The game takes place within a castle in which the player must seek out the "Golden Key of ACG" through 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. It was re released for Xbox One as part of the Rare Replay Collection.
Reviews View More
honestly kind of mid i might be alone on this but I did not enjoy it as much as everyone else :/ glad everyone enjoyed it tho
You can always build a map yourself to map out the mansion, but with so many rooms lacking features or repeating, and a go at it type of mood, this game can become confusing quick. as to which way is the right way. I think, at the very least, a floor number would be helpful.
Also a little obtrusive is your inventory management, you can only hold 3 items at a time but the way it cycles is a tad confusing as you may accidentally drop an item you need, and it will always be where you left it.
At least the attack, while all characters are identical, is funny. Watch that silly attack bounce all around the room as you pray for your door to open.
Why is 1889 everywhere anyways?
Also a little obtrusive is your inventory management, you can only hold 3 items at a time but the way it cycles is a tad confusing as you may accidentally drop an item you need, and it will always be where you left it.
At least the attack, while all characters are identical, is funny. Watch that silly attack bounce all around the room as you pray for your door to open.
Why is 1889 everywhere anyways?
Awful visuals with some fast but mindless combat and basic dungeon crawling.
A maze-like dungeon crawler, Atic Atac starts off with letting you pick your class (each have a slightly different attack and use different shortcuts). You then start right by the exit: except the door is locked. The ultimate goal: find three pieces of the golden key, hidden somewhere in the dungeon.
You explore a room at a time. Rooms will consist of normal doors, trap doors and locked doors. Normal and trap doors open and close at random, so you will need to survive in the room until the door you want opens and you can move on. Locked doors will need one of the four coloured keys to unlock, but once unlocked will remain open. You can only hold three items at a time, so once you locate the four keys you will have to juggle them, make sure to remember where you dropped them.
Initially, moving around is extremely confusing as a lot of rooms look similar. Over time, you’ll be able to form a rough image in your head of the layout. Atic Atac is not overly large, and the map is the same each time you play. You will also pick up on certain elements to recognise different rooms and ways around the map. The keys, however (the three of the colour ones and the three parts of the golden key), will appear in different locations, so you’ll have to work out a different route each time you play. One key is always in the same place, which gives you something to try and work to (but may not be accessible without other keys)
The biggest flaw I think this game has is the health meter. It’s visualised by a cooked chicken (representing hunger) and will drain at a fairly quick rate, and touching an enemy will drain it at a high speed. Eating food that randomly spawns in certain rooms will replenish this. The big flaw is that you can search one area only to find nothing useful, and lots of time can be wasted waiting for doors to randomly open. I do wish there was a “no hunger drain” cheat for something lesser than just “infinite lives” as I feel like it would still be a good challenge (and a fairer one).
That said, the core gameplay is good fun, and the visuals are surprisingly nice for its era.
For completion, I completed the suggested task of beating the game with all three classes. I also completed the snapshots, which are fun challenges that require you to have learnt the rough layout of the map.
You explore a room at a time. Rooms will consist of normal doors, trap doors and locked doors. Normal and trap doors open and close at random, so you will need to survive in the room until the door you want opens and you can move on. Locked doors will need one of the four coloured keys to unlock, but once unlocked will remain open. You can only hold three items at a time, so once you locate the four keys you will have to juggle them, make sure to remember where you dropped them.
Initially, moving around is extremely confusing as a lot of rooms look similar. Over time, you’ll be able to form a rough image in your head of the layout. Atic Atac is not overly large, and the map is the same each time you play. You will also pick up on certain elements to recognise different rooms and ways around the map. The keys, however (the three of the colour ones and the three parts of the golden key), will appear in different locations, so you’ll have to work out a different route each time you play. One key is always in the same place, which gives you something to try and work to (but may not be accessible without other keys)
The biggest flaw I think this game has is the health meter. It’s visualised by a cooked chicken (representing hunger) and will drain at a fairly quick rate, and touching an enemy will drain it at a high speed. Eating food that randomly spawns in certain rooms will replenish this. The big flaw is that you can search one area only to find nothing useful, and lots of time can be wasted waiting for doors to randomly open. I do wish there was a “no hunger drain” cheat for something lesser than just “infinite lives” as I feel like it would still be a good challenge (and a fairer one).
That said, the core gameplay is good fun, and the visuals are surprisingly nice for its era.
For completion, I completed the suggested task of beating the game with all three classes. I also completed the snapshots, which are fun challenges that require you to have learnt the rough layout of the map.
Gave up fairly quickly on this one, after giving it a fair shot.
Atic Atac has a nice dungeon-crawling design that isn't too primitive, but it throws way too much at you that makes it feel incredibly frustrating to play. The main goal is to collect pieces of a giant key in order to escape, but there are tons of limitations. Your inventory can only hold 3 items at a time, forcing you to backtrack a labyrinth of rooms, and your have a hunger/health meter that is constantly dropping as you move.
Just not for me, personally.
Atic Atac has a nice dungeon-crawling design that isn't too primitive, but it throws way too much at you that makes it feel incredibly frustrating to play. The main goal is to collect pieces of a giant key in order to escape, but there are tons of limitations. Your inventory can only hold 3 items at a time, forcing you to backtrack a labyrinth of rooms, and your have a hunger/health meter that is constantly dropping as you move.
Just not for me, personally.
Confuso e frustrante. Até tem umas ideias a frente do seu tempo (tipo a saúde do personagem sendo representada por um peru assado) mas o game é extremamente datado, com grande parte de sua jogabilidade parecendo superficial e não polida quando comparada aos jogos de aventura lançados apenas alguns anos depois. A parte mais frustrante do jogo é a falta de um mapa. O castelo é puro labirinto, dados os gráficos antigos, muita coisa parece igual. Isso rapidamente se torna confuso e, sem qualquer mapa, você provavelmente acabará perdido em questão de minutos.