THE EXCELLENT DIZZY COLLECTION (GG)
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Dizzy The Adventurer; Panic Dizzy; Go! Dizzy Go!
Publisher: Codemasters. Developer: Interactive Studios. Released: November 1993. Genre: 2D Platformer; Action; Puzzle. Posted 25th February 2013. By Chris Weatherley © 2013 |
After seven great years of Dizzy wonderment, things came to a somewhat muted climax in 1993 with this compilation cartridge for the 8-bit SEGA systems, but it really shouldn’t have been this way. Due to the failure of the NES’s Aladdin Deck Enhancer, The Oliver’s opted to develop a final series of games for the Game Gear, but Codemasters were not comfortable releasing each title separately so a compilation game was spawned. Since Dizzy the Adventurer had proven a success before, this was to be on the cartridge along with the proposed new games of Go! Dizzy Go! and Wonderland Dizzy. Again, Codemasters disliked the idea of having two similar adventures in the package, and so the end result was to replace the planned eighth true Dizzy title with a puzzle game that had undergone a name swap with the previously-used Dizzy Panic. Because of this disagreement, Codemasters and the Oliver Twins parted company therefore spelling the end of Dizzy’s reign. So, a bit of a sorry way to say goodbye to our lovable egg hero, but these last games did provide some good solid entertainment, if not quite reaching the heights of previous titles.
DIZZY THE ADVENTURER
During the run of 8-bit computer system releases, the sixth title, Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk, proved to be one of the series’ most popular to date. Its predecessor, Spellbound Dizzy was poorly received; repetitive, overly lengthy and by introducing sub-games and a new inventory system, it strayed too far from the tried-and-tested. DPOTY reverted to the approach of the games before it, bringing the base simplicity of the Dizzy platforming world back to the forefront. It was compact, challenging and enthralling; its success making it the go-to Dizzy game hereafter. It was given a spruce up and a name change for release on the home consoles, and Dizzy the Adventurer was born. Such is the popularity of this release, Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk made a brief comeback in 2011 with an iOS platform redux.
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Dizzy really, really hates playing Worms against darksiders
To say this is a carbon copy of DPOTY would be a little unfair. The SEGA systems provided a chance to enhance the game; altering some of the puzzles, subtly adapting the story and enhancing the level of detail within the settings. The base map and objectives were the same however. This time around Dizzy’s adversary is Rockwart the Troll, having put Daisy into a deep sleep and trapped her in his castle, and as always, it’s up to the famous egg adventurer to dish out the business. The core gameplay follows along the lines of Magicland Dizzy, so the tasks of exploring, puzzle solving and performing precise jumps is again the order of the day. With this version, there is a slight shift in the physics of Dizzy’s movement which is not entirely welcome. He now moves a lot faster than before, breaking into a sprint if held for long enough. To the game’s detriment, the jumping action is now drastically different to any Dizzy game before. It’s a higher, faster jump vertically with fluctuations in the speed during the action. Diagonal jumps travel far far more distance; Dizzy can now make jumps that appear impossible and this also increases the amount of overshoots that occur by accident. Sometimes upon landing, Dizzy will now roll for longer too. This is not consistent and provides a source of irritation at the best of times. Adjustment to these play mechanics does come about relatively quickly, but there is still a fair amount of unpredictability about the judgment of your movements, and this proves fatal at many junctures with the instant death facet now having undesirably returned. As before with Fantastic Dizzy on the NES, there’s no save facility, no continues and even less chances to increase your stock of spare lives. Despite the short scale of the adventure, it’s a very tough and unforgiving challenge that forces you to perform perfectly in one sitting if you aspire to complete the game.
We also see a return of the menu-based inventory system, which while fairly functional, slows progress to a degree, with a lot of text speak between secondary characters that get annoying quickly considering the amount of times you will be replaying the game. However, these negatives in the playability are balanced more by the fine responsiveness, instant screen loading and entertaining puzzles, many of which are cleverly condensed in into only a few screens. The amount of backtracking has been negated substantially which is a major plus. Thankfully also, the Game Gear stamps a nice individual mark on the aesthetics, with a detailed and colourful environment to explore and certainly sharper than the NES. It’s a look which can appear slightly sparse and dark, but is rendered well in primary hues suitable for the game, with no clashing or visual glitches. Some of the larger interactive characters are neatly drawn and fun, and the general animation is smooth and pleasing. On the audio front it’s all good too, with some catchy themes and mostly appropriate SFX. Why the main theme has been changed is baffling because DPOTY had one of the finest of the Dizzy soundtracks to date. Sound volume levels seem unequal, so some of the effects tend to blast out too loud, especially the task completion effect. Annoying and not required as no previous games sought a need for this. Other than this, the SMS does a fine job of presenting us a hallmarked Dizzy title, if maybe a little under used technically and with a little less character than before.
We also see a return of the menu-based inventory system, which while fairly functional, slows progress to a degree, with a lot of text speak between secondary characters that get annoying quickly considering the amount of times you will be replaying the game. However, these negatives in the playability are balanced more by the fine responsiveness, instant screen loading and entertaining puzzles, many of which are cleverly condensed in into only a few screens. The amount of backtracking has been negated substantially which is a major plus. Thankfully also, the Game Gear stamps a nice individual mark on the aesthetics, with a detailed and colourful environment to explore and certainly sharper than the NES. It’s a look which can appear slightly sparse and dark, but is rendered well in primary hues suitable for the game, with no clashing or visual glitches. Some of the larger interactive characters are neatly drawn and fun, and the general animation is smooth and pleasing. On the audio front it’s all good too, with some catchy themes and mostly appropriate SFX. Why the main theme has been changed is baffling because DPOTY had one of the finest of the Dizzy soundtracks to date. Sound volume levels seem unequal, so some of the effects tend to blast out too loud, especially the task completion effect. Annoying and not required as no previous games sought a need for this. Other than this, the SMS does a fine job of presenting us a hallmarked Dizzy title, if maybe a little under used technically and with a little less character than before.
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When your castle's gold, it pays to hire a man-sized crocodile to guard it
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Chasing floating numbers can lead eggs unwittingly into danger
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Playing Dizzy the Adventurer can be akin to playing the very first game off the Amstrad and Spectrum formats; it has the challenge factor certainly, and the likeability but with a game so late in the series I would have expected more refinement from this version. Graphically and acoustically there is little to fault, but the overall difficulty is a little too high in this case and this is not helped by the problems with the gameplay. Staunch Dizzy fans will disagree I expect, but I feel this should have stuck closer to the game it evolved from, it would have been a more enjoyable title to play, but alas it leaves a small taste of disappointment with me although it is still an overall solid and well-rounded escapade. Review Continues Here
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Visual: 8/10
Audio: 8/10 Gameplay: 6/10 Longevity: 7/10 OVERALL: 7/10 |