Brat (video game)
Encyclopedia
Brat is a 1991 action puzzle video game developed by Foursfield and published by Image Works
for the Amiga
and Atari ST
.
action puzzle in which the player guides Nathan, the brat of the title, through a series of twelve levels. The isometric landscape scrolls up-screen, imposing a time limit on each level. Whilst Nathan automatically walks forwards at the same rate, if he is diverted he will begin to lag behind. If the screen catches up with him, the player loses one of three lives and must restart the level. Nathan is not controlled directly: the player must place icons onto the level to guide his movement. There are a variety of items that can be collected by Nathan, then later placed by the player to bypass certain obstacles: deadly spring toys can be suppressed with a lead weight, and building blocks can bridge gaps, for example.
. Reviewers praised the game's intuitive interface, challenging but achievable puzzles, clear graphical style, and original, addictive gameplay. However, the game was criticised for its unforgiving nature when the player makes slight errors, as was some excessive disk access. CU Amiga found the gameplay to be "tedious and long-winded", the level restarts too fustrating, and the puzzle elements compared unfavourably with Lemmings. Amiga Power criticized the design of the titular character, describing him as nauseating and irritating.
Image Works
Image Works was a publishing label of video games publisher Mirrorsoft created in 1988. The first two games published under the Image Works label were Fernandez Must Die and Foxx Fights Back...
for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
.
Gameplay
Brat is an isometricIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
action puzzle in which the player guides Nathan, the brat of the title, through a series of twelve levels. The isometric landscape scrolls up-screen, imposing a time limit on each level. Whilst Nathan automatically walks forwards at the same rate, if he is diverted he will begin to lag behind. If the screen catches up with him, the player loses one of three lives and must restart the level. Nathan is not controlled directly: the player must place icons onto the level to guide his movement. There are a variety of items that can be collected by Nathan, then later placed by the player to bypass certain obstacles: deadly spring toys can be suppressed with a lead weight, and building blocks can bridge gaps, for example.
Critical reception
Brat met with moderate critical success, drawing comparison with LemmingsLemmings (video game)
Lemmings is a puzzle computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in . Originally developed for PC and Commodore Amiga, Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time...
. Reviewers praised the game's intuitive interface, challenging but achievable puzzles, clear graphical style, and original, addictive gameplay. However, the game was criticised for its unforgiving nature when the player makes slight errors, as was some excessive disk access. CU Amiga found the gameplay to be "tedious and long-winded", the level restarts too fustrating, and the puzzle elements compared unfavourably with Lemmings. Amiga Power criticized the design of the titular character, describing him as nauseating and irritating.