Reviews

Gameplay: Search the castle for the 3 parts of the ACG key and then return to the start room and exit with the assembled key.

This is another simple but addictive and highly polished game from Ultimate Play the Game. The graphics were near arcade quality at the time of release and they still look slick through todays retro tinted glasses and there are lots of nice sounds too. The castle is very well designed with all sorts of shortcuts and special monsters as well as the random ones popping up all over the place.

One of the things I like most about this game is that it isn't too difficult to complete, but is still a challenge and a little bit of luck helps too.

This was Ultimate's sixth game and one of their most successful. Going beyond their usual fare, up to this point, of arcade style action this game added some adventure elements to the mix. The game has the player trapped inside a castle, needing the key of ACG (in three parts) to escape. There were objects to pick up and use, and you got a choice of character each of which could use its own unique set of secret doors.

The castle had a rather impressive number of rooms for the time which necessitated making a map for the serious players. Finding small keys allows you to open doors and explore a larger area. In turn you'll eventually uncover the parts of the larger ACG key which will let you escape. There is one key in particular which requires a bit of lateral thinking to locate, making it one of the most ingenious puzzles of the game. Elsewhere there are a number of special creatures and items that can either destroy them or keep them at bay.

Once you've figured it all out, it's possible to complete the game in a relatively short amount of time, although there's still plenty of fun to be had in exploring the far corners of the map and finding all the specials. All in all, it's a highly influential game that spawned many clones, some of which were still being released a decade later at the end of the Spectrum's commercial life.

Again a classic back in its day and a standard of the early Spectrum era with one of the most iconic title screen presentation images -the wizzard and the beast intrigued me from the first time I saw them-.

Every lover of the Zx Spectrum must love Atic Atac ... there are many reason for doing so: the atmosphere, the humour, the fast movements, a wide mansion to explore, etc...

Atic Atac is one of those games that made the Zx Spectrum what it was back in its day: the most popular electronic platform of the 80´s.

A true Spectrum classic. An arcade-adventure with the charming graphics typical of an Ultimate title. I love the philosophy of making things as colourful as possible despite the inevitable colour clash. It really works well here. Perhaps it is something to do with the flawless sprite-drawing routines that makes the colour clash seem enjoyably quaint rather than annoying!

Atic Atac features an atmospheric setting with a large area to explore, so for me it's the adventuring/exploration element that really makes this game. Sound really works well too. In fact I can only play this game properly when the sound is enabled, and not when listening to music or anything. I guess I've just become accustomed to picking up on the audio cues of the game.

The loading screen is great too. Can't really fault the game at all - it really captures the essence of imaginative, fun 8-bit gaming.

Also the "roast chicken" health indicator never fails to make me feel hungry when playing.

1983 Ultimate (UK)
by Tim and Chris Stamper

Its no surprise to anyone that today Atic Atac is considered one of the Spectrum icons. Fortunately there are many iconic games on our beloved machine, all deserving of a place in the sun.
But if you asked me about my top 10 gamelist, Atic Atac wouldn't be on it. I am not in any way reducing the qualities of the game.

Atic Atac deserves all respect, like all Ultimate games do. But honestly I think all their games are overly overrated.
The game is incredible addictive, it's true, it looks nice, sounds nice and it even smelled nice back when I got my copy in Christmas of '84, wrapped next to my first Old Spice (I was hoping to get some girls with it, but didn't get me any).

The plot is simple and straightforward and even with no instructions its fairly easy to understand what is happening.
Personally I had problems with the keys. Never understood why Ultimate had that awkward keyboard configuration, exactly the same as the Sinclair keys, but located in a different keyboard position. That really spoiled things. Another thingy is the pick/drop system, which is very annoying to use, specially when you have a gap between two objects in your scroll.

Another minor complaint I have is with the rooms, they are pretty simple and look much alike and after awhile it gets boring, even with those magic-looking wells and stairs. It's also incredible easy to get lost or even plan a route. Ultimate later redeemed themselves by making a more diverse and exciting game called Underwurlde, although not so fun to play. But hey, this was just 1983, and it was hard to imagine a similar game so good as Atic Atac was.

Most Ultimate games are vastly overrated. Here's one that's actually deserving of some of the praise heaped upon it. It's a maze game with fast, colourful graphics. Easily, their finest hour.

I never had a clue what to do in this game yet it was just great fun running around. First game I ever played where you chose your character(!) and the bad guys Dracula et all looked awsome. Falling down the trap doors was a highlight and the sound was real nice, kinda soothing.

One of the most iconic Spectrum games by the great Ultimate. The game that preceded the Sabreman saga (Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Knight Lore, ...) which it's at the same height.

You must first choose the character you want to play: Knight, Surf and Wizard, each one with their own weapons, movement type and secret passages.

You're trapped in the evil haunted castle, and your only hope to escape through the main door is to find the pieces of the Golden Key of A.C.G.

The game is a frenetic search through the five floors of the castle, including the atic and the caverns, where you will come across the Mummy, Dracula, the Devil, a Witch and other terrible creatures: Monks, Ghosts, Pumpkins, Spiders, ...

Get food and drink to avoid being run out of energy level (the original and unforgettable roast chicken) and collect objects to kill certain enemies and progress in the adventure.

A game with the usual Ultimate quality graphics and sounds that every Spectrum enthusiast should own.

Some of the early Ultimate games stood out among the crowd, Jetpac certainly did, Pssst not so, but this was one that did. It has really bright, colourful and well detailed graphics and some compelling gameplay to match it. The most major drawback I have with this game is the keyboard layout. I really hate it when all the keys are close together in the same row, in this case Q W E R T, it's confusing and it's not clever. But still, nice enough game to pass the time by.

This is a great achievement, a great game by Ultimate directly from the first whole year of existence of the venerable Spectrum. Not to say about the excellent level regardless of the time it was conceived.
Atic Atac is ahead of its time in more ways: it resembles so many games (I'm not only thinking about RPGs, or the likes, there is much more) of the last years in many aspects...

I specifically recognize this title to bring me deep memories. It was along with Manic Miner the first software I could see and play in the Speccy.

Excellent, it deserves no less.

Graphics are almost at the highest level.

Interaction with in game sound, use of colours, difficulty management ... everything fits correctly.

The use of humour also gives it a great boost.


I remember that my uncle showed us Manic Miner and this one, but the first one more times. I liked both of them but Manic Miner got me tired sooner and I developed more love for Atic Atac.

On the one hand Manic Miner posed an amazing challenge, with a very high quality, in-game music and increasing difficulty. But you had to start from scratch every time you died.
On the other hand with Atic Atac you had the choice to explore with more freedom, and that detail tipped the balance to Atic Atac.

Details in both titles were exceptionally well achieved, giving it a true experience (I only remember these two games although there were more; these 2 are just the ones that amazed me) for a 9 years old.

And here you got it, Atic Atac / Manic Miner , 2 reviews for the price of one.