Dizzy, The Lost Island (4.7Mb)
I’m showcasing this 3D platform adventure game for its exquisite 3D landscape rendering, powered by a custom 3D engine, which is quite remarkable for a freeware game. In fact if you suffer from vertigo, you might find this game more than a bit unnerving to play, simply because of the cliffs and some very steep slopes and drops, beautifully portrayed in glorious 3D.
After a long and relentless pursuit that seemed endless, Dizzy has finally found this place that is off the map and official records, and which seemed to exist only in the minds of adventurers and treasure hunters from around the world. There has been this fable that the island has a large hoard of hidden gold . . .
The story is that Dizzy, the egg, on his seemingly never-ending quest for treasure, after years of searching, has actually found this Lost Island of myth and mystery; though it is to prove full of the most frightful perils and danger. He is now searching for the island’s hidden stored treasure, to prove to his Yolkfolk back home that he is still... "Dizzy The Adventurer". The game is based loosely on Treasure Island Dizzy and was entered for the 2008 Retro Remakes competition.
Movement is accomplished by using the ‘L/R’ arrow keys to rotate Dizzy left or right, the ‘Up’ arrow key to move Dizzy forward in the direction he is facing and the ‘Z’ key or ‘Spacebar’ to make Dizzy do a somersault jump. Moving Dizzy forwards while jumping will make him jump forwards. The ‘X’ key (or ‘Down’ arrow key) will pick up or drop items though you might have to be close-by and look quite hard to find items, that might be of use to Dizzy. ‘Esc’ key to quit and ‘P’ key to pause. You can look around by holding down the ‘C’ (see!) key and rotating the view using the ‘L/R’ arrow keys. Gamepad/joystick use is supported.
You have coins to collect, though these are sparsely distributed and lost treasure to find before you escape from the island. Unfortunately there is no map to help you and the landscape is pitted with sharp drops from which there is often little chance of recovery. Dizzy will drown quite quickly if you fall into the water, mostly with little or no chance of getting out. As you sometimes have to take a well-aimed chance jump over a wall and down a steep narrow slope, there is every chance you will misjudge the jump and tumble over a precipice into the water!
The landscape is quite brilliant for the slopes and crags. The only downside is the amount of time you have to spend wandering around an often bleak land to try to find sparsely located coins and other things that might be useful to Dizzy. It can get boring just exploring at times, though things like the bridge over a chasm are rewarding to find and traverse. It is all too easy to slip up though and fall irrecoverably over a cliff or down a steep slope into the water. But you will need to really persevere to find the 30 coins and treasure and escape the island.
Progress isn’t saved though, so rather harshly if you get Dizzy killed, you’ll have to start over again completely afresh from the beginning. It’s a shame there’s no map available as finding your way around is quite difficult, and if you look around using the ‘C’ key and ‘L/R’ arrow keys and see something of interest, moving Dizzy in the correct direction afterwards is a matter of trial and error and repeated ‘looking’, as there’s no way to translate the viewed direction into a movement direction, except by guessing.
You can only carry a single item over the bridge, or it will collapse on you, and once you have found and collected the rusty airtank you can explore the seabed and get to the other, nearby island. Be careful near or descending steep slopes as some will just cause you to fall to your doom!
The graphics are gorgeous for an amateur 3D game engine. Had there been more coins to collect, a map, maybe some of the drops fenced in places, objects easier to find and some enemies to encounter and contend with it would be outstanding!
It plays full-screen in XP, Vista and Win 7. You can adjust various graphics parameters during gameplay with the function keys (F2 - F10) depending on you computer's speed and graphics card support.
You might still find the game enjoyable and rewarding though if you like exploring games, especially as this one is in 3D; and if you like this sort of game. Even if you don’t, it’s well worth viewing and playing for a short while to admire the beautifully rendered 3D landscapes and graphics!
Very nice music to play along to, too! I love Dizzy’s somersault jumps! Can you get Dizzy home with all of the island’s treasure?
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=TRLVeeRrqaA
