Heavy on the Magick
Almost all ST users have played one of the Dizzy games. Code Masters had this type of puzzler nailed! Not all their games featured an egg and, like our favourite viking, this game also follows the same premise of collecting useful items to solve puzzles. This time we are a character called Slightly. What an odd name, eh?
Slightly Magic was developed by Colin Jones, a name you should remember from Rock Star Ate My Hamster? As storylines go, this one is weak but, long story short, Bigwiz is a wizard who unwittingly left us in charge. The goal is to rescue Princess Croak from a sunburnt dragon using magical spells scattered about the lands waiting to be found. Yep, you heard correctly, a dragon that's been in the sun for too long.
What medication was Colin on? Anyhow, let's have a peep at a couple of troubling screenshots...
When I first played, I struggled to jump onto the middle platform. So practice!
You will never get the metal pin from that side of the screen. Hey, don't get burnt...
Rescuing Princess Croak
Fans of Dizzy will instantly feel at home. Slightly can explore the rooms looking for helpful items the game's characters demand. That often grants passage to a different part of the map with more similar puzzles. Interestingly, some items are merged together to create spells - like a hearing spell for the deaf guards. Others scare ghosts, grant safe passage underwater, and enable us to fly like a wibbly-wobbly bird.
Getting around each room is a cinch albeit initially awkward because Slightly moves quickly. This made it difficult to master jumping which became apparent on the second screen. The room features a wide gap to leap, which I struggled with. Heed my advice and practice jumping here before continuing on.
Multiple items can be collected and hitting the fire button displays our inventory unless you're close to an item. The puzzles start easy; providing dragons with the correct buckets of water. Once their thirst is quenched, the game opens up with some rather obvious dilemmas to solve. For example, scissors to cut the string of a yoyo. A magnet that attracts a metal pin. It's hardly rocket science and kept me intrigued to the end.
Leap with joy because there are no time limits to ruin the experience. Also, the monsters will not instantly kill you. However, there is an energy meter that drains if you come into contact with them. Once depleted, you lose a life. It's now that you shall notice stars in most rooms. Collect them to replenish the energy.
In terms of places to explore, this game isn't very large. The puzzles give the illusion of a larger world, as you'll constantly experiment to figure out what works. There is much guesswork and lots of backtracking before you gather what goes where. An obvious mechanic for a game like this and I enjoyed it a lot.
However, there are some niggles with the map layout. It often makes no sense with many screens looping around without reason. I also noticed several rooms that lay on each other (the first is near the deaf guards). These abnormalities didn't make sense and caused me problems. So, I decided to map the game before I kicked the ST's monitor through the window!! You heard me, just keep scrolling to download that.
How about an image of a giant's bald head? Yeah, some puzzles make little sense, like this one...
An angry giant (with no body)? Well, I'd be angry being a bald severed head!
I never did figure out how to crawl and collect that star. Maybe a bug? Maybe it's me!
Aesthetics
Graphically, this game is gorgeous using cartoon styles any Dizzy fan will adore. The intro is fantastic with dancing dragons that you meet later. Each room features a comical theme I found joyful and cutesy, especially on the underwater stage. Slightly has a peculiar walk that looks odd but his movement is smooth and graceful. The enemy's motions are also ultra-smooth with humorous detail; I liked the sinister Cheshire Cat, the menacing ghosts, and the wibbly Octopuses. However, the two guards are my personal favourite!
It’s safe to say that Keith Ross created exceptional artwork but some areas left me wondering what drugs he could have been on. For example, the giant's head doesn't fit the rest of the game and feels like a late addition. The ugliest graphic is ironically on the most beautiful level - a witch that looks like I drew her!
Thankfully, the audio follows a constant level of awesomeness. There are no effects but wonderful chip music by Allister Brimble plays throughout. It's a lovely tune that blends into the background perfectly.
Let's take one final break before the gripping conclusion I know you're eager to read...
Ghosts'n Goblins vibes with a sinister cat lurking in the trees. Lovely graphics!
Absolutely killer artwork. Animated too. I loved this amazing logo.
CryptO'pinion
Slightly Magic will appeal to fans of the genre. I had a bunch of fun - feeding water to dragons, exploring a spooky forest, and rescuing the princess from the sunburnt dragon. Who thinks of these stories?
Unfortunately, many of the puzzles lack consistency, being either too easy or overly obscure. Other parts are rubbish, like riding tiny bubbles to reach higher platforms - quite difficult and badly conceived. Of course, I got through all these troublesome areas because I was having fun with the adventure.
I can't say it's Code Masters' best effort but I enjoyed it (nearly) as much as Spikey in Transylvania. A challenging puzzler without the refinement of Dizzy but worth playing. My rating is a respectable 70%.
+ Great floppy disk options at Atari Legend https://www.atarilegend.com/games/slightly-magic
+ 8BitChip has adapted a cool version for hard drives https://atari.8bitchip.info/ASTGA/S/slightm.php
+ Gears Of Games has a good channel but wasn't quite as impressed ;) https://youtu.be/...
