Reliving Atic Atac: A ZX Spectrum Classic
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Atic Atac is an arcade-adventure video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, released for the ZX Spectrum in 1983 and the BBC Micro in 1985. The game takes place within a castle in which the player must seek out the "Golden Key of ACG" by unlocking doors and avoiding enemies. It was Ultimate's second game to require 48K of RAM; most of their previous games for the Spectrum ran on unexpanded 16K models.
The game was written by Tim Stamper and its graphics were designed by brother Chris Stamper. Atic Atac received praise from critics upon release, mostly for its graphics and gameplay. It was later included in the 2015 release by Rare on the Xbox One retrospective compilation, Rare Replay. The game served as inspiration for the critically acclaimed adventure game show Knightmare.
The game is presented in a top-down perspective and is set inside a labyrinth of a complex castle. The player has been trapped inside and needs to collect three pieces of the "Golden Key of ACG" in order to escape. They can choose from three different characters; a Wizard, Knight or Serf. Each character has different ground friction, a different weapon to kill common enemies and access to a secret passage unique to them, meaning that navigating the castle is different for each one.
There are a number of items scattered around the castle, of which the player may carry up to three at a time. Some of these are always in the same place at the start of the game, whereas others are distributed randomly. Items include differently-coloured keys which will unlock their respective doors, the three pieces of the ACG key, and other items that affect certain enemies or are mere red herrings. Common enemies appear in each room upon entering and will attack the player on sight. Collision with these enemies destroys them but drains a portion of the player's health. There are also stationary poisonous fungi which will drain health constantly if the player is in contact with them, and enemies that require special items in order to either distract, repel or kill them, otherwise they remain in the room, invulnerable to conventional attacks, and rapidly drain the player's health if touched.
The player has three lives upon starting the game, and should they die a gravestone will appear at their location and stay in place for the remainder of the current game. Health can be replenished by collecting food scattered throughout the castle, however it will constantly drop the more the player moves, thus the player may eventually lose a life from starvation if they have not escaped the castle in time.
Atic Atac entered the MRIB Top 30 software charts at number 5 in November 1983, taking the number 1 position from Valhalla the following fortnight.