Previous Next

Wizadore, from Imagine, is an exploration game in the classic sense. The plot is typical of a fantasy adventure - saving the world from a terrible dragon, Smaun, and taking revenge for your grandfather's sudden demise.

This is, of course, much harder than it sounds, for each species of foe needs a different spell to be defeated and the vital scrolls are very well defended.

Three parts of a golden sword must be collected in order to go dragon-bashing which, in turn, will restore the drawbridge, allowing you to enter the castle.

The screen is presented "side-on", like Manic Miner or Frak! and works very well. The landscape of trees, cliffs and dungeon walls scrolls ahead of you, revealing the various types of nasty that you must overcome. These number six and are all nicely drawn in multi-coloured, mode 2 graphics. Three of these can be killed and are not really a problem, other than preventing you passing if you don't have the correct item.

In the time given to review a game, it is not easy to tell just how long the appeal will last. Certain games, whilst looking like world-beaters at the start, will fade after a very short amount of playing-time. However, Wizadore looks as if it will retain its mysteries for a long time to come and gradually unfold, rather than being a flash-in-the-pan.

Imagine are offering a £100 prize for the first person to complete the game every month until August.