island at the top, Guardian and Sentinel flanking Cheops' Curse on the left just below the player, Gridville near the center, Major Hazard at center right, Omega Complex at lower right, and Shadowlands and the save/load sign in the lower left.]]
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''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' was a ThreeQuartersView maze shooter video game with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/Amiga and to UsefulNotes/MSDOS. (Note: this page will mostly describe the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)

to:

''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' was a ThreeQuartersView maze shooter video game with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/Amiga UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} and to UsefulNotes/MSDOS. the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer. (Note: this page will mostly describe describes the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)
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Added DiffLines:

''Time Bandit: The Arcade Adventure'' was a ThreeQuartersView maze shooter video game with some AdventureGame elements, originally written for the UsefulNotes/TRS80 Model I and ported to the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer and [=Dragon32=]. It was expanded and rewritten as one of the early releases for the UsefulNotes/AtariST, which was by far the most popular release of the game; this version was then ported to the UsefulNotes/Amiga and to UsefulNotes/MSDOS. (Note: this page will mostly describe the Atari ST version, unless noted otherwise.)

The player begins in The Timegates, a HubWorld with 16 gates to different worlds. Each world has up to 16 levels associated with it, each with 4 major phases (numbered 1 through 4) with up to four sub-levels per phase (A through D). Sub-levels are typically the same basic level, but mirrored across one or both axes. The player's goal is to collect the six Great Artifacts, available in phase four of some worlds, usually in 4D.

While many worlds are just about blasting enemies, several provide adventure-type puzzles, some even having basic verb-noun text adventures.

The 16 timegates are loosely grouped into six areas, with all but one area having three gates in it. The areas are:

* Space
** Darkside Dare - TheMaze with invisible walls that only appear after you try to go through them.
** Excalibur - a Franchise/StarTrek pastiche, one of the most complicated adventures in the game. Board the legendary Fleet starship Excalibur, adrift over the planet Voracious-12 after the crew is captured by Klingons, and see if you can save the ship and her crew. Notably, Excalibur only has four levels: 1A, 2B, 3C, and 4D.
** Welkin Island - TheMaze set In Space, with dangerous star fields and black holes that can teleport you around the map.
* AncientEgypt
** Sentinel - A guardian [[Art/TheSphinx sphinx]] to the west of the pyramid, it hides the Ankh required to unlock the heart of the pyramid.
** Cheops' Curse - The pyramid of Cheops, which holds one of the Great Artifacts.
** Guardian - A guardian [[Art/TheSphinx sphinx]] to the east of the pyramid, it hides the scepter required to unlock the heart of the pyramid.
* {{Fantasy}}
** Castle Greymoon - Kelveeshan, the source of Good King Quark's power, has been kidnapped by the evil Sorceress, and escaped. Both the Sorceress and the King offer rewards for his return, but they are not the only options available.
** King's Crown - Good King Quark's crown has been stolen by the ruthless warlock [=DiffEq=]; only the bravest can fight their way through the Warlock's stronghold to return it.
** Underworld Arena - A large GladiatorGames arena full of enemies.
* ScienceFiction
** Major Hazard - A science fiction obstacle course, full of bouncing fireballs.
** Gridville - A grid level full of monsters, with zip-tubes and teleporter discs carrying the player between areas.
** Omega Complex - A power plant on the verge of a meltdown, full of monsters and pulsing with energy.
* TheWildWest
** Bomb Factory - An area where all the enemies are {{Action Bomb}}s that frequently explode when shot, [[TakingYouWithMe sending out shrapnel.]]
** Hotel California - A creepy Old West HauntedHouse.
** Ghost Town - An Old West ghost town, with puzzles involving burying the dead who were left outside the cemetery.
* Central
** Shadowland - A VideoGame/PacMan clone, with four ghosts of the player character roaming around.
** The central area also has the save/load point and status board, showing how far the player has gotten in each world.

In 2010, over 20 years after [=MichTron=] went out of business, Harry Lafnear (one of the game's authors), published ''The Timelord's Handbook'' as a print-on-demand book detailing the creation of the game, providing an updated manual, and giving both gentle clues and explicit walkthroughs for the adventure games.

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!! Tropes in Time Bandit include:
* {{Abandonware}}: The author of the game has published a print-on-demand strategy guide over 20 years after the game's publisher went out of business, and acknowledges that the game is only available via emulators and questionable downloads at this point.
* AllThereInTheManual: Many details are only available in The Timelord's Handbook, which was intended to be a clue book printed just after the Amiga and MS-DOS ports. Unfortunately, due to issues at [=MichTron=], it ended up being shoved in a drawer for 20 years until the emulation scene revived the game.
* AncientEgypt: Home of Sentinel, Guardian, and Cheops' Curse. To unlock the treasure, the player must find an ankh and use that to decipher scrolls to access the golden scepter, then use both the ankh and scepter to get the golden mask.
* AntiIdling: Both in levels and in the overworld:
** In a level, the score you get for shooting enemies is based on how quickly you've been moving; if you stand still for long enough, it will go down to 0.
** In the overworld, after you've completed a couple levels, indestructible UFOs spawn. Shooting them will knock them back, but will not stop them. If they touch you, they drop you into a random gate.
* AsteroidsMonster: Space levels have the grey Watch Tribbles that explode into four red Elmos, and the Maker Pod that explodes into four Seekers.
* BonusLevel: Not all levels need to be completed to gain the artifacts. [[spoiler:The only levels that need to be completed are Excalibur, parts of the three Egyptian levels, Castle Greymoon, King's Crown, Ghost Town, and Shadowland.]]
* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: The pyramid of Cheops' Curse is flanked by the two sphinxes of Guardian and Sentinel.
* {{Cap}}:
** The player can have a maximum of 16 lives; more than that are wasted.
** The player can only hold one key at a time. Other keys act like walls to the player if they already have a key.
* ColorCodedMultiplayer: Player 1 is yellow, player 2 is blue. The ghosts in Shadowland are the same character model, but black with an outline.
* DeathIsCheap:
** When the player is hit by an enemy, [[FlashOfPain the screen flashes]] and there's a bell, and the number of lives remaining goes down by one. The game doesn't stop or even slow down.
** In two-player mode, if one player runs out of lives, they get to go around as a shadow. They can do almost anything a normal player can, except score points, progress the adventure, or die; if they would die, they are instead stunned for a few seconds. Notably, they can still shoot, and FriendlyFireproof is still averted.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original TRS-80 game was more closely based on the arcade game Tutenkham, including restrictions like only being able to shoot left or right. It also had 21 worlds, seven each of fantasy, science fiction, and western.
* EveryTenThousandPoints: Every 1,000 points, you get an extra life, after starting with 15, and capped at 16. You'll need every one of them.
* FlashOfPain: When the player loses a life, the screen flashes.
* FogOfWar: The walls in Darkside Dare don't appear until you touch them - notably, this means you can fire through them and enemies can walk through them.
* HubLevel: The overworld area with all the gates in it.
* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys: Required to open the locks that are the size of the player. The player can only carry one at a time.
* LevelInReverse: B levels are flipped top-to-bottom relative to A levels, C levels are flipped left-to-right, and D levels are flipped in both directions. There are often other minor changes, such as the addition of one-way doors.
* LockedDoor: The exits are generally blocked with gigantic locks the size of the player, openable only with InterchangeableAntimatterKeys.
* TheMaze: Many levels are mazes of some sort. Darkside Dare, in particular, is built as a traditional maze except that the walls are invisible until you touch them.
* MooksButNoBosses: There are a lot of enemies, but none are really bosses.
* NintendoHard: You start with 15 lives, get another every 1,000 points, and it's still nowhere near enough.
* OneBulletAtATime: Two, actually. You fire continuously while the fire button is pressed, but no more than two bullets can be on-screen at once.
* PowerUp: Grabbing a treasure stuns all enemies on screen for a few seconds.
* ReformulatedGame: The Atari ST version is a complete rewrite from the TRS-80 versions, and changes the game radically.
* ShoutOut: Many.
** VideoGame/{{Centipede}}: The Mahrg Worms are made of segments like the Centipede, and split into two if shot in the middle.
** Film/{{Ghostbusters}}: When a ghost is shot, it is briefly shown as the Ghostbusters "no ghost" logo before disappearing.
** Music/HotelCalifornia: The Hotel California level is named after the song.
** VideoGame/PacMan: Shadowland is Pac-Man with the characters replaced.
** Franchise/StarTrek: Excalibur is a WholePlotReference to the original series.
* SlidingScaleOfCooperationVsCompetition: Players can cooperate or compete as they choose, or even completely ignore each other, although they must stay in the same 'world', and when one enters or leaves a gate the other must as well. FriendlyFireproof is completely averted, however.
* SplitScreen: How multiplayer is handled. Each player has half of the screen, and they can go around completely separately, although always in the same level. The viewable area is slightly smaller than the single-player game.
* StoryBreadcrumbs: The story of various levels is only told piecemeal, by small bits of information the character can pick up as they go.
* StrategyGuide: A print-on-demand version, made available 20 years after the game's publisher went out of business.
* ThreeQuartersView: The entire game is displayed this way.
* {{Unicorn}}: Kelveeshan is a white unicorn. Depending on how you react to meeting him, you can either gain a black unicorn treasure or a while unicorn treasure.
* TheWildWest: Bomb Factory, Hotel California, and Ghost Town are set here, to greater or lesser degrees.
* YouCantGetYeFlask: The text parser is extremely limited. You must use 'GET OBJECT' to pick something up, for example; 'TAKE OBJECT' will not work. However, because the parser is so limited, almost everything you want to do can be done with 'GET OBJECT' and 'USE OBJECT'.
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