Panic Dizzy


by Chris Graham, Paul Ranson, Peter J. Ranson, The Oliver Twins
Code Masters Ltd
1991
Crash Issue 88, May 1991   page(s) 43

Code Masters
£2.99

Poor old Dizzy, he doesn't get much rest these days, does he? Especially now he's taken on a job at the toy factory, just around the corner from Magicland! The little egg has got to work pretty hard if he's to get the toys off on time.

Most factory jobs can get very boring but Dizzy won't be nodding off just yet. Using a little lever he has to control a conveyor belt with holes in it. Different shapes fall from the four pipes at the top of the screen and Diz has to guide them into the corresponding holes.

Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, it's not. The pipes gradually move down the screen and the shapes start tailing faster and faster until you end up in a right PANIC! You can make the pipes move back up by being clever with your lever (that doesn't rhyme - Ed) and pocketing three shapes at once; it you're ultra skill you might get four shapes in at once and be rewarded with a toy!

Panic Dizzy has 20 levels of manic action for you to enjoy and any of them can be selected from the menu screen. Don't be tempted to jump in at the deep end and start at level 20, though, lots of practice is the only way to survive past the first three! Panic Dizzy is another great Dizzy arcade game following in the footsteps of Kwik Snax and Fast Food, and it's great to see a really addictive puzzle game available for such a barg-price!


Overall: 80%

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 66, Jun 1991   page(s) 75

BARGAIN BASEMENT

RICH PELLEY goes dizzy over the latest batch of Codies games and JON PILLAR has quite a bit of trouble getting a word in edgeways.

CodeMasters
£2.99
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

The gameplay to this one is extremely simple, which certainly makes explaining things a lot easier. There are 4 things at the top of the screen which deposit coloured shapes at random intervals, and at the bottom there's a line of holes. You have to move this left and right so each shape falls through the corresponding hole.

Those 'things' at the top of the screen move gradually downwards - they move up if you can get two or more shapes to fall though holes simultaneously, but if a shape misses the correct hole then they move down loads (and won't move up again). Get enough shapes through holes, and the bar at the bottom changes, and (on later levels) new shapes start falling. You can choose your starting level as well.

Simple, eh? Yep. Boring, eh? Yep. In fact, completely tedious, eh? Yep, 'fraid so. Of course, this could be because I'm now a mature responsible adult (cough) because I'd imagine that it's one for the "younger players" (as we often refer to them). It may appeal to them, but as most would prefer to be blasting the crap out of some mutant alien scum, I'm afraid that it's just too much of a nob idea. (And it has nothing to do with Dizzy either - he simply sits in the middle of the screen and does nothing. What a con, eh?)


Overall: 49%

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Crash Issue 90, Jul 1991   page(s) 34

Code Masters
£2.99

One of the first decent puzzle games at a decent price. Help Dizzy slot falling shapes into a controllable conveyor belt which scrolls along the bottom of the screen. Misplace a shape and the pipes, from which the shapes fall, are lowered, making gameplay faster and chaotic. Excellent fun for puzzle fans with good eye-to-hand coordination!


Overall: 80%

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Sinclair User Issue 111, May 1991   page(s) 31

{ZXSR Note: Unfortunately the text is impossible to read - a pink background with slightly darker pink text!! However, SU corrected this by re-printing the review in Issue 112 Page 39. This review text is copied from there.}

Label: Codemasters
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £2.99 Tape
Reviewer: Garth Sumpter

Poor Dizzy - here's in a right old tizzy. The time honoured hero of countless (well, four actually) egg-citing adventures has finally fallen out of the frying and into the fire and it's all down to him - (as befits immortal heroes) to put the world to rights.

This time our perky little poacher is factory fodder, the product of a repressive and class-ridden regime working far too many hours overtime (tell me about it - Ed).

You are the controller of a somewhat strange and colourful conveyor belt, riddled with shaped holes. Your wonderfully exciting job is to move the conveyor belt to catch shapes, which drop from hopper-like tubes above you. If you miss any shapes, then the chutes all move downwards. Until...you're out matey!

This is really a puzzle game; the basic idea idea of the game is to keep the chutes from coming down by matching as many shapes as you can all at the same time. You have some help in doing this, for when you press the fire button on your amazingly expensive joystick (or your good old speccy keyboard), all the shapes that are falling over the right holes, will come down rather quickly over the ones that aren't.


STEVE SEZ:
Here's a slightly different approach to the 'let's make a puzzle game'. but it does seem to work/ The graphics are clean and the basic idea is sound and executed with some style. It's certainly worth the paltry £2.99.

Graphics: 82%
Sound: 72%
Playability: 85%
Lastability: 80%
Overall: 85%

Summary: It all looks rather simple, but in the best traditions of puzzle games.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Sinclair User Issue 112, Jun 1991   page(s) 39

This is really a puzzle game; the basic idea idea of the game is to keep the chutes from coming down by matching as many shapes as you can all at the same time. You have some help in doing this, for when you press the fire button on your amazingly expensive joystick (or your good old speccy keyboard), all the shapes that are falling over the right holes, will come down rather quickly over the ones that aren't.

Poor Dizzy - here's in a right old tizzy. The time honoured hero of countless (well, four actually) egg-citing adventures has finally fallen out of the frying and into the fire and it's all down to him - (as befits immortal heroes) to put the world to rights.

This time our perky little poacher is factory fodder, the product of a repressive and class-ridden regime working far too many hours overtime (tell me about it - Ed).

You are the controller of a somewhat strange and colourful conveyor belt, riddled with shaped holes. Your wonderfully exciting job is to move the conveyor belt to catch shapes, which drop from hopper-like tubes above you. If you miss any shapes, then the chutes all move downwards. Until...you're out matey!


STEVE:
Here's a slightly different approach to the 'let's make a puzzle game' - but it does seem to work! The graphics are clean and the basic idea is sound and executed with some style. It's certainly worth the paltry £2.99.

Graphics: 82%
Sound: 72%
Playability: 85%
Lastability: 80%
Overall: 85%

Summary: It all looks rather simple, but in the best traditions of puzzle games.

Award: Sinclair User Best Budget

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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