1st July 1983
The Wizard is one of the first three BBC releases from software giants Quicksilva. In it, you play the part of the Wizard and it is your task to prevent an evil demon from capturing the maidens which have been chained to some rocks.
The game, despite sounding like an adventure, is in fact a rather amusing action game. The screen display shows the wizard perched on a rock at the left side of the screen and the maidens chained to rocks away to the right. Above them hover evil winged demons. As the game starts, the demons descend and try to grab the maidens. You defend them by shooting down the demons with your wand. The controls enable you to raise or lower the wand and fire.
At first this seems simple but you soon find that your want has limited power and when that is used up, it takes a long time to recharge. If you let a demon escape, you are in trouble because their next target is you. The demon will move overhead, out of range of your wand and descend. This ends with the demon landing on you and squeezing your brains out in a gory techicolor explosion.
If you manage to survive the first attack wave, then they next try a different tactic. The demons attack in formation from the right side of the screen, sweeping towards you. These two waves repeat themselves, getting nastier each time.
The graphics on the game are good quality and they are complemented by full sound effects. The game isn't particularly fast, but a fair degree of skill is needed to survive for any length of time.
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