Rick Dangerous on Game Boy Advance: Alekmaul's 2013 Conversion
Rick Dangerous is one of the best-known 8-bit and 16-bit computer platformers to borrow from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Created by Core Design and designed by Simon Phipps, it appeared in 1989 on home computers including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, published under MicroProse's Firebird label in the UK. A sequel followed in 1990.
The Game Boy Advance version is different in kind: a homebrew port by Alekmaul, with a 1.0 release dated 19 August 2013 and made for the NEO Retro Coding Compo 2013. It was built with devkitPro and libgba, with Foxy providing source code and beta testing. The page for it describes the aim simply as carrying over all the features of the original.
At a glance
- Based on: Rick Dangerous (Core Design, 1989)
- Created by: Core Design (original); Alekmaul (GBA port)
- Released: 1989 (original); August 2013 (GBA port)
- Genre: Trap-filled action platformer
- What sets it apart: a faithful GBA homebrew conversion of a cult Amiga-era game
The game itself
- The setting is 1945: British adventurer Rick searches the Amazon for the lost Goolu tribe, then pushes on through an Egyptian pyramid, a Nazi castle and a secret missile base.
- He can jump, climb, shoot a pistol and plant dynamite.
- Many traps give no warning, so progress often depends on trial and error. Some reviewers criticised that.
Reception and trivia
The 1989 game got mixed reviews: ACE scored the Amiga version 890/1000, while Amiga Power gave it 2/5. Game designer David Cage has called it his favourite game.