Spellbound Dizzy

The Good
The C64 music is possibly the best version of Spelbound Dizzy's soundtrack. The C64 version of Dizzy is at last in full-colour, with red boxing gloves and boots.

The Bad
To say C64 owners were given a raw deal over Spellbound Dizzy is an understatement. The version which appeared in 'Dizzy's Excellent Adventures' had only around thirty screens, which is nowhere near 'over a hundred' as advertised. The graphics are one-colour, are obviously ported from the Spectrum version. Not only that, but the dialogue boxes are transparent, and so during long conversations they soon become impossible to read. When you leave a screen, it takes far too long for the next screen to appear, and attempting to ascend up the 'windy shaft' for some reason takes forever. Thus the game moves at a snail's pace. The puzzles are laughably easy, despite being illogical at times (using fish food to attract a whale?). Not only that, but the game is filled with bugs. At one point it is possible to walk out of a screen, and in doing so walk out of the entire game, and fall through numerous blank screens until you disappear. You're then forced to re-load the game. Any amount of play-testing could have revealed this fault. When Spellbound Dizzy was released on its own on the C64, it was the full 100-screen version (ported from the Spectrum, natch). Sadly it was so bug-ridden it was unplayable, and the slow screen updates made it more like medieval torture than computer game entertainment.

The Bottom Line
This is the fifth in the series of games starring an egg-person called Dizzy, who is generally to be found saving various people or escaping varied environments. In this game, Dizzy has been found a spell book and started reading it. Unfortunately, not having the first idea about spells, he has caused his family and friends (the Yolkfolk) to be transported into an underground cavern. So it is up to him to send them home. Theo the wizard can transport them home, but he needs an object which belongs to each Yolkfolk person, along with stars which can be found around the place. To free his friends, Dizzy must explore the platform-game landscapes. Each object he comes across is useful in the game (eg: the trampoline can be used to bounce up to otherwise unreachable cliffs).

The Good
The massive environment, the nice-looking - if simplistic - graphics. The puzzles are up to the usual Dizzy standards, and the inclusion of Theo and his little rhymes add to an original storyline.

The Bad
Lacks the varied landscapes of its predecessors.

The Bottom Line
The fifth game in the Dizzy series. The heroic egg-like Dizzy, having found a spell book, has managed to transport himself and all his friends into a strange underground world. The only way to return them home is to find them and collect something belonging to each of them, plus magic stars, to give to Theo the wizard. This means exploring a world filled with dangers such as pumping stations, underwater lakes and suchlike. As ever, there are a plethora of objects which all serve various uses, and the game features Dizzy riding a mine cart, scuba diving and travelling down pipes to reach further parts of the game.