Wiz 'n' Liz
From Sega Retro
Wiz 'n' Liz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Psygnosis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Raising Hell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Supporting companies: Krisalis Software (audio) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: Krisalis sound driver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1-2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wiz 'n' Liz is a sidescrolling action game released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1993. It was also released for the Amiga, although the Sega Mega Drive version is technically more refined. During development, the game was known as Wizzy 'n' Lizzy.
Contents
Gameplay
The game features multiple stages that can be accessed in any order the player likes from a hub world known as "Home World". Difficulty level selection has a great influence of the duration of the game - the Apprentice level has 8 easy levels, while the Wizard and Sorceror levels are longer. Two characters are selectable: the male magician Wiz and his female counterpart Liz.
The game takes a minimal violence approach. The goal of each stage is to collect the "wabbits" scattered around the level as quickly as possible. To do so, the player must first grab magical letters that form the name of a spell that will facilitate catching the wabbits (the spells themselves are generally very obscure words); once all of them have been caught, the player must find the exit out of the stage. They must do all of this in a limited amount of time; fortunately, they move quite fast, and extra time can be collected from wabbits. and jump. Each world ends with a screen-filling boss. This is the only time attack spells are available, which are performed using the button.
The game has an elaborate score system. After collecting all letters, the wabbits drop stars, extra time etc, which can be collected in the remaining time, not too different from the system NiGHTS into Dreams employs. Collecting special "BONUS" letters will cause a bonus round to start after completing all the rounds in a level, tasking the player with collecting as many grey wabbits and items as they can. Harder difficulty levels add in more obstacles for the player to watch out for. Some wabbits will drop invisible letters that will remove a letter from the spell, and some wabbits will explode which will make the player lose all of the spell letters collected so far. When a wabbit is about to explode, it will flash white, and a fairy will guide the player to the shortest route to the wabbit.
Spells
After completing a magic word during a level, catching wabbits will release fruit and vegetables. Collecting enough to fill the Magic bar will award a magic ingredient that can be taken back to Home World, where the player can put two ingredients together in a cauldron to create magic spells with all sorts of effects. Some spells unlock additional features and mini-games, award the player with points, time or stars, or other effects. If the player does not use an ingredient they have collected, it will spin faster and eventually expire after a few levels.
There are 14 types of ingredients to use for a total of 105 possible combinations, as listed here:
Item 1 | Item 2 | Effect |
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Apple | Apple | Awards a bonus letter. |
Apple | Strawberry | Opens the door that leads to the levels at the start of a new game. If the door is already open, 50,000 points are awarded instead. |
Apple | Banana | Opens the Ye Olde Magic Shoppe. If the shop is already open, 50,000 points are awarded instead. |
Apple | Orange | Randomises the player’s collected ingredients. If no ingredients are available, the ingredients used are refunded for stars. |
Apple | Carrot | Awards 5,000 points. |
Apple | Potato | Friendship spell. The opposite character follows the player for the next level only. |
Apple | Cabbage | Doubles the player's remaining time. |
Apple | Mango | Awards 75 extra stars. |
Apple | Lemon | Awards 100,000 points. |
Apple | Onion | Awards the Magic Ruby. Collect all four Magic Gems to play a Super Bonus Round. |
Apple | Pear | The player is followed by a duplicate of their character for the next level only. |
Apple | Cherry | Awards 150 extra stars. |
Apple | Avocado | Skips/re-opens Grass Land. |
Apple | Mushroom | Activates fruit returner. |
Strawberry | Strawberry | Awards 10 seconds extra time. |
Strawberry | Banana | Awards the Magic Diamond. Collect all four Magic Gems to play a Super Bonus Round. |
Strawberry | Orange | Opens the “Splat Those Dudes” mini-game. |
Strawberry | Carrot | Doubles the player’s score. |
Strawberry | Potato | All wabbits turn red for the next level only. |
Strawberry | Cabbage | All wabbits turn green for the next level only. |
Strawberry | Mango | Opens the “Wheelspin” mini-game. |
Strawberry | Lemon | Opens the “The Colour of Magic” interactive demo. |
Strawberry | Onion | Makes a rain cloud appear above the player character’s head for the next level only. |
Strawberry | Pear | Opens the “Phew, What’s That Pong!” mini-game. |
Strawberry | Cherry | Doubles the player’s stars. |
Strawberry | Avocado | Allows the player to play two bonus rounds after collecting all bonus letters. |
Strawberry | Mushroom | Awards 1 point. |
Banana | Banana | Lemmings appear all over the place for the next level only. |
Banana | Orange | Nothing happens. |
Banana | Carrot | Awards 50 extra stars. |
Banana | Potato | Opens the Ye Olde Hint Shoppe. If the shop is already open, 50,000 points are awarded instead. |
Banana | Cabbage | All items are 50% off in the Ye Olde Magic Shoppe and Hints Shoppe until the next level is completed. |
Banana | Mango | Skips/re-opens Temple Land. |
Banana | Lemon | Makes more time icons appear in the next level only. |
Banana | Onion | Opens the “It’s Waining Wabbits!” mini-game. |
Banana | Pear | Makes more point icons appear in the next level only. |
Banana | Cherry | Makes tortoises appear that award bonus points when collected for the next level only. |
Banana | Avocado | Awards 45 seconds extra time. |
Banana | Mushroom | Slows down the timer for the next level only. |
Orange | Orange | Awards 1 point. |
Orange | Carrot | All wabbits turn blue for the next level only. |
Orange | Potato | Opens the “Snakes Alive!” mini-game. |
Orange | Cabbage | Nothing happens. |
Orange | Mango | Awards 25 seconds extra time. |
Orange | Lemon | Opens the “Take a Chance!” mini-game. |
Orange | Onion | Awards 30 seconds extra time. |
Orange | Pear | Awards 40 seconds extra time. |
Orange | Cherry | Skips/re-opens Lunar Land. |
Orange | Avocado | Awards 10,000 points. |
Orange | Mushroom | Opens the “Tube Skiing” mini-game. |
Carrot | Carrot | Opens the Sound Test. |
Carrot | Potato | Awards 20 seconds extra time. |
Carrot | Cabbage | Nothing happens. |
Carrot | Mango | Turns all collected ingredients into bananas. If no ingredients are available, the ingredients used are refunded for stars. |
Carrot | Lemon | Awards 80 extra stars. |
Carrot | Onion | Prolongs the life of remaining ingredients. If no ingredients are available, the ingredients used are refunded for stars. |
Carrot | Pear | Opens the “Wabbit Invaders” mini-game. |
Carrot | Cherry | Awards 1 extra star and 100,000 points. |
Carrot | Avocado | Awards 5 extra stars. |
Carrot | Mushroom | Makes more stars appear in the next level only. |
Potato | Potato | Skips/re-opens Wood Land. |
Potato | Cabbage | The player gets a Game Over. The game admits it was joking and brings the player character back, continuing as normal. |
Potato | Mango | Awards the Magic Emerald. Collect all four Magic Gems to play a Super Bonus Round. |
Potato | Lemon | Opens the “Guess Those Words” mini-game. |
Potato | Onion | Nothing happens. |
Potato | Pear | Opens the “Gold Rush” mini-game. |
Potato | Cherry | Skips/re-opens Mine Land. |
Potato | Avocado | Skips/re-opens Snow Land. |
Potato | Mushroom | Awards 250 extra stars. |
Cabbage | Cabbage | Opens the “Letter Basher” mini-game. |
Cabbage | Mango | Awards 25,000 points. |
Cabbage | Lemon | Prevents invisible letters from appearing for the next level only. |
Cabbage | Onion | Awards 5 seconds extra time. |
Cabbage | Pear | Skips/re-opens Dead Land. |
Cabbage | Cherry | “Enter the Shadow Lands!” Blacks out the foreground layer for the next level only. |
Cabbage | Avocado | Awards 50,000 points. |
Cabbage | Mushroom | Opens the “Wabbitoids” mini-game. |
Mango | Mango | Time icons collected in the next level are worth two. |
Mango | Lemon | Awards 75 extra stars. |
Mango | Onion | Skips/re-opens Desert Land. |
Mango | Pear | Awards 100 extra stars. |
Mango | Cherry | Awards 1 second extra time. |
Mango | Avocado | Nothing happens. |
Mango | Mushroom | Awards 250,000 points. |
Lemon | Lemon | Reverses the state of the player’s bonus letters. |
Lemon | Onion | Awards 100 points. |
Lemon | Pear | Stars collected in the next level are worth two. |
Lemon | Cherry | Displays 68000 assembly code. |
Lemon | Avocado | Awards 1 extra star. |
Lemon | Mushroom | Awards 1 second extra time. |
Onion | Onion | Wabbits are prevented from exploding for the next level only. |
Onion | Pear | Upgrades collected ingredients to the next level. If no ingredients are available, the ingredients used are refunded for stars. |
Onion | Cherry | Awards 20,000 points. |
Onion | Avocado | Awards 125 extra stars. |
Onion | Mushroom | Disables the foreground layer, rendering the next level invisible. |
Pear | Pear | Opens the “Finders Keepers” mini-game. |
Pear | Cherry | Awards 175 extra stars. |
Pear | Avocado | Awards 200 extra stars. |
Pear | Mushroom | Awards 50 seconds extra time. |
Cherry | Cherry | Opens the “It’s Bouncing Bunnies!” mini-game. |
Cherry | Avocado | Turns all collected ingredients into mushrooms. If no ingredients are available, the ingredients used are refunded for stars. |
Cherry | Mushroom | Skips a level. |
Avocado | Avocado | Awards all bonus letters. |
Avocado | Mushroom | Awards an extra life. |
Mushroom | Mushroom | Awards the Magic Sapphire. Collect all four Magic Gems to play a Super Bonus Round. |
Mini-games
Splat Those Dudes | |
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The objective of this mini-game is to throw tomatoes at caricatures of Traveller's Tales staff members Jon Burton and Andy Ingram, scoring bonus points for each successful hit. To throw a tomato, the player must hold down , or to prepare a tomato, adjust their aim with the D-Pad, and release the held button to fire. The longer the buttons are held down, the higher the tomato will be thrown.
The mini-game ends when the player has thrown all of their tomatoes, with bonus points awarded if the player has successfully hit specific targets without missing. Hitting Puggsy will not award any points, but using almost every tomato on him will award an extra life. | |
Wheelspin | |
This is a roulette that the player spins once, with the player winning whatever item the roulette stops on. | |
The Colour of Magic | |
This is an interactive demo where the player presses the D-Pad and the face buttons to paint all kinds of colourful patterns on the screen. To exit the demo, press START . | |
Phew, What's That Pong! | |
It's Waining Wabbits! | |
The player's character is in a flat field, and the objective is to catch as many falling wabbits as possible without letting too many hit the ground. By successfully catching wabbits, bonus stars will appear for the player to collect, and the longer the mini-game goes on, the more wabbits that will fall at one time. When the player misses 50 wabbits, the mini-game ends. | |
Snakes Alive! | |
This mini-game is a recreation of the Snake game, in which the objective is to move a snake around the screen using the D-Pad and eat the numbers that appear on the screen. The number will count down from nine, and will disappear to another part of the screen if it is allowed to reach zero. Eating the number will award points based on how high the number was, but will also make the snake grow larger. The mini-game lasts until the snake touches the walls or part of its body. | |
Take a Chance! | |
This mini-game is purely a game of chance. Three 10-ton weights hang above the screen with three bonus items (points, stars or extra time) appearing below each one, and the player must wisely choose which prize to take. When an item is collected, one of the weights will come crashing down. If the player chooses a prize that does not crush them, they can continue collecting prizes until they are crushed. | |
Tube Skiing | |
Sound Test | |
This is simply a basic sound test which allows the player to listen to the game's sound effects and music at their leisure. The D-Pad is used to make a selection, and any of the buttons will play the selected sound. To leave the Sound Test and resume the game, select "EXIT". | |
Wabbit Invaders | |
This mini-game is a clone of Space Invaders in which the player must blast falling waves of wabbits without letting any of them reach the ground. As the wabbits get fewer in number, the faster they will move. When the player loses all of their ships or lets even one wabbit reach the ground, the mini-game is over. | |
Guess Those Words | |
In this mini-game, the player must guess what each of the game's spell words mean from a list of four choices. Before each round, the player can wager as many stars as they like, and will win more stars for correct guesses, but will lose their bet if they make an incorrect guess. The mini-game lasts for a total of five rounds. | |
Gold Rush | |
Letter Basher | |
Wabbitoids | |
Finders Keepers | |
This mini-game is a memory match puzzle in which the game flips over grey wabbits and try to match pairs to win items. If the pairs match, the player will win the item. If a wild card (?) is drawn, a wabbit concealing an item that matches the first one drawn will automatically flip over, instantly winning that item.
The player is given ten tries. After using all ten tries, the mini-game ends, and the game will allow the player to flip the remaining wabbits to see what they contain, but they will no longer win anything for doing so. | |
It's Bouncing Bunnies! | |
This mini-game tasks the player with using a trampoline to bounce the wabbits around and try to collect the numbers that appear on the screen. The number will count down from nine, and will disappear to another part of the screen if it is allowed to reach zero. Collecting a number will award a set amount of points based on how high the number was - the higher the number, the greater the point bonus. If the player lets 10 wabbits hit the ground, the mini-game ends. |
History
In the US, the game was released on the first day of Winter CES 1994; January 6th.
The game features cameo appearances from games published by Psygnosis. Fatal Rewind's main character appears during the Sega logo sequence, mixing two bananas will make Lemmings appear during a level, and Puggsy cameoes in the "Splat Those Dudes" mini-game.
The game was originally planned to have a feature where the player(s) could make Wiz and Liz fart by pressing + and is known to have existed in review copies, but was removed from the final release due to becoming a topic of controversy with the National Viewers and Listeners Association for "glorifying coarse and ill-mannered behaviour" to children[10][11].
Versions
Wiz 'n' Liz appears to be optimized for PAL systems both in terms of gameplay speed and music speed. As a consequence, the game runs uncontrollably fast when played on an NTSC system.
Production credits
- Design by: Martyn R Chudley
- Programming by: Martyn R Chudley
- Artwork by: Mike Waterworth
- Audio by: Krisalis Software Ltd
- Music by: Matt Furniss
- Driver by: S Hollingworth
- Copyright Psygnosis Ltd 1993
Magazine articles
- Main article: Wiz 'n' Liz/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Physical scans
Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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79 | |
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Based on 33 reviews |
Mega Drive, SE (rental) |
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Technical information
- Main article: Wiz 'n' Liz/Technical information.
References
- ↑ Sega Channel schedule (US; 1994-06-01)
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-05-27), page 43
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1993-11-29), page 2
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-11), page 96
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-15), page 124
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mega, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-21), page 57
- ↑ MAN!AC, "11/93" (DE; 1993-xx-xx), page 12
- ↑ Hyper, "December 1993" (AU; 1993-xx-xx), page 9
- ↑ Megazone, "November 1993" (AU; 1993-11-03), page 49
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-11-30), page 16
- ↑ MegaTech, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-21), page 8
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 6 No. 12 December 1993" (US; 1993-1x-xx), page 47
- ↑ GamePro, "January 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 293
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 264
- ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Dezember 1993" (DE; 1993-11-08), page 36
- ↑ Consoles +, "Novembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 126
- ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 236
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-15), page 69
- ↑ Computer + Video Giochi, "Novembre 1993" (IT; 1993-xx-xx), page 67
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 40
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 367
- ↑ Game Power, "Novembre 1993" (IT; 1993-1x-xx), page 102
- ↑ GamesMaster, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-21), page 72
- ↑ Hyper, "January 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 46
- ↑ Joypad, "Novembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 98
- ↑ MAN!AC, "01/94" (DE; 1993-12-08), page 36
- ↑ Mega Action, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-07), page 18
- ↑ Mega Force, "Novembre 1993" (FR; 1993-11-10), page 104
- ↑ Mega Fun, "12/93" (DE; 1993-11-24), page 28
- ↑ MegaTech, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-09-20), page 68
- ↑ Micromanía (segunda época), "Enero 1994" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 62
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-08-28), page 67
- ↑ Player One, "Novembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 110
- ↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 1, Januari 1994" (NL; 1993-12-29), page 33
- ↑ Sega Magazin, "November/Dezember 1993" (DE; 1993-11-03), page 56
- ↑ Sega Power, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-07), page 80
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-11), page 42
- ↑ Sega Zone, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-28), page 26
- ↑ SuperGamePower, "Abril 1994" (BR; 1994-0x-xx), page 26
- ↑ Sonic the Comic, "March 4th 1994" (UK; 1994-02-19), page 10
- ↑ Sonic Videogame & Fumetti, "Dicembre 1993" (IT; 1993-11-xx), page 34
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Diciembre 1993" (ES; 1993-1x-xx), page 78
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 28
- ↑ Video Games, "12/93" (DE; 1993-11-22), page 106
- ↑ VideoGames, "April 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 81
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