Heads above the rest (Wizkid)

Member Name: DannoStanno

Product:	Wizkid
Date:	26/05/09 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Irreverent humour, crazy gameplay

Disadvantages: pretty 1 dimensional

My God, what a crazy game this was. How I wish I could be playing it again. Wizkid, the b*stard son of Wizball ( a game I unfortunately have never played) was one of the most playable and original games of its day. As soon as the game loaded up you knew it was going to be fun (and different) with the 1812 overture being played triumphantly, canons and all.

The game comes as close as the UK could ever get the quirky, crazy and cutesy games that fly out of Japan. However, it is filled with little British trites, gags and humour differentiating it away from anything as banal as a Pokeman monster or a plumber riding a dinosaur.

There were two stages in each of the 8? levels. The first stage being a 'Head' floating around the screen knocking bad guys/creatures with bricks in order to release notes to a song. You were offered a clowns nose and false teeth in order to vary your brick bashing skills, both of which were explained amusingle in the pre-game 'Boot Camp.'

However, the real fun came once the tune was complete. You gained access to the shop and then the option to become the fall body and explore the level. This now turned the game into an RPG type adventure with items purchased or found being used in order to progress your way out of that level and into the next. However, nothing was straightforward in this game and up would pop crosswords that needed to be fitted together (which got harder and harder and faster and faster).

Each level completed resulted in a kitten being rescued until you had all the kittens and reached the bad big boss. Amusingly and in the spirit of the game, the final battle was to get a high score in the arcade classic Asteroids. Ok, some may have seen this as a cop out but I loved this gimmick and loved Asteroids!

This game was bright, colourful, quirky and damn right hilarious, from the bouncing-brick head to the irreverent scatalogical humour thrown in (classic use of a toilet in one level causing a volcanic erruption!) and sadly there are no similar games out today.

Summary: I wish Icould play this game again as it's so original, off the wall and above all, fun!