Brataccas
| Industry | Video game development and publishing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder | Ian Hetherington, Mark Butler, Dave Lawson |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Brataccas (debut title) |
Brataccas is a science fiction action-adventure game launched in 1985 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh systems. As the inaugural release from Psygnosis, it evolved from the unreleased vaporware project Bandersnatch, originally developed by Imagine Software. Its intricate development process garnered notable attention from the UK media. Upon its debut, the game received mixed reactions—while its visual design was widely admired, the controls were often deemed difficult.
Plot
The storyline follows Kyne, a genetic engineer pioneering technology to create enhanced humans. When the government attempts to exploit his work for supersoldier production, Kyne refuses cooperation, resulting in him being falsely accused of treason and chased by both law enforcement and criminal factions. Forced to escape Earth, he uncovers that exculpatory evidence lies on Brataccas, a lawless asteroid mining settlement reminiscent of a "wild west" frontier. To prove his innocence, Kyne must traverse this corrupt environment and secure the evidence from various in-game characters, each posing potential threats.
Gameplay
Brataccas employs a flip-screen design, dividing the environment into discrete rooms that load as Kyne moves through them. Screen transitions occur mainly when passing through doors between areas. Movement is largely horizontal, complemented by automatic elevators facilitating vertical navigation across floors. Certain doors or teleportation booths transport players to different room clusters, with some outdoor zones included.
Players can maneuver Kyne, pick up or drop items, and interact with non-player characters (NPCs), who pursue independent objectives and may engage in sword combat. Conversations are conducted through dialog bubbles; player response options are limited and often yield unpredictable results. Loudspeaker announcements signal events such as fights, but simultaneous dialogues can cause screen clutter.
The control scheme incorporates an early form of gesture-based interface, where the mouse's movement direction dictates walking direction and speed controls movement pace—quick flicks cause Kyne to sprint.
Interaction with objects is confined to picking up and dropping them; other characters may then respond to these items. For instance, players can acquire information by dropping money bags found throughout the game world. If Kyne falls between levels, he drops any held objects that others might collect.
Development
Brataccas traces its origins to Bandersnatch, one of Imagine Software's ambitious "Megagames" alongside Psyclapse. Announced in 1984, Bandersnatch targeted the 8-bit ZX Spectrum platform with an intended premium price of £39.95—significantly higher than standard titles—and was designed to require additional hardware such as a cartridge or dongle to meet its technical specifications.
Financial mismanagement led Imagine Software to bankruptcy, halting all Megagame projects; this downfall was documented in the BBC film Commercial Breaks. Former directors Ian Hetherington, Mark Butler, and Dave Lawson formed Finchspeed to acquire company assets but were unsuccessful; receivers subsequently sold off rights.
In October 1984, Sinclair Research reportedly purchased rights to Bandersnatch for £100,000 and commissioned Hetherington and Lawson’s new firm Fire Iron to develop the game for the Sinclair QL, aiming for an early 1985 launch.
However, Sinclair withdrew financial support in 1985 after the QL version failed to materialize. The directors then established Psygnosis, unveiling their debut title Brataccas at the 1985 Personal Computer World exhibition. The game incorporated numerous original concepts from Bandersnatch and was released on Atari ST, Amiga, and Macintosh platforms.
On Amiga and Atari ST systems, it ran in a 4-color mode at 640 × 200 resolution—a high-resolution display rarely employed for gaming—and supported Atari ST’s monochrome 640 × 400 high-resolution mode requiring a dedicated monitor. The Macintosh version used unaltered color graphics displayed within a vertically compressed window.
The cover art was produced by renowned fantasy artist Roger Dean, who became a regular contributor to Psygnosis projects. This artwork was later repurposed for Uriah Heep’s 2001 album Remasters: The Official Anthology.
Reception
Prior to its launch, the game attracted significant attention and extensive media coverage, yet it ultimately garnered a range of critical responses. Reviewers commended the intricate narrative, sophisticated environment, and ambitious visual presentation but frequently expressed dissatisfaction with the control mechanics.
Commodore Horizons acknowledged the innovative concept but found the initial gameplay experience challenging to engage with, particularly criticizing the mouse input for inaccurately interpreting minor movements as commands. The publication also pointed out the confusing nature of the instruction manual, admitting that even after prolonged play sessions, victory conditions remained unclear.
The Atari ST edition received similar feedback from Antic, which described the user interface as attempting to predict player intentions but often leading to aggravating results such as unintentional collisions with walls. Despite praising the impressive graphics and a storyline reminiscent of Blade Runner, the reviewer assigned a score of 5 out of 10.
In a comparable vein, Compute! noted that although the characters’ behaviors were largely consistent, difficulties with controls caused frequent unintended crashes. The magazine emphasized that these issues were related to execution rather than concept and viewed the title as demonstrating promise for future hardware capabilities.
Conversely, ANALOG Computing offered a positive evaluation, attributing control problems to an overabundance of options and ultimately recommending the game. Likewise, Popular Computing Weekly awarded it 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as "very good indeed."
Legacy
The 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch, part of the Black Mirror series, makes reference to Imagine Software and its unsuccessful endeavor to develop Bandersnatch. Set on 9 July 1984—the date marking Imagine’s closure—the film includes an image of a Crash magazine cover reporting this event. Within the narrative, a fictional company named Tuckersoft, recognized for producing games on the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum platforms, risks its financial stability by attempting to complete Bandersnatch, ultimately facing insolvency when the project fails to come to fruition.
References
External links
- Template:Atarimania
- Template:Abime
- "The Games That Time Forgot" at TZXVault (featuring an entry on Bandersnatch)
- Bruce Everiss blog post discussing Imagine's "Megagames" including Bandersnatch