''Ricochet'' is an

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

, originally written for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron home computers, published by Superior Software in 1989. It was written by Neil Davidson and David Williams, with some graphics work and level design by Nik Weston and Guy Burt. The object of the game is to retrieve five

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...

es from diverse scenarios to restore the flow of time. It features elements of both platform and

puzzle A puzzle is a game, Problem solving, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together (Disentanglement puzzle, or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at th ...

games. The puzzles are mostly logical (keys unlock doors, gold placates a burglar), though there are exceptions. While the game shares many elements made popular in earlier Superior arcade adventures such as '' Citadel'', it has a unique feel due to the movement of the main character. The player controls a creature named "SPRAT" (Small Partially Robotic Alien Time-traveller), depicted as a red sphere wearing sunglasses. SPRAT moves by rolling but can only do so along level ground or down slopes. There are ladders to climb but many platforms require a special movement to be reached. By holding 'down' (SPRAT squashes himself) to build up potential energy, then releasing, SPRAT can bounce at either a 45 or 90 degree angle.

Legacy

''Ricochet'' is one of a range of 1980s Superior games that was re-released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Superior Interactive Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows ...

, with new graphics and added levels.

External links

Superior Software
1989 video games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Superior Software games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Rob Hubbard Windows games Single-player video games {{8bitcomputer-game-stub