Whizz
From Sega Retro
- For the unreleased Sega Mega Drive version, see Whizz (Mega Drive).
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Whizz, called Akupyon Game Whizz (アクピョン・ゲーム ウィズ) in Japan, is a 1997 action game by Flair Software for the Sega Saturn.
Contents
Story
Whizz, a wizard rabbit, is racing his hot air balloon through the mystical worlds against his rival Ratty, a rat.
Gameplay
The game is an isometric platformer played as the anthropomorphic rabbit Whizz. The goal of each level is to guide Whizz to his hot air balloon at the end before time runs out. Whizz is moved in any direction using the D-pad. His movement is constrained to a grid, so he can only move at right angles to the tiles and never at an oblique angle (similar to isometric RPGs such as Landstalker but unlike Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island). He can jump with 
. He can attack enemies by spinning like a tornado with 
. His spin attack can also be done while jumping. Enemies that are both red and white are invulnerable to Whizz's spin attack and damage him if he tries to attack them.
Whizz loses health when he is hurt by an enemy, and he loses a life when he runs out of health or runs out of time. His health is indicated by a mushroom in the corner of the screen. He does not have a period of invulnerability after taking damage, so it is possible to take a large amount of damage from a single foe if badly positioned. Defeated enemies drop mushrooms. Red mushrooms restore his health, but blue mushrooms harm him instead. Red mushrooms turn into blue mushrooms after a duration.
Whizz progresses through four themed worlds, each containing two or three levels. There are no boss battles in the game. Each level contains four rockets that can be launched by Whizz; launching all four awards the player with an extra continue. The player can also collect flags and gems for bonus points. There are many doors within the levels that can be opened with keys or broken with Whizz's spin attack after finding door breaker items.
Bonus points are awarded at the end of each level for flags collected, rockets launched, and time remaining. There are three selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard). The lower difficulties have less onerous time constraints.
Items
| Flag | |
|---|---|
| Collect for bonus points at the end of the level. | |
| Gem | |
| Collect for 200 points. | |
| Red Mushroom | |
| Heals Whizz by a small amount. Turns into a blue mushroom if not collected quickly enough. | |
| Blue Mushroom | |
| Damages Whizz. Can be destroyed by Whizz's spin attack. | |
| Potion | |
| Heals Whizz by a big amount. | |
| Poison | |
| Poisons Whizz, which causes him to lose health until he loses a life or finds a First Aid Box. | |
| First Aid Box | |
| Removes poison from Whizz. | |
| Hourglass | |
| Adds extra time to the timer. | |
| Keys | |
| Opens wooden doors with keyholes, treasure chests, trapdoors, and cages containing items. | |
| Treasure Chest | |
| Can be opened with a key for 100 bonus points. | |
| Door Breakers | |
| Breaks through a door of the same material or a weaker material. Door breakers come in five materials, of increasing strength: ice, wood, stone, brick, and iron. Whizz keeps the door breaker until he loses a life, completes the level, or replaces it with another material. | |
| Rocket | |
| Each level contains four rockets. Whizz earns an extra continue if he launches all four. Worth 1,000 points each. |
Worlds
| Green Grassed Castle | |
|---|---|
| Frozen Arctic Wastes | |
| Password: CBAACA | |
| South Seas Beaches | |
| Password: BCBAAB | |
| Gamesville | |
| Password: CACBBA | |
Versions
The game was originally released for the Amiga and IBM PC in 1994. It was ported to the Super NES in 1996; a Mega Drive version was planned but never released. It was ported to the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation in 1997. Its graphics and gameplay were considered dated for the 32-bit consoles.
Localised names
| Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| English | Whizz | Whizz |
| Japanese | アクピョン・ゲーム ウィズ | Akupyon Game Whizz |
Magazine articles
- Main article: Whizz/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
55 |
|---|---|
| Based on 5 reviews | |
| Saturn, JP |
|---|
  Cover
|
 Spinecard  Disc |
| Saturn, EU |
|---|
 Cover
|
| Saturn, IT |
|---|
|
| Saturn, PT |
|---|
 Cover
|
Technical information
- Main article: Whizz/Technical information.
References
- ↑ File:Whizz Saturn JP Box Back.jpg
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/fb/segahard/ss/soft_licensee3.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-03-20 23:05)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sega Saturn Magazine, "May 1998" (UK; 1998-04-15), page 60
- ↑ http://centromail.es:80/nuevo/consolas/sat.asp (Wayback Machine: 1998-04-30 18:14)
- ↑ Famitsu, "1997-09-05" (JP; 1997-08-22), page 1
- ↑ Saturn Fan, "1997 No. 17" (JP; 1997-08-29), page 168
- ↑ Saturn Fan, "1997 No. 20" (JP; 1997-10-17), page 98
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1997-30 (1997-09-05)" (JP; 1997-08-22), page 219
| Whizz | |
|---|---|
|
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