HYPED AS DIZZY’S LARGEST ADVENTURE AND PACKED WITH A CHECKLIST OF PUZZLES, SPELLBOUND DIZZY WAS CAPABLE OF KEEPING FANS OF THE SERIES ENTHRALLED FOR MONTHS. IT ALSO SHOWED THAT BIG RED SOFTWARE HAD CRACKED THE FRANCHISE’S FORMULA AND THEY’RE HERE TO TELL US HOW THEY DID IT
Fingers hovered over the telephone dial for the umpteenth time: 0 – 8 – 9 – 1, they tapped, then 5 – 5 – 5 – 0 – 0 – 3. Within seconds a recording began that regaled callers with a bunch of hints and tips about Spellbound Dizzy, the fifth adventure game featuring Codemasters’ anthropomorphic egg. Sure, it came at a cost – 36p per minute if you were calling off-peak and 48p per minute at other times – but for those desperate to solve the game’s myriad mind-boggling puzzles, it felt worth every penny.
Spellbound Dizzy was difficult and frustrating but it was also varied and absolutely huge, with the latter fact worn like a badge of honour. As well as flagging up the game’s size on the packaging (“BIGGEST and BEST adventure yet,” it screamed), it was even mentioned in the game itself (click a message icon at the start of the Spectrum version, for instance, and it told you it was bigger than Dizzy III and IV put together). In fact, you couldn’t really play this game without knowing there were 105 rooms (in most versions, at least). But, boy, developers Big Red Software didn’t half make you work to see them all.
There was a simple reason for going large. “We were looking to achieve a new and bigger Dizzy. That pretty much was it,” says programmer R Fred Williams. It was also to be the main attraction on a fullpriced five-game compilation called Dizzy’s Excellent Adventures. This featured another adventure game called Dizzy: Prince Of The Yolkfolk, with the other three games being puzzle/action titles: Kwik Snax, Panic Dizzy and either Dizzy Down The Rapids or Bubble Dizzy depending on the platform.
Big Red had already proven more than capable of making a good Dizzy game. The Oliver twins, who kick-started the series in 1987 with the release of Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure, passed on
