Wonderful Dizzy - Florinthedwarf takes a full in-depth look at this new Dizzy ZX Spectrum game!

It's been a long wait, but he's finally here! It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

He's been in eggs-ile for quite some time but now, finally, FINALLY he's back! It's a brand new adventure, new story, new eggs, new characters and a cute little fluffle has been thrown back in too. (Not enough Pogie in this world if you ask me). He's also back in wonderful world of 8-bit, full of glorious Spectrum colour and a quite stunning looking (and sounding) world for us to enjoy, explore and get us grinning again. Just what the world needs now if you ask me!

Events that end with a scream are rarely good news. You never know though, it could have been a happy scream...

The wait has been that long, I think Dizzy is more than hard boiled by now but, thankfully for us, he's not rotten in the slightest. He's as bright and enthusiastic as ever; with the added bonus of some new features. First of all though, what's Wonderful Dizzy all about? In a storyline influenced by a certain classic film about witches, munchkins and flying houses (you know the one) Dizzy's adventure starts with some haphazard driving of his house. Well, I guess 'driving' is not what you'd actually call it but Dizzy's house has been caught up in a rather large storm and upon landing, has inadvertently squashed a witch. Ouch. She was a bad witch so it's not all bad news but, what is bad news, it that witch's sister witnessed the whole thing and has now taken little Pogie hostage; and given she's now vowed to pop him in the oven for 45 mins (gas mark 5), you'd better hope Dizzy has a great plan to get him back before he becomes dinner.

Come on now, Dizzy. It's been 28 years since your last Spectrum adventure - surely you could have taken some swimming lessons in that time?

Visually, you can't really say anything negative about Wonderful Dizzy. Full of colour on every screen (apart from the opening screen, but that is deliberate) and full of charm. On top of this the music is a delight too; Dizzy games were always ones that you could rely on for a great tune (Magicland being the best obviously - change my mind) and this one is right up there with the best. It really is exquisite stuff to feast your eyes and ears upon and the gameplay itself is second to none. Everything you expect from a classic Dizzy game, and more!

Crash Magazine? You don't get those anymore! Oh, hang on...

Of course, it's filled with puzzles, tricks and a whole heap of characters who may or may not help you in your quest but, you'll find that Dizzy had a few tricks up his sleeve. Well, boxing glove. Not only has he had a humour upgrade (which we'll get to later) but now he's equipped with hat and backpack (though can still only fit three items in it - bigger one needed next time, Dizzy!) and he's now acquired some long needed climbing skills! This makes all the difference when trying to reach things up high and really helps in adding extra variation in the gameplay. He still hasn't learned to swim though but I guess it's just one step at a time!

Just minding my own busi... argh! Put me down! Phew, that was close!....bugger.

The influence of the Oliver Twins is clearly evident here and you can see how much they've wanted to expand on the usual Dizzy game. From the extra skills to the rather pretty funny exchanges between the characters, this game has everything going for it. The humour is laid on thick - some of it may be dad humour (the best humour, obviously) but are also some nice game references thrown in there too - some of these had me lol-ing (is that what the young kids say these days?) out loud. Other extras are the additional pathways that Dizzy can take in the form of pointing arrows spread across the land and the little animation as Dizzy turns to enter doorways. The former really adds another dimension to the game, creating shortcuts to other areas you may need to return to. You really got to give it to team behind the creation of the game itself, from producing the remake of Crystal Kingdom Dizzy and now this - they're really a collective to be taken notice of. This instalment is a fine achievement in Spectrum gaming.

What are you doing li-on around there?

So with Dizzy's main mission to rescue Pogie from being a main course of the Evil Witches Annual get together (socially distanced, of course), can he get it together, help out some friends and acquaintances along the way, avoid some evil flying monkeys (and even more evil water) and snatch his beloved fluffle out of the oven before it's too late? Well that, my friends, is down to you but what I will say is, you'll have a lot of fun finding out.

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