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Dizzy why was this series of games so popular?
It has always puzzled me why Dizzy and it offshoots were so lapped up, other than being cheap to buy I still do not see the attraction of them to this day, mind you I did not like Mario or Sonic games either...

The first Dizzy game I brought was Fast Food, featuring Dizzy and foes in mode 0 graphics, amazing Digitalised sound saying "Fast Food" and a catchy bouncy bubbly tune, using the familiar Pacman format, even the Villains in that game had the characteristics of the ghosts found in Pacman and Dizzy had the same means of disposing of them. I also really liked the little comical cartoon plays which were played when you progressed so far throughout the levels and after so many levels the game would go evil and you had to play it upside down.

I think for the fact that Dizzy was popular was due to when Roland Took a Hike when AMSOFT went and people were looking for something new. When I started collecting AA around 1989 when Fast Food was reviewed (in AA43 I think), and at that stage Dizzy and Treasure Island Dizzy were already out there on the market. Fantasy World Dizzy was reviewed in AA52 (January 1990), which was given a Rave (despite it using slightly improved Spectrum Graphics), and Magicland Dizzy was reviewed in AA64 I think and being another Rave. So by then the Oliver Twins probably had a Game Engine which worked and were able to devise Arcade Adventure games which worked, even though the Spectrum Mode 1 Graphics were the go with those games and the Arcade games had the Mode 0 colour, although Bubble Dizzy is a bit bland even though it's a good game and Dizzy Down The Rapids looks hideous.  :o

The adventures were well-designed, solid games, had a cute main character and most importantly were budget priced. These all meant that Dizzy became well-known.


Some of the puzzle games on the other hand were total crap and just used the Dizzy brand to sell them.


But if you are not into platformers then you wont like Dizzy.

Quote from: dcdrac on 09:27, 10 August 13
Dizzy why was this series of games so popular?

This is actually a very good question - and I can't answer it.  ;)

There are a lot of Dizzy games, the main character is kinda cute (especially for the younger generation). Otherwise all the Dizzy games themselfes were obviously spectrum ports. Graphics could have been much better, also the speed / gameplay. The design was also not the best of all games.

I honestly never liked all that Dizzy stuff. Maybe a lot of people did just grow up with it and lacked games like Trantor or Starglider ;-) But taste is something that can't be discussed - or at least shouldn't be.

Quote from: TFM on 02:48, 11 August 13

This is actually a very good question - and I can't answer it.  ;)

Perhaps he was an "eggceptional" guy!  ;)  :laugh:

Here is a interview (podcast) with the darling twins:
1HMPS Retro Episode 12 -- An interview with the Oliver Twins. - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enU9ov0B42o)

04:00 brother joins the potcast.
22:50 Dizzy, how, why and everything
39:40 Easier gameplay
50:00-ish 3D Tv (and "oculus rift"-glasses like prediction, scary)

Answer in case you dont want to listen to the potcast:



Oh, also their website is a really good read in general, so many answers in there:
Oliver Twins (http://www.olivertwins.com/)

"amazing Digitalised sound saying "Fast Food""????More like "fraaaarghd fbrooooogh".

Never really captivated me either, but I can see the appeal - they're nice adventures with a cute character, at a price you can't beat.

I loved the dizzy adventure games (and the two seymour games too). They were my first contact with "adventure games" genre. I had c64 without disc drive. I didn't know about the existence of games like Maniac Mansion and Zak McKraken till like 1998...and hadn't played them till 2001...

For me, the dizzy had great gameplay and graphics. Those games were very unique... Had in-game strory that not many games had.
I didn't like the first game that much (too difficult:P), the spin-offs and crystal kingdom too...but dizzy 2-6 were one of my favourite.

Quote from: dcdrac on 09:27, 10 August 13
Dizzy why was this series of games so popular?
It has always puzzled me why Dizzy and it offshoots were so lapped up, other than being cheap to buy I still do not see the attraction of them to this day, mind you I did not like Mario or Sonic games either...

I got into Dizzy games when I was 9 and I played a copy of Treasure Island Dizzy at my cousin's house. I was hooked straight away because it was cute, funny and easy to get into but challenging enough to hold my attention.

He had a Spectrum, so I couldn't borrow the game. Instead I went out and bought the first Dizzy game I could find on CPC, which turned out to be Fantasy World Dizzy. Again, it was cute, funny, easy to get into and challenging (although I didn't like the sheer number of hidden stars to find - I never did like artificial difficulty like that, and still don't).

I ended up getting every Dizzy game on CPC except Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, because it was released after I'd moved over to the PC. Also, I never bothered with Fantastic Dizzy because I'd never even seen an advert for it!

I think the success comes down to a lot of people having the same feelings for these games as I did: they were easy to get into; they were pretty funny; and they weren't a huge challenge but they were challenging enough to hold your attention. They're not going to stand up well against a modern adventure game (Skyrim would kick Dizzy's arse, let's face it) but for their time, and for their price, you still can't beat them.

Dizzy was a character with a constant design.
And it was used as a mascot for many games that actually had nothing to do with ech others... a bit like Mario went into Doctor mario, mario kart and so on.

Roland was not.
Roland was never designed the same.


Back to Dizzy : it was cute and the graphics were cute and well drawn.
Also those games looked like speccy ports, or were... which explains why those britons liked them.

weren't there so Dizzy clones as well ?

Skweek was some kind of furry Dizzy I guess...


Seymour perhaps ?

Couldn't understand the reason for Seymor , Dizzy would have been just as adequate to have been used!

Quote from: Cholo on 19:04, 11 August 13
Oh, also their website is a really good read in general, so many answers in there:
Oliver Twins (http://www.olivertwins.com/)

Blitz Games (http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/) (the Oliver Twin's company) went bust last month, so guess they're both out of a job now.

Maybe now they've got time on their hands they'll get round to patching Treasure Island Dizzy so it has the originally intended 3 lives ;)

Quote from: Puresox on 22:46, 27 October 13
Couldn't understand the reason for Seymor , Dizzy would have been just as adequate to have been used!

Seymour goes to Hollywood was going to be a Dizzy game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Goes_to_Hollywood) but the Oliver Twin's didn't like the 'real world' scenario.

Quote from: Puresox on 22:46, 27 October 13
Couldn't understand the reason for Seymor , Dizzy would have been just as adequate to have been used!

Funnily enough, I was browsing my collection of Amstrad Action magazines yesterday and came across an article about Seymour in issue 80. Here's an extract:

QuoteBig Red had designed Dizzy 4 (Magic Land Dizzy) and were asked to write the next Dizzy game, Dizzy 5, in time for the following Christmas.

What they created was a game that placed Dizzy for the first time in a non-fantasy environment. There was a tree hut section to tie it in with the previous game, but the main plot saw Dizzy as a movie star, travelling through lots of different movie sets, meeting up with all his Yolk Folk mates (who were playing the other characters).

Dizzy in Movie Land it was called, and it was only a few days away from completion when someone up top decided that Dizzy shouldn't be taken out of a fantasy setting. Big Red had two choices; they could either scrap the whole (virtually finished) project, or else come up with a new character to star in the game.

A few sketches later and they had come up with a potato-shaped dude, which a passing person referred to as looking like a friend of theirs called Seymour(!). And so Seymour the superstar was born. All the other Dizzy characters in the game were replaced with human figures, and Seymour goes to Hollywood was the title on the loading scheme [sic] when the game eventually hit the shops (on the Cartoon Collection compilation).

So now you know!

In hindsight, I agree that placing Dizzy outside of a fantasy setting just doesn't feel the same.

Here's the Oliver Twins take on it: Oliver Twins - 1987 (http://www.olivertwins.com/history/page/8)

Bryce.

Quote from: redbox on 22:58, 27 October 13
Blitz Games (http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/) (the Oliver Twin's company) went bust last month, so guess they're both out of a job now.
Maybe now they've got time on their hands they'll get round to patching Treasure Island Dizzy so it has the originally intended 3 lives ;)

No, part of Blitz is still continuing as a new company that's handling the 2 big contracts they had that can still pay their way. Something like 50 staff got jobs in the new blitz out of about 200. This was the original announcement, but there's not been much solid news since: UK studio Blitz Games closes down • News • Eurogamer.net (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-12-uk-studio-blitz-games-closes-down)

interesting they ported games from the Amstrad to the Spectrum nice......

Quote from: Zoe Robinson on 13:27, 27 October 13
(Skyrim would kick Dizzy's arse, let's face it)

If only Dizzy had a butt to kick!  :D

The 3 words not to say after "A*se"...  :laugh:

QuoteCouldn't understand the reason for Seymor , Dizzy would have been just as adequate to have been used!

Time for a badass crossover then... Add skweek in as well... ;D

What about a game featuring Sabrina, Samantha and Maria... our prefered DDD busty icons.

Dizzy, Saymore and Skweek must save them and perform a risqué geisha ball bold move in the end.

Sirs Clive and Alan M. would join as baddies off course.

I think the fantasy setting and detailed (albeit spectrumey) graphics helped.  It's a game that MODE 0 wouldn't have helped IMO.


I think it was treasure island dizzy that got people noticing it, the trees, the sea, etc.  And the egg-pun magazine reviews.


Or maybe, by accident, they just created a game that had lots of different aspects that appealed to different people.

unless I'm mistaken - surprised that no one has mentioned the continuation of the Dizzy adventures. OK they're not eggxactly Amstrad specific anymore but the fans love it over at http://www.yolkfolk.com (http://www.yolkfolk.com)

They make huge custom games all with the 8 bit look (and the memory of a new PC lol!)

I believe they were successful because they were cheap to buy and were fun to play with plenty of game in them.

Loved the first four, and POTYF.
It was one of those games that for me, as an early teenager, it made it blatantly obvious that you had to use your brain in order to get further into the game. As i was mainly into platformers, racing games and button mashers at the time. Text adventures bored me stupid (except for the Big Sleaze which was hilarious to play).


They really milked it though. Spellbound Dizzy was far too large of a game. The constant having to revist the tunnels got tiring after a while. They really should have stopped it there, but when they released Crystal Kingdom Dizzy at full price, at a time when the 8bit market was on it's knees as it was, it pretty much marked the death knell for the series (or a mercy killing depending on your perspective).

Popular, because:
- Funny
- Inexpensive
- Code Masters

Fantasy world dizzy was my first game (along with batman), what i loved??....hmmm, not an easy question actualy.


Personally i always loved the graphics, how you more of less knew what you were getting looks wise with every release (that red rock) . To the point that i boycotted the versions that had blue sky later on.


I loved the black back drop lol i had zero issues that he lived in some kind of 8bit perma-night.


Just the generally eccentricity of it all, your an egg, in a fantasy world... its pretty crazy really. And the yolk folk , well ..It was this fully realized universe by no. 3
I remember getting dizzy 1 with Amstrad action, and just loving the music so much.


Dammit, i loved the rhino!! the dragon!!  the PYGMY COW !!!!


On the strength of those games i more or less bought every Codemasters Quatrro pack