Wizball

Overview

Wizworld is the brightly coloured home of Wiz and his fantastic cat Catelite. All is not well however as an evil force intends to stamp out the brilliant spectrum of colour once and for all. Conquer the aliens, stir the spell and colour the planet!

Gameplay

Wizball follows many of the basic tenets of a side-scrolling shoot-em-up: enemies frequently appear and by destroying them the player can acquire power-up orbs that provide them with additional abilities, such as a multi-directional shot, a limited shield and an " option" in the form of the wizard's cat called the Catellite.

Wizball initially begins as a difficult-to-control bouncing ball, with the player carefully adjusting its rise and fall to collect the first few power-ups, which first stabilizes the bouncing and then allows flight. Further power-ups unlock the various weapons and, importantly, the Catellite.

The actual goal of the game is to use the Catellite to absorb colored droplets from specific enemy waves. These droplets, collected in the three primary colors of red, blue and yellow, are then used to transform the current stage from monochromatic to brightly colored. Each stage requires three "coats", which color-in various levels of shading in the background. After successfully shading in one stage, the player is taken to a bonus stage where the goal is to survive as long as possible against endless numbers of enemies. Afterwards, the wizard brews the potion to color in the world (while the cat enjoys a saucer of milk as a reprieve) and the player is sent back into the world as Wizball with all existing power-ups intact. The player is able to move from stage to stage using warp pipes, which are scattered throughout every level.

The droplets, while normally found in the usual three colors, can occasionally fall in different colors instead. Like in games such as Arkanoid, these bonuses are specific to their colors, appear randomly and have both positive and negative consequences:

Cyan - Collecting a cyan droplet calls in "the fuzz", a group of fast, erratic-moving enemies with sirens. They are the most dangerous enemies in the game.

Pink/Purple - Causes the Catellite to go completely haywire, preventing it from being used effectively.

Black - Causes a black-out, making it hard to see the stage and its obstacles.

Grey - Turns Catellite invincible, making collections easier.

White - Gives the player an extra life.