The Game
A massive arcade adventure with brilliant graphics
Ricochet has an amazing 330 different action-packed screens arranged over five levels. You get five games in one, since each level has its own distinctive theme, with superb graphics and unusual puzzles to solve.
You control Sprat, the Small Partially Robotic Alien Time-traveller, in his quest to collect the five hourglasses from the five worlds of Ricochet. Sprat can roll left and right, and can roll up and down ladders and ropes, but his unique ability is that he can jump to different heights and in different directions. You have to control this fast-moving alien as he ricochets through the levels and solves the many clever puzzles.
You start in the Fortress world, with its alchemists and ghosts, and move on to Techlev, with its high-tec graphics, and disc drives and tax demands. In Derelict you explore a world that has fallen apart. The Ufo is a futuristic world with robots and ID machines. And finally to the Ancient world of Greece, to try and outwit Atlas and Hermes.
Objective
The objective of the game is to find the hourglass on each level and then teleport out. When you do this you will be given the password to the next level. (You can subsequently enter that level directly by pressing the P key and giving the password.) The ultimate objective is to finish all five levels in a row, hence gain the full 100% score and discover the secret message.
To jump, you must press the Squish key, and then let go. How high you jump depends on how much you squish. You can also jump to the left or right, by pressing the Roll Left or Roll Right key as you leave the ground. You can practice moves before commencing play by pressing SHIFT-SPACE.
Your energy level (bar at right of screen) is increased by eating foodstuff by walking on top of it and pressing the Pick Up/Drop Object key. Objects may be used to vanish obstacles blocking your way. Keys open doors, which disappear, but the keys remain; some may open more than one door. You can hold a maximum of two objects (including keys) at any one time. Look out for secret passages, particularly on the later levels.
Some objects, obstacles and characters to look out for as you richochet through the five levels of the game include:
| FORTRESS | - | power drill (then look for the hole in the wall), lead, bunsen burner, alchemist, robber, ghost. (When you have the hourglass, the fire and a 15% score, jump down the deep hole and find the teleport.) |
| TECHLEV | - | fruit machine, tax demand, computer disc, stamp, sodium, slug. |
| DERELICT | - | flower pot, crystal ball, match, map, maiden, witch, beggar. |
| THE UFO | - | cocktail glass, extinguisher, identity card, oil, guard, robot. |
| ANCIENT | - | dagger, world, Cyclops, Mercury, Caesar, Atlas, Hermes. |
Game Controls
Z - Roll Left, X - Roll Right, * - Roll Up, ? - Roll Down
* - Pick Up/Drop Object, ? - Squish
COPY/DELETE - Pause On/Off, S/Q - Sound/Quiet
SPACE - Start Game, SHIFT-ESCAPE - Lose Life
