Producer: Firebird Silver
Retail Price: £1.99
Author: Lee Dowthwaite

It's a frightening problem from the very start - there are too many particles trying to cram into a universe which can't hold their ever-increasing bulk. It's a bit like trying to squeeze an elephant into a pair of trousers: something's going to give, and this time it's sure to be more than a zip. The bulk of the universe must not get any greater, or it'll be goodbye kind world in this zany Breakout-style game.

At the top of the screen are the rectangular surplus particles, arranged to form a WALL (Wacky Atomic Lethal Layer). By moving the BAT (the Bi-Atomic Tracker) horizontally and vertically, you can guide the circular Bi-Atomic Wall Loppers (BAWLs) which slide across the screen to the blocks above. When a surplus particle block is struck, it's destroyed and your score increases.

10,000 points give you an extra life (just one measly extra life? - Man Ed), and after clearing one screen you could need that life to take on the next - and a different configuration of particles - because the energy flux powering your BAT can be destroyed by repeated BAWL hits.

Extra weapons can be gathered by moving the BAT into the icons that glide horizontally across the screen. This way points, a double BAT and an extra BAWL can be acquired.

Try to save the universe if you can - we've all got something on next Sunday.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: Breakout-style, colour
Sound: spot FX
Options: definable keys

This could become a regular feature: reviews on this week's version of Breakout. And Ricochet could be the worst yet - the BAT doesn't even move last enough to deflect the BAWLS! Vertical movement is only useful when a bonus item crawls across the screen, and even then it usually gets you into further trouble.
BYM [32%]

Ricochet is rubbish, offering the player nothing that hasn't already been on the market in many forms. The game is slow, unplayable and unaddictive.
BEN [21%]

Ricochet gets addictive after a while. The graphics are simple but effective and the sound FX aren't bad. And it's not just another Breakout clone, whatever the packaging suggests - the BAT can go up and down as well as left and right, the freedom of movement wing a more interesting game.
NICK [45%]