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Willy is a Wizard with a mission. He has been given the unenviable task of rescuing Fifi the fairy, who's been taken hostage by the evil Emperor.

It goes without saying that the Emperor hasn't made it easy for Willy. Indeed, he's sent forth his evil minions to do their dirty work and halt Willy in his magical little footsteps. Willy starts off armed only with the first level magic spell 'Unimpressive Thunderbolt', but can occasionally collect the odd magic rune or two, enabling him to weave a more powerful spell. The other collectibles are ten magic eyes strewn about each level. For reasons best known to himself, Willy must collect all ten of these arcane artifacts before facing the final test of his will - the end-of-level guardian.

Wizard Willy is a side-on view platform game which uses an impressive parallax scrolling technique. The backgrounds are very pretty, but have no interaction with the game itself. The obstacles and platforms are on a different plane in the foreground. The sprites reside between the two - in front of the background and behind the foreground [Come again? - Ed]. Willy waddles along, leaping from platform to platform, and these can be climbed up from behind, which unfortunately obscures your little hero from view. As well as dodging the nasties, Willy must also avoid the explosive traps scattered around the place.

The game is virtually silent. A distinctly New Order-ish soundtrack plays on the title page, but during the game itself there's nothing but a couple of spot effects. The omission of in-game sound is annoying, as there's nothing to tell you when your energy is being drained (which is often).

Graphics are where the game really scores. The sprites are exceedingly well-drawn, and the backgrounds are atmospheric and fit in very well with the game. The parallax scrolling looks really stunning, providing a uniqueness that gives it the edge over other platform games.

A Graphic great from Codemasters. Great start for a new label.

Reach the second guardian.

Magic!

Graphics 93%
P. Very pretty indeed.

Sonics 51%
P. New Order-style soundtrack.
N. FX are nothing to sing about.

Grab Factor 75%
P. The parallax pulls you in.

Staying Power 62%
P. Difficult but not impossible.
N. Not a lot of variety.

Overall 77%
P. Promising launch title.
N. All things considered, it's just another platform game.