Reviews

Appearing quickly after Jetpac, this was Ultimate's second game for the Spectrum. In it, you play the role of a robot who has to protect a growing flower from an assortment of garden pests.

It follows the same graphical style as Jetpac and there are some recognizably similar elements to the gameplay; you wander around the screen, pick things up, and shoot sideways at a lot of baddies. On the downside, they ditched the sensible keyboard layout of Jetpac for the cramped one that characterized a number of the games that followed.

However, there are a couple of nice touches that give it a bit of variety. You've got three weapons to choose from and, depending on the enemy, they might kill, stun or have no effect, so rapidly switching between them is necessary. It all starts off fairly simple, but as soon as you get multiple types of enemy it can become rather frantic.

All in all, another excellent early game from Ultimate, and still amongst the best that you can run on a 16K Spectrum.

I think there's something poetic in the concept of the game - the protection of a growing flower from the many insects that attack it.

It's particuarly beautiful and satisfying when it finally blossoms and a merry jingle is played.

Aside that, Pssst has the most intriguing and complex gameplay, among the first three early arcade-like Ultimate's releases: while in Jet Pac and Cookie you have to face just one kind of "enemy" at the same time, Pssst challenges you, as you progress through the levels, to beat'em while they're attacking the flower with a joint action - which you will be able to do changing quickly the type of insecticide you're using, that's putting down the one you're holding, and reaching out for the right one, dodging the entomological traffic.
So there's more action and more variety in this game, than in many other Ultimate's productions - and, above all, more playability.

And this is why Pssst is my favourite.

Probably the most original game ever written for the Spectrum . Colourful and delightful with a unique plot. Help the plant grow keeping away the bugs that are taking over .

One of those charming video-games you could only find in the 80´s on an old Speccy !!

Pssst : a game in a million and one of the most emblematic titles from the early age of the Spectrum .

Pssst - possibly the rudest sounding of all spectrum games , it was actually the first spectrum game i ever bought , £5.50 from the local off license shop , i hadn't played it before or read any reviews , but i just knew it would be a little gem as i had already got a c15 with jetpac and cookie on it (also by ultimate (for the uneducated)).

You play robbie the robot , armed with various sprays , each one will stun or kill each type of nasty , all hellbent on destroying the lovely sunflower growing in the middle of your garden , if too many bugs attack the flower it simply won't grow , so grab you're spray , zap em and make sure they don't touch you or lives will be lost !

Simple fun really , but a great highly addictive little game , with great cartoon graphics , nice sound , humourous touches - and all in a measly 16k .

1983 Ultimate Play The Game (UK)
by Stamper brothers

Ultimate rocked 16K games. Every single thing they made was brilliant. Pssst being a simple game, was also a challenging one, good enough to get you addicted. On the other hand, their games were quite hard to play, 'Cookie' being the pinnacle in my opinion (back then I wasn't aware of the simple follow thru routine to get past each level). Pssst on the other hand, was cute, entertaining and not too difficult. And it was a breath of fresh air amongst the bland BASIC games being released on the early ZX incarnation.
Maybe not a classic for everyone but sure is for me. At least for the 16K.

It's as colourful as you'd expect in an early Ultimate game, but the gameplay felt largely off to me, as least response wise anyway. I'll stick to Jetpac thanks very much.