There’s a new Dizzy game that’s actually quite old: it was originally supposed to be released in 1993, for NES.
Never heard of Dizzy? That’s OK. It just means you probably didn’t grow up gaming in Europe during the ’80s and ’90s. It was a big series at the time, starting in 1987 with Dizzy — The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure.
That first game was released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad PC, and Commodore 64 — remember any of those? It was created by Philip and Andrew Oliver — known as the Oliver Twins — and published by their early collaborator, the U.K.-based Codemasters.
The Dizzy series follows a smiling, egg-shaped creature who leaps around — avoiding hazards and solving puzzles — as he tries to keep his people, the Yolkfolk, safe from an evil wizard called Zaks. Like many popular games from the era, it takes cues from Nintendo platformers like Mario.
The Oliver Twins (and later, Big Red Software) created a string of Dizzy games, spin-offs, and compilations between 1987 and 1994. Some of that stuff never got released at the time, but has trickled out since.
Such is the case with Mystery World Dizzy, a browser-based port of a game that was originally intended for an NES release in 1993. In its original form, Mystery World is technically just a spiffed up remake of Fantasy World Dizzy, the third game in the series and perhaps the best-known of the bunch.
The 2017 port comes from the Oliver Twins, who announced the release on Twitter.
This actually isn’t the first old-made-new-again port from the Oliver Twins. Back in 2015, the sibling game makers delivered a similarly never-before-released port of Wonderland Dizzy, an NES version of the series’ sixth game, Magicland Dizzy.
Several years earlier, the Olivers attempted to revive the series with a proper sequel, called Dizzy Returns. They brought the effort to Kickstarter in 2012, but ultimately fell far short of the £350,000 funding target, with only £25,620 pledged.
This actually isn’t the first old-made-new-again port from the Oliver Twins. Back in 2015, the sibling game makers delivered a similarly never-before-released port of Wonderland Dizzy, an NES version of the series’ sixth game, Magicland Dizzy.
Several years earlier, the Olivers attempted to revive the series with a proper sequel, called Dizzy Returns. They brought the effort to Kickstarter in 2012, but ultimately fell far short of the £350,000 funding target, with only £25,620 pledged.
