Wizball

A-Digga-200 2020-05-30
(10/10)
WOW, Reading the comments on here, I wonder if I am playing the same game !!!. For me, Wizball on the Amiga is a 9/10. I still have my original which came from Gordon Harwood with my 1.2 Amiga 500 and have lost count of the times I have played this over the years - always on real hardware with a Zipstick.

The only reason I marked this down is because it is too easy, once you get the hang of this game you finish it with 20+ lives easily

Music 9/10 - I know I will get shot to pieces for this, but I still love the crisp music as much today as I did when my 500 was hooked up to my stereo system many years ago. (I have played the C64 version too, as I have owned a C64 since 83 and yes Martin's Tune is awesome too for the SID)

Gameplay 9/10 - I am not sure where all these control complaints are coming from ? Maybe using an emulator ????? I have never had an issue with poor or laggy control, I find it perfectly responsive with a real ZipStick on real hardware. Good attack waves, although most are easily learnt

I play this game start to finish at least once a month and love it. Although I do plan to play the C64 version again, I didn't own the C64 game back in the day, but did get an original from ebay a few months ago so will def give it a whirl.

But to sum up, I find this game bags of fun, only marred by the low difficulty level. Forget C64 or ST ports etc...this game stands on its own legs for me !
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Juanma 2017-07-02
(4/10)
Wizball had potential, but poor porting ruined it.
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Pssyche 2014-02-21
(3/10)
Another lazy, half arsed conversion by Peter 'ST' Johnson. Play it on the C64 if you want the real thing.
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mike_tyson 2012-03-10
A very unusual, quirky shoot'em up. All color has been drained from your psychedelic world, and as Wizball you must collect enough tasty red, green and blue drops to bring the color back. A very original game full of unique ideas.

However, Wizball is a very difficult game to master and often downright unfair. In the beginning, your Wizball is contantly jumping up and down, and one of the foremost things you got to do is upgrade to a mode where you can move Wizball more like in a "normal" game, that is without the constant bouncing. Upgrading is done in a similar way to Gradius/Nemesis: You collect green bubbles, and then you select the upgrade which you want to buy. The crucial point here is "select". You don’t select by pressing space, as any half-sane person would assume, but by wiggling the joystick left and right… it took me about 20 years to figure that out!

Another upgrade which you can buy is a cat, which is kind of like an option in Nemesis but which you can move around while pressing the firebutton. This one, and the normal move option are absolutely essential in the beginning if you want to hope to get anywhere in this game.

Wizball has cooperative multiplayer, which is cool.

High difficulty, poor conversion from the C64… but still, Wizball is an important game on the Amiga and I wish there were more shoot'em ups as original and fun as this one! Cover artwork by the infamous Bob Wakelin!
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Shinymetalass 2011-10-27
(3/10)
64 version is miles better. The controls didn't feel right on this one. The graphics were good though. Where I can spend hours playing the 64 version I just played this for 5 mins. The 64 version is the best game ever.
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Alexander H. 2011-06-18
(7/10)
Limited playing area, somewhat unresponsive controls and an unimaginative soundtrack make this feel less special than the classic that was the C64 version. Not a bad game by any means -as long as one manages to get a grasp of the quirky control system and avoids comparisons with its 8-bit counterpart- but not a great one either.
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stooart 2011-01-13
(6/10)
Not a patch on the gorgeous C64 version that me and my bro played for hours. This just had a gritty (ST?) feel to it that lost the beauty of the Commy's. Some games are better left as they are.
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D-Tick 2010-01-10
(6/10)
I liked the C64 version more.
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Kodoichi 2007-11-24
(5/10)
Good game. Until you lose a life and all your extras while you're being attacked by enemies who fly around fast. Good luck with the controls then.
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Little Monkey Lost 2006-05-24
I don't think that this version sux really. It is fine enough. Very fun game idea, though I always got tired quite soon with this.
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onky 2006-04-04
(1/10)
This game really worked on my nerves. I guess the titlescreen displays the right feeling with that sick twisted looking wizball. One to avoid.
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Kriko 2005-02-13
(7/10)
I'd never played this on the C64, so I gave it a shot as it came with my Amiga. It was good, original fun, although I can understand that it's nothing special as a conversion.
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Yoko Tv Inc. 2004-12-27
(5/10)
Terrible port - play the C64 version ...its the only one that ROCKS !!
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Lamer_Exterminator 2004-12-21
(4/10)
I hated all those ST ports that Peter Johnson did back in the late 80`s. No effort was ever used in making more of the Amiga`s capabilities, and this game in particular was a souless bodge-up of a much loved C64 classic!
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Sandman 2004-12-19
(5/10)
Disappointingly average on the Amiga, unlike the ground-breaking game it is on the C64!
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Underfly 2004-12-11
(4/10)
16Bit Wizball, hmmm! Not for me, I can't understand of why this version has the big WIZBALL Title on the top (C64 version didn't show that!). The play-area is too small as it is!
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Ed W 2004-12-07
(8/10)
A cracking game. Not as good as the C64 one though an a total ST port!
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