Fantastic Dizzy

"Average platformer whose only appeal is it's nostalgia trip"

I used to love the Dizzy games on the Spectrum and C64. It seemed every 3 or 4 months a new Dizzy game came out. Treasure Island Dizzy...Fantasy World Dizzy...then came the day the big package was released. There was about 5 new Dizzy games all in one. Prince of Yolkfolk, Bubble Dizzy....a dream come true.

That's what Fantastic Dizzy really was. When released for the Sega Genesis, it was a mix of all the previous Dizzy games, with some new additions thrown in. Just enough to make you want to buy the game...although I never did. My cousin had it and I played it there and thought it was "ok". I was tiring of Dizzy games.

Last week I found Fantastic Dizzy in a store for just $5. I purchased it and came home expecting a short nostalgic trip, which would end with me turning it off and saying man I can't believe I liked that!

Boy was I wrong.

7 hours later, I was trying to defeat the evil Zaks, and get Granddad Dizzy out of a sleep. Dylan was frozen, and Dora was still a frog, waiting for the prince to come and kiss her!

Mario...Sonic...no-one beats Dizzy!

Dizzy is an action-platform type game. You have to go around attempting to solve puzzles as well. See that Pirate guarding the pirates boat? Remember the pirates rum you found in the mine? Add 2 and 2 together, and you'll be on that pirate book. That was the type of puzzles in the game. There were some more difficult ones, but the main appeal from the game was that it "wanted" you to complete it. If you had an ounce of common sense, you stood a chance of completing this game.

The evil wizard Zaks has captured your girlfriend Daisy, and wreaked havoc among your family. You have to help your family(unfreeze Dylan, wake up Granddad etc), and then save Daisy. It's a typical and often over-used storyline, yet this adds in enough humour and interest to make it work.

Storyline - 8. Over-used and often boring storyline, but very entertaining in this scenario. Humorous too at points. The plots and puzzles will keep you going for hours.

Control - 10. Will take you less than 5 seconds to get to grips with the control system in this game. Very simple.

Graphics - 8. It's tough to judge this. it doesn't have "bad" graphics, but the Genesis can do a lot better. However they're nice and simple, and are better than the C64 so...

Replayability - 0. After completing it, it'll be thrown away and never seen again.

To Buy/Rent - Rent it. A weekend's work should see the completion if this game, which can still be found in most stores!

Overall - 6. The main appeal to me was the nostalgic trip. Any Dizzy-fans from the C64 or Spectrum would probably feel the same way. For the majority of game-players who haven't heard of Dizzy, it's an average platformer, with a better storyline than most others being it's only highlight.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 02/22/01