Whizz

n/a

PAL NTSC-J
Whizz
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Konami (Europe), Bandai Visual (Japan), B-Factory (Japan)
Developer: Microvalue, Flair Software
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (5 tracks)
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1997-08-29 ¥5,8005,800 T-36102G EU 1997 T-9514H-50 DE 1997 T-9514H-50 ES 1998-02-17 T-9514H-50 PT 1997 UK 1997 £39.9939.99 T-9514H-50 PL 1997
Non-Sega versions Amiga Amiga (AGA) IBM PC PlayStation Super NES

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.

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

Also known as

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.

Promotional material

Mega Drive print advert in Joypad (FR) #61: "Février 1997" (1997-0x-xx)
also published in:

• Consoles + (FR) #62: "Février 1997" (1997-0x-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 50 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 56 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 62 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 61 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 47

	55
Based on 5 reviews

Whizz

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc

Saturn, EU
Cover

Saturn, PT
Cover

Unreleased versions

Whizz
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Psygnosis, Titus
Developer: Reflections Interactive, Flair Software
Planned release date(s): Autumn 1994, 1995, 1996-09

A Sega Mega Drive version was at one point in development, having been ported by Reflections Interactive for Psygnosis. Psygnosis dropped the game in mid-1994 leaving the project without a publisher. It was then taken back by Flair Software and Titus in 1996, only to be cancelled entirely, a situation mirrored by Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame which was also first discarded by Psygnosis and then by Titus. Working titles appear to have been (The) Castle Game and Top Hat.

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Whizz

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	294,896,112		CD-ROM (EU)	T-9514H-50 V1.000
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	297,673,824	1997-08-08	CD-ROM (JP)	T-36102G V1.000

Extra content

This game has extra content which can be viewed when accessing the disc on a PC.

Saturn (JP) Extra files

Folder / File	Type	Size	description
ABST.TXT	TXT (Abstract)	679	About this game.
BIBL.TXT	TXT (Bibliographiced)	33	About this game
COPY.TXT	TXT (Copyright)	25	Copyright