I would like to play through the classic Dizzy games again, especially Fantasy World and Magic Land Dizzy. What do you think is the best method to play them in 2010?
I found the PC versions, which work great in DOSbox and have nice graphics, but I couldn't get very far with the three lives, and I don't have the patience to suffer some of the more unforgiving platforming sections. Are there methods to get infinite lives on the PC versions of Dizzy?
Otherwise, should I go with an emulated version? Which is best? Spectrum suffers pretty bad colour clash. Should I go for the Amstrad CPC instead? Do all of the emulators for these machines have decent snapshot/quicksave options?
Otherwise, should I go with an emulated version? Which is best? Spectrum suffers pretty bad colour clash. Should I go for the Amstrad CPC instead? Do all of the emulators for these machines have decent snapshot/quicksave options?
Thanks for your help!
[/quote]
Only ZX-Spectrum. Other forgery. {yolkfolk}:dizzy:
Hope I'm not opening up a can of worms here, but some of us were not rich enough back in the days to have some of the original computers, such as the Spectrum etc. My first 'PC' was an Atari, so when I first discovered Dizzy games they all had colourful backgrounds which I thought was normal. My first game was Treasure Island, and after that I was hooked and bought all the Atari Dizzy games I could get my mitts on.
Of course, that machine died of old age and so I moved onto PCs, and managed to get hold of some of the games which I still enjoy replaying, but never found Treasure Island Dizzy. However, a couple of years ago PC Zone gave away a copy of Treasure Island Dizzy, but it was the 'original' with the black background and I noticed that it didn't have all the puzzles that I was used to with the Atari version. So, although your comments are a bit 'tongue in cheek' Rindex, what might have been 'original' for you, is not 'original' for all of us, especially as Code Masters brought out different versions for different platforms ...a bit like saying anyone who drives a Ford that isn't a 'Model T' isn't a proper motorist.
Part of the pleasure and frustration of those early games was completing them with only 3 lives (or occasionally picking up an extra life) and the first time you managed to actually complete one of them with all three lives intact was a moment of complete and utter smugness, but in those days having a 'save' and 'load' facility wasn't the norm that it is now. One variation in an old game that I thought was a good idea was in the the Bitmap Brothers game 'Cadaver', where you could 'save' the game, but you had to pay for it in the 'cash and gold' you picked up and each 'save' was more expensive than the previous one, so you couldn't afford to just keep saving. Now there's a thought for one of the 'more competent' DizzyAge coders.
However, back to the subject in hand. I have an Amiga emulator for some of the Original Dizzygames*, plus some on DosBox, but these are emulators for playing the original games on a modern PC and you won't get extra 'save' facilities. As Gazbangor pointed out, it's the re-makes, mainly on DizzyAge that give you the save facilities.
* but Treasure Island Dizzy won't play on my Amiga emulator (forever amiga)!
Also, are the Dizzy Age versions completely accurate? If so I can imagine that is definitely a decent option, thanks for the tip!
[/quote]
I think he means that they aren't in his opinion the same as the 'original' (speccy) versions.
As far as I can tell, the DizzyAGE versions of FID and MLD are virtually identical to the originals. certainly enough that you really wouldn't notice any diffference.
I just tried out the Dizzy Age versions, and they do seem like a perfect compromise! Thank-you for the advice. Unfortunately I'm having problems with full screen (F10) on my Windows 7 laptop, it keeps exiting back to my desktop until I change it back to windowed mode. Strange!
It's very interesting that the Dizzy community has latched onto the ZX Spectrum as being the canonical heir to legitimacy for this series, especially as the graphics, controls and game design certainly didn't seem to get compromised for the conversions. Perhaps there were some differences I'm not aware of. Nevertheless, there's certainly something to be said for the purity of the original content. He didn't even have red boxing gloves in the Speccy versions! XD
With dying in Dizzy, most of the time it feels unfair. Just a few seconds ago I got killed by Armorog after putting the meat in his den. As far as I'm concerned I shouldn't lose a life for this, I should just have to repeat the meat-drop-jump sequence. I sorta feel Dizzy would benefit from lots of checkpoints (like VVVVVV), or maybe auto save upon entering rooms, so long as it isn't done in a dangerous manner, like Jet Set Willy. I agree it's part of the motivation back in the 80s, but it also kept many people away from enjoying these games to their fullest.
The first game about DIZZY has been made for ZX-Spectrum. 99 % of games Dizzy-AGE keep style ZX-Spectrum. Truth not with a palette in 15 colors. But in 2006 was so.
Just like Grandad, My first and most enjoyable experience with Dizzy started on the ST - so I have always enjoyed the more colourful style.
I do remember playing Dizzy on my friends spectrums and i much preferred the ST (I know I'll incur the old skool wrath for saying this, but i'll say it anyway :wall: ). The screen seemed to constantly refresh on each sprite movement and Dizzy changed colour as he walked past the background. Oh and dont get me started on the wait for the loading screens, thats if the tape didnt crash... {yolkfolk}:crazy:
I remember enjoying playing games on the old BBC more than the Spectrum... :tongue:
If it's Amiga/St emulations you're looking for, theres tonnnes out there, keep searching on google. You can save progress on emulators at any point as many times as you like - should be in the save and load "states" functionality
RE Speccy being the original For me, this is the case, largely because I had a Speccy back in the day (its still in my loft now!!) and as far as I recall, Dizzy was born on the Spectrum and then converted to other formats. There are of course loads of Speccy emulators to play the 'originals' {yolkfolk}:tongue: speccy games (see worldofspectrum.org for links), BUT you cant legally download any of the Dizzy games. So if you own the original tape (ahem) and play a copy in an emulator, you will find most good emulators will allow you to save a snapshot file, so that whilst the game itself doesnt allow a save, you still can, and most will also allow you to add 'POKEs' to give you infinite lives or other features - there is a site called the Tipshop that has thousands of POKEs for speccy games.
As for Dizzy not having red gloves on the Speccy, that is sadly true as the colour system on the speccy wouldnt allow it without massive colour clash :sad:
It is fascinating to look at all of the versions objectively. The Amstrad CPC version has this limited four colour palette, which definitely makes the game less colourful than the ZX Spectrum version, but it also managed to make the CPC version rather stylish in an interesting way. Dizzy's sprite looks best on CPC also, albeit a little green!
I really do like what has been done with DizzyAge. For a while I thought that it was strange that it didn't lean towards the more colourful games, but the limited palette helps keep things authentic, and it also makes it easier for people to introduce their own sprite objects into the game seamlessly. In theory, at least!
There have been some very good attempts at more colourful and amiga style DizzyAge games. Suggest giving a play to: - Macons Excalibur and Hide & Seek - Delta also did a 16bit colour convert of Magic Star and his TLoD series boast great graphics - In the speccy style there are some brilliant games with great detail and colour. My best pics are anything by Colin, Hucks winner from this years comp and Alex's TOS is a must play for newbies to this site
There;s loads more out there, but thats plenty for starters.
Enjoy :smile:
This discussion is read-only.Browse the replies or return to the forum category.Back to forum