Rick Dangerous is a cartoony Indiana Jones parody that was written by Simon Phipps, co-founder of Core Design, with graphics by Terry Lloyd. It was published on various 8-bit and 16-bit home computers by Firebird Software in 1989 and was generally well-received.

Rick – an explorer and part-time stamp collector – is searching for a lost Amazon tribe when his plane crashes. He ends up amidst hostile natives and must escape their many traps. From there, Rick then goes chasing after a priceless jewel inside a pyramid, before becoming embroiled in a plot to attack London with rockets, which he must stop. Although they’re not shown as such, the bad guys behind the attack are basically Nazis (in true Indiana Jones fashion).

This is a platform game where the onus is on avoiding the many instant-death traps, and enemies, that will make Rick jump into the air and make a funny “whaaaa!” sound if they touch him.

Rick begins the game with six lives, but these can quickly drop to zero in a short space of time, ending the game – especially on the first few plays, because there are no warnings for any of the traps and you often have to anticipate them and react accordingly, and quickly learn from your mistakes. Which are basically ‘mistakes’ that are forced upon you. Die with a sneaky trap, then try to remember where the trap is next time…

Rick can drop dynamite to blow stuff up (useful for opening new paths when confronted by a dead end), and can shoot his gun if he’s got enough ammo for it. Both dynamite and ammo can be found in certain places on his travels. If he has no ammo he can stab with a default knife. Rick can of course jump, and he can also duck down and crawl (useful for dodging arrows or other projectiles that come his way, and for crawling through low passages). Rick can also climb ladders and parts of the background that have hand and foot-holds.

There are four levels in Rick Dangerous (South America, Egypt, and two European levels), and once you’ve made it to a new level you can at least start afresh from that level, so you don’t have to start from the very beginning again. Which is good because that would drive a player nuts.

That said, Rick Dangerous is still the kind of game that can drive you nuts, and in spite of the cartoony look it is a frustrating game to play. Yes: it’s well-presented and somewhat humorous, but it’s also cruel and annoying! I’m not the biggest fan of the ‘die-and-learn’ method of gameplay, at least not games that make that a core component, which Rick Dangerous does.

Rick Dangerous spawned a sequel – Rick Dangerous 2 – in 1990 (which is similar to this and still has the frustrating gameplay), and also a ‘spiritual successor’ called Switchblade, which has similar gameplay but is far less frustrating to play.

More: Rick Dangerous on Wikipedia