Wizball
| Wizball | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Sensitive software |
| Publisher | Ocean software |
| Senior Developer | Chris Yates, Jon Hare |
| composer | Martin Galway |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1987 |
| platform | Amiga , Atari ST , Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC , Sinclair ZX Spectrum |
| genre | Shoot 'em up |
| control | joystick |
| medium | Cassette , floppy disk |
| language | English |
Wizball is a computer game that was released in 1987 for various home computers , initially for the Commodore 64 , Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC . The game was designed by the British duo Sensible Software , which consisted of programmer Chris Yates and graphic artist Jon Hare. The music was composed by Martin Galway , who soon afterwards expanded Sensible Software into a trio for a short time. Ocean Software was responsible for sales . Later implementations for the Amiga and Atari ST appeared , but these were created by other teams.
action
The background story tells of the fictional world "Wizworld", which was robbed of all color by the villain Zark. The magician Wiz tries, with the help of his cat Nifta, to bring the dull, gray levels back to full color. The player takes over manifestations of Wiz and Nifta in Wizworld: The green, animated ball Wizball and its satellite Catelite.
Game principle and technology
The game concept of Wizball combines the genre of shoot 'em up with the new element of "coloring". First of all, in single player mode you only control Wiz, which takes the shape of a ball, the eponymous Wizball. At the beginning the player figure jumps back and forth rather awkwardly, but an extra weapon system reminiscent of “ Nemesis ” helps quickly to gain control over the figure. One of the extras is Nifta, the wizard's cat, who takes on the role of the satellite here, as it is known from R-Type . In single-player mode, the joystick controls the magician and his cat at the same time; in two-player mode, the players take turns. In addition, Wizball has a "team mode" in which one player takes on the role of Wiz and the other takes on the role of Nifta. There are always three levels out of a total of eight at once, and there are special opponents in each level who leave drops of color after they die. These are collected with Nifta's Manifestation Catelite and displayed at the bottom of the screen. If you only have to dip a level in red at the beginning, later you have to collect quite complex color mixtures. Wandering between the levels is therefore inevitable. After you have completely collected a color, you start a bonus round where you collect points, extras and additional lives. Wiz colors the level briefly and from then on you move in more colorful areas.
Up to four players can take part in the round during a game round. However, they do not play at the same time, but one after the other - if one player dies, it is the next player's turn.
Production notes
In 1992, Sensible Software brought out Wizkid, a successor that had only limited resemblance to its predecessor, the search for Wiz's abducted parents and the fame of the original.
In 2007, Graham Goring published a remake of Wizball for Windows , followed by an implementation for macOS . A programmer for a Linux implementation is also listed on the project website, but a version for this operating system is not yet available for download.
reception
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Wizball received almost exclusively positive reviews. The two most important contemporary German-language game magazines awarded top ratings, for example the Happy Computer Game Special Issue 4 with a rating of 92%, and the other ASM in issue 9/1987 the “ASM Hit” award. Retrospectively, the magazine Retro Gamer stated that Wizball “is rightly counted among the best C64 games of all time”. Reviewer Knut Gollert justified his judgment with the fact that the game offers a "nice game idea, terrific implementation, clean learning curve, unique soundtrack and superb graphics". In September 1989, two years after the game was released, the 64's still stated that Wizball was "the most successful game for the C64 in terms of its graphic and acoustic implementation (...)." The magazine named the "uncomplicated and intelligent" control system as a particular point to be emphasized.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Ulrich Mühl: Ocean's (sic) new super hit! . In: ASM . August 1987.
- ^ A b Heinrich Lenhardt : Wizball . In: Happy Computer . No. Spielesonderheft 4, 1986, p. 27.
- ↑ Anatol Locker : Wizball . In: Power Play . March 1988, p. 78.
- ↑ Knut Gollert: Classic Check: Wizball . In: Retro Gamer . No. 3, 2015, p. 6.
- ^ Andreas Friedrich: Wizball - fight the gray veil . In: 64'er . September 1989, p. 129.