Tag Archives: puzzles

Spellbound Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Also known as Dizzy V (five), Spellbound Dizzy was once again designed and coded by Big Red Software and was first published by Codemasters in 1991.

Spellbound Dizzy was the biggest Dizzy game yet, with 108 screens to explore, and it had a slightly different graphical style to previous games. Message windows were made to look transparent, with background graphics shown as dark blue on top of which text was overlaid, which is a neat little detail that works well. Dizzy himself looked the same though.

Continue reading Spellbound Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Dizzy 3 and a Half, ZX Spectrum

Dizzy 3 and a Half was released for free on a Crash magazine cover tape (issue 84, January 1991) and basically serves as an introduction to (and a sales device for) Magicland Dizzy, the fourth Dizzy adventure.

Continue reading Dizzy 3 and a Half, ZX Spectrum

Magicland Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Magicland Dizzy is the fourth Dizzy adventure game and the first game in the series not designed and coded by The Oliver Twins. Instead it was designed by Neal Vincent and coded by Big Red Software, with The Oliver Twins retaining creative oversight.

Continue reading Magicland Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Fantasy World Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

The third Dizzy adventure, Fantasy World Dizzy, was again designed by The Oliver Twins with graphics by Neil Adamson. It was published by Codemasters in 1989, initially for the ZX Spectrum, but also later for all the major formats at the time (Amstrad CPC, C64, Amiga, ST, and MS-DOS).

Continue reading Fantasy World Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Treasure Island Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Treasure Island Dizzy is the second game in the Dizzy series and was first released by Codemasters in 1988. It was again designed and coded by The Oliver Twins and once again features everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic egg, Dizzy.

Continue reading Treasure Island Dizzy, ZX Spectrum

Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure, ZX Spectrum

The first Dizzy game, and featuring a walking, talking egg that would become synonymous with “cartoon adventures” on the ZX Spectrum, and also budget releases from British software house Codemasters.

Continue reading Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure, ZX Spectrum

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, PlayStation

The PlayStation version of the classic Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Studios) first-person RPG is unfortunately only available in Japanese, so is not easy to play for English-speaking gamers. No one has yet translated the game into English even though fans have been crossing their fingers since the game was first released way back in 1997 (24 years ago).

Continue reading Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, PlayStation

Nosferatu the Vampyre, Amstrad CPC

This Amstrad CPC conversion of the classic ZX Spectrum game definitely benefits from having better use of colour than the original. It also runs a little faster than the Speccy version, which makes it slightly more playable.

Continue reading Nosferatu the Vampyre, Amstrad CPC

The Goonies, Commodore 64

Released the same year as Richard Donner‘s classic adventure comedy film of the same name, The Goonies by Datasoft is a multi-screen action adventure game for one or two players.

Continue reading The Goonies, Commodore 64

Pong Quest, PC

This modern take on a retro classic sees you take control of a “brave young paddle” on a quest to unlock the mystery of “The Spooky Door”.

Pong Quest is of course a re-imagining of the classic Atari arcade game, Pong, with cute, colourful graphics, a large variety of different Pong balls, and single and multiplayer play modes.

Continue reading Pong Quest, PC