RICK DANGEROUS
ARMED WITH A SIX-SHOOTER, SOME DYNAMITE, A POINTY STICK AND A CHEESY GRIN, RICK DANGEROUS WAS CORE DESIGN’S ORIGINAL TOMB RAIDER. JOIN US AS WE RISK LIFE AND LIMB TO EXPLORE THE CURIOUS APPEAL OF THIS PERILOUS PLATFORMER
Summer 1989. Indiana Jones was back on the big screen in The Last Crusade and there was not one but two official videogames based on it: The Graphic Adventure and The Action Game. But if you wanted the thrills and derring-do of the Indiana Jones movies distilled into a single game, there was another option: Rick Dangerous.
There was room for this Indy wannabe because it was neither an adventure nor an action game. Rick Dangerous was a puzzle game. Yes, it was a platformer, and that meant jumping and climbing, but it was rarely about reflexes. Generally you didn’t have time to react to the everpresent threats around you. One wrong turn and a spear would skewer you. Another misstep and spikes would impale you. It seemed that instant death was always just a pixel away.
As with any puzzle game, there were a series of problems to solve as you navigated the game’s trap-laden levels. Sometimes this would be as simple as selecting the correct ladder to descend – the one on the right was rigged, while the one on the left offered safe passage. Hence, note to self: use the left ladder. On other occasions, passage through a single screen involved precision movements that would make Miner Willy sweat. Solving each problem relied heavily on recall. You would die, again and again, and each time you tried not to repeat the same perfectly plausible mistake. Such gameplay was divisive.
Some enjoyed the challenge, with the sense of
“ONE WRONG TURN AND A SPEAR WOULD SKEWER YOU… INSTANT DEATH WAS ALWAYS JUST A PIXEL AWAY”
achievement earned by reaching the next section outweighing the frustration suffered in getting there. Others disliked what was effectively a giant memory test. But love it or hate it, few could deny the thrill of watching someone who’s mastered the game by rote, skipping through the screens like they’re playing Animal Crossing. Go and watch a playthrough video and witness all those hours of trial and error, brought to bear.
If you’re wondering who to thank (or throw things at) for Rick Dangerous, the game was conceived by two Core Design cofounders, Simon Phipps and Terry Lloyd. Simon programmed the Atari ST and Amiga versions and also designed the sprites, while Terry created the background graphics. They both contributed to the map designs, but the lion’s share of this work was done by Bob Churchill and Rob Toone. Simon has revealed that the ‘squashed’ look of the sprites was actually inspired by the Spectrum version of Joe Blade. This gave the characters a cute, cartoon look (which contrasted nicely with the brutal gameplay), but it was mainly done out of necessity. Simon knew that the game would be released for multiple formats, so rather than develop it for the 16-bits and then figure out how to make it work on the 8-bits, he imposed limitations on the original version to make it super quick and easy to port down. This is why the screen is 256 pixels wide on all formats, as this is the Spectrum’s maximum screen size. Similarly, none of the sprites are higher than 21 pixels, as this is the limit of hardware sprites on the C64. This is also the reason why the game only scrolls vertically and not horizontally as well, as it was just easier to do it this way when considering all of the different target platforms.
T“THE SQUASHED LOOK OF THE SPRITES WAS INSPIRED BY THE SPECTRUM VERSION OF JOE BLADE”
he graphics still needed to be converted (see our Developer Q&A with Terry), but Simon’s foresight ensured that every version played almost exactly the same. There were a couple of compromises however. Lack of memory on the 8-bit computers meant that each level was curtailed (the 16-bit versions featured 135 screens in total, while on the 8-bits there were 85). In addition, the fabulous “WAAAAH!” scream, which is played when anyone dies (which means it’s played a lot), was only heard on the ST and Amiga.
This overall platform parity was praised by Jaz Rignall when he reviewed several versions in the June 1989 issue of CVG, giving them all 87%. “Barring graphical differences, the game is identical on all formats – so no matter what machine you own, it’s an essential purchase.” Over at The One, Brian Nesbitt awarded both the ST and Amiga versions 88%, commenting
“RICK DANGEROUS WAS A PRODUCT OF ITS ERA, A RELIC OF THE LATE-EIGHTIES AND EARLY NINETIES”
that, “Rick Dangerous rates as one of the most enjoyable 16-bit arcade games for a long time.” Meanwhile at The Game Machine, Warren Lapworth gave the 8-bit versions an average of 78%, saying, “Rick Dangerous is a hark back to the old days of gaming – by no means a bad thing.” Despite the divisive nature of the gameplay, there was only one real voice of descent. “Problems are usually only solved by trial and error,” commented Gordon Hamlett in Your Commodore. “You frequently have to throw yourself into the unknown. It soon becomes repetitive.” This opinion was later shared by the writers at Amiga Power, who were baffled by the game’s appeal. “[It’s] a rantingly intoxicated rascal of a game,” wrote Cam Winstanley when reviewing the budget-priced rerelease. “Fumbling from one fatal situation to the next… it’s annoying, tedious and appallingly hopeless.” He gave it 17%. Amiga Power’s ire was mainly due to the game’s “mystifying” critical and commercial success – and the fact that the inevitable Rick Dangerous 2 was near-identical (see the Rick Reloaded panel).
Prior to the release of the sequel, publisher Microprose did address the game’s difficulty spikes by issuing an updated release that added a level select feature – allowing mere mortals to finally see what lay beyond level two’s Egyptian tomb. The updated version also came with free health advice, “You are warned that this product is highly addictive…” Yes, Rick Dangerous was a product of its era, a relic of the lateeighties and early Nineties. That said, the game’s popularity has endured and there have been a number of unofficial conversions over the years. The first was released in 1992 for the MSX2 and was written in BASIC (respect). This was followed in 1995 by a version for the Acorn Archimedes. The releases increased following the 2001 debut of Xrick, an opensource implementation of the ST version, which led to the game being ported to various Oses and consoles. In 2003 a version was in development for the Game Boy Advance and the team behind it even enquired about licensing the game from Core but were unsuccessful; it was later reworked into a Christmasthemed clone entitled Dangerous Xmas. More unofficial versions have appeared since, including one for the Amstrad CPC+ in 2009 (that featured the full-length levels and added the “WAAAAH!” sample) and another for the Mega Drive in 2011 which was a straight port of the ST original. Simon has revealed on his personal website that he is regularly asked to approve or endorse remakes of Rick Dangerous. Alas, he can’t, as the rights were owned by Core and following takeover after buyout after takeover, it’s not clear where they now lie (Square Enix is the best guess). This uncertainty is probably why there hasn’t been a new Rick Dangerous game on modern platforms. Plus, as Simon wryly notes on his site, Rick’s tomb raiding mantle was passed to another Core creation – one with more elegant and saleable proportions.