Magicland Dizzy

A white ouroboros snake coiled on a dark background waits. That was the opening screen of Dizzy games back then — and it was more interesting than the actual start of the game. Magicland Dizzy from 1993 belongs among the forgotten entries in a series that once had dozens of instalments and was played by kids in schools right here. It's not exactly a glorious continuation, but spending a few hours with it reminds you why Dizzy deserved its little corner in memory.

You play as Dizzy, a blue egg with eyes, wandering through a fantasy landscape with a magical theme. You combine platforming jumps with hunting and collecting items to solve various puzzles and progress further. It's not complicated, but it's not boring either. The story is minimal, the graphics are pixelated and dated by today's standards, but that's exactly what makes it appealing. The game tries to be colourful and cheerful, as befits an action platformer originally designed for younger players.

The gameplay falls in line with nineties conventions — you jump, collect, and solve puzzles. The controls are straightforward without unnecessary gimmicks. You can feel the approach of an era when games weren't targeted at demographics through marketing, but simply through artistic taste. The levels aren't particularly difficult if you don't get lost on the map and don't fall into bottomless chasms multiple times. The game won't hit you too hard, but it'll take you a while to master it.

Magicland Dizzy isn't groundbreaking now, nor was it then. It should be a solid middle entry in the series — a pleasant continuation for those who've already played through Dizzy's adventures. Today we remember it because it represents a certain era, when indie meant a kid and his home computer, not crowdfunding and neon. The mechanics are functional, the design isn't dazzling, but it's not annoying either.

These days it's worth giving it a try in your browser if you're curious about what average entertainment looked like from the early nineties. It's not a brilliantly polished indie gem of today — it's a genuine old piece. A few hours of light jumping without stress, where the only frustration might be forgetting which way you came and getting lost on the map. For collectors and the curious, it's worth your time.