Created by Silhouette Software and published for the ZX Spectrum by Melbourne House in 1987, Wiz is an obscure scrolling action game where you control a wizard who must climb levels to gain magical powers so that he can break the link that joins the dark world to the light world. Whatever that means…

What that means – basically – is that you have to survive your way through various mazes, filled with energy-sapping creatures. Touching a creature will lose you energy, and if you completely run out of energy the game will end. Thankfully there are two ways of regaining energy: 1. You either wait, and the passage of time will heal you, or 2. You can absorb the energy of creatures by zapping them with the appropriate spell.

To use the appropriate spell, in this case “Zap“, you first need to possess it, and secondly you must then select it from your spellbook, which is shown on-screen; bottom right. To bring up your list of spells you press fire (or Space), then push up, down, left or right to choose the spell you want to use from the circle; then press fire.

The wizard has four different move modes, which you cycle through by pressing fire when not moving. The red circle is “Move and Cast” which allows the wizard to move and fire magic simultaneously; the yellow circle is “Prepare Spell“, which allows the wizard to select a spell; the blue circle is “Read Spell Book” which shows all the spells in the wizard’s book, and the green circle is “Buy Spell“, which allows the wizard to add spells to his spellbook.

To buy new spells the wizard must reach a certain magic level, which is done by absorbing energy from enemies. Of course, the more dangerous the enemy the more energy they provide.

As you advance to higher levels of magic you will discover another way to increase magic power in an emergency. The maximum magical power depends on your wizard level. For a first level wizard it is just 30 (this magic level is shown in the top right-hand yellow scroll).

The scores at which you attain each new wizard level are: Level 2 = 500, Level 3 = 1500, Level 4 = 3000, Level 5 = 7500.

Wiz reminded me a bit of Steve Turner‘s classic proto-RPGs Avalon and Dragontorc, as well as the games Druid and Gauntlet. The graphical style of Wiz is unusual (with Rapscallion-like expanded graphics, which I like if they’re used in the right way, and they seem to be in this game), and the gameplay is actually quite absorbing when you figure out exactly what you’re supposed to do.

Wiz was designed by Simon Price; programmed by John F. Cain, and with character graphics by Antony Scott, and it wouldn’t be unfair to say that it’s a fairly obscure Spectrum game. Because of that, not many people will have played it, which is a shame as it’s not a bad little game. Wiz kept me occupied for quite some time recently, which is all you can ask for from an old Spectrum game you’ve never played before.

The exact same team converted Wiz to the Commodore 64, but it unfortunately isn’t quite as much fun to play as the Spectrum version.

More: Wiz on World of Spectrum