In-game scroll:
Ricochet - an arcade adventure, written by Neil Davidson and David Williams
Once upon a time, in a distant land, where the all powerful, all kind Denzil ruled his subjects with supreme wisdom, there was a murmur of discontent: the evil warlock Jorjekakis was plotting to overthrow Denzil, and usurp the power for himself. As a first step to his plan, he hid the five hourglasses of time in the five dimensions of his fortress. This meant that, until they were recovered, time outside the castle would slow down, and eventually stop. Denzil was slightly peeved, and searched high and low for a being so brave, so bold, so cunning, so clever, so courageous, so unselfish, so stupid that he would undertake this suicidal mission. You, SPRAT (short for a Small Partially Robotic Alien Time-traveller), were lucky enough to be chosen from thousands of similar brave, brainless beings to recover the five hourglasses: if you succeed, you will be heavily rewarded, if you fail, everybody will be ever so slightly annoyed.
User Summary:
In Richochet, you control a spherical, red creature wearing sunglasses called SPRAT. SPRAT can roll left and right, can climb or descend ladders (it is not made exactly clear how he does this without arms) and can jump. If the jump key is held down, SPRAT squishes himself down and the resultant jump is then higher.
Creatures inhabiting the five levels drain SPRAT's energy and when it is all lost, he loses one of his three lives. Some enemies can also kill SPRAT with a single touch.
Objects are scattered around the levels. Food replenishes SPRAT's energy bar, keys open doors (a single key can open multiple doors), and other special items remove particular obstacles. SPRAT can hold two items at any one time.
The object of each level is to find the hourglass, then reaching the teleporter to transport to the next level.
Credits:
Game Authors: N. G. Davidson & D. J. Williams
Graphics: N. Weston & G. R. Burt
Loading Screen Design: M. Hutchison