In this review, we shoot for another Atari 5200 title. This time, we are playing the action game Wizard of Wor.
Wizard of Wor was released in 1983 and was one of numerous ports from the arcade version.
The general idea of this game is that you are in a dungeon and tasked to clear out all of the “Wor” monsters. If you clear out all of the blue ones, you get to face with yellow ones. Then, if you clear out the yellow ones, you face off with a brown (dark orange?) Wor monster. If you kill those secondary monsters, you go up against a fast moving insect Wor monster. You have a limited amount of time killing it before it escapes, but killing it gives you a nice amount of points. In later levels, defeating the inset allows you to face off with a blue Wor Wizard which shoots and warps randomly. Killing the Wor Wizard is also worth a nice sizable point bonus.
The dungeon gradually changes as you progress. Not only do the dungeons change in form, but they also become more difficult as well (both in configuration and the monsters you go up against).
One thing I found about this game is that aiming is a bit difficult. You have to fully be out of a corner before you are allowed to turn. For me, the strategy is to allow enemies try to round the corner, giving me a window to shoot it without fear of getting return fire. This is less helpful for timed monsters, but it is helpful for general survival as you only have three lives.
Graphically, the special effects were nice. Still, beyond that, the graphics were somewhat subpar for what could be expected for a game at this time. You could make out some of the sprites, but not all clearly. The maze was also very basic in terms of graphics. In fact, it was similar in quality to that of mazes found in Berzerk.
It was refreshing hearing a small jingle at the start of the mazes. It wasn’t much, but nice to hear. The sound effects were decently well done as well.
Overall, the controls were somewhat limited. The graphics were subpar, but the sound was not bad at all. The progression and variations were nicely done, though. So, I would say that this game was kind of fun for a little bit.
Overall
Furthest point in game: high score: 27,800
General gameplay: 18/25
Replay value: 8/10
Graphics: 5/10
Audio: 4/5
Overall rating: 70%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
