Magicland Dizzy

Copyright : Codemasters | Reviewed by : Patrick Furlong

The Evil Wizard Zaks is upto no good again. He?s transported all the Yolkfolk to Magic Land. He?s frozen Denzil in a block of ice, made Daisy so large, she?s stuck in a room and can?t get out, put Dozy in an enchanted sleep, turned Dylan into a bush, transformed Dora into a frog and trapped Granddizzy in a world beyond a mirror where the controls are reversed and guarded by a Queen from a chessboard! Many things from fairy tales and legends are here like a Prince kissing the frog, King Arthur?s sword Excalibar, the music making a rat fall down a well and the Genie in the lamp. This is the first Dizzy game to be programmed by Big Red and not the Oliver Twins. Can they do just as well, if not better?

Graphics

The MODE1 graphics are as brilliant as Treasure Island and Fantasy World Dizzys. The same amount of colour is used to good effect. However, the pictures on the top corners of the screen isn?t very good. My favourite graphic is the wizard Zaks on the title screen. I also didn?t like the loading screen much. Dizzy is given his usual shade of green which gives the sprite life. Everything is well animated. As usual, there isn?t any scrolling, it?s something that can be forgiven

Sound

As usual, no sound effects, but there are two music tracks - one for the title screen and the other for the gameplay. Although nothing will match the music from Treasure Island Dizzy, it is still good.

Gameplay

Just as addictive as the rest of the Dizzy games. The addition of an energy bar is a good feature and increases the amount of gameplay, but you still lose a life after falling in the water. A nice effect is given to the game when you jump through the mirror, all the directional controls are reversed - this is tricky to get used to at first, but you?ll get the hang of it eventually. As usual with Dizzy games, you have to use your intelligence to solve puzzles. Sometimes the actions of a particular object will give a clue, other times the name of an object and the rest of the time dialogue spoken will give the clue. Big Red have done well on their first Dizzy game - long may it continue..