TREASURE ISLAND DIZZY By: Codemasters Download: dizzy2.zip Hints & Tips After an eggcellent debut Dizzy returns in his second graphic adventure, Treasure Island Dizzy. This time round Diz is stranded on a deserted island and has to find a way of getting back home. How did he get into such a muddle? Apparently he was made to walk the plank whilst on a round the world cruise and eventually got washed up on a sandy beach. Serves him right for losing Long John Silver's spare leg collection. He tried using the wooden legs as stumps for a cricket game and when they went overboard so did Dizzy.

As in the first game, Dizzy travels around the islands solving puzzles by picking up objects and using them where needed. Scrolls found in some locations offer clues although some of these are merely advertising Codemasters games which is a little tacky. Hindering Dizzy are a number of enemies and traps. Expect to lose quite a few lives as you familiarise yourself with the locations of these traps. Your first few goes with the game are likely to end with Dizzy getting trapped by a hidden falling cage. As for the enemies you will encounter, it's the local wildlife (jellyfish, crabs etc). As in the first game, touching these enemies will result in instant death. You'll notice that although the Dizzy sprite has remained pretty much unchanged, the enemies in this game are far more detailed than the basic looking spiders and birds of the prequel.

There isn't much that I can say gameplay wise about the game that wasn't mentioned in the review of the first Dizzy adventure. If you enjoyed that one you should enjoy this second outing just as much. The game plays just like the first one with a few minor differences.

The biggest change the player will notice is that Dizzy can now carry three objects at a time. One complaint many people had with the first game was how much time was spent going back at forth transporting things you needed from one end of the game map to another. Being able to carry multiple objects certainly solves this problem although the system isn't perfect. You can hold up to three items at a time but you are forced to drop the first thing you pick up. For example if you pickup a snorkel and then a spade you need to drop the snorkel before you can use the spade. Perhaps only a minor inconvenience but in the underwater sections if you drop the snorkel you die. In other words you have to leave the water, drop everything and pick the spade followed by the snorkel. Grrrr.

Another addition is that you have to collect thirty coins in order to complete the game. This is a new feature that will appear in future Dizzy games so get used to it. I can see how it gives the game some extra replay value as you search for all the coins but I am not a big fan of this idea. Many coins are hidden in the background by objects that have no use. You end up going around pressing enter all the time to find some of these hidden coins. Double grrr.

One final complaint that I have is the number of lives you get. Guess how many. Three? Nope. Two? Nah. One? Yup that is right just one life. You can't find extra lives either. Make one stupid mistake like walking into a new screen and appearing next to an enemy and poof! Dead and you have to start from scratch. All the lives in Dizzy one made things quite easy but in Dizzy two they have gone from one extreme to the other.

To sum up, I think this is another fine Dizzy game. Fans of the first game will like this. A sequel however should have some improvements. Being able to carry more than one object is a plus but a number of annoying things make this less fun than the first game. The game also seems to be shorter than the first. With that in mind I will give Treasure Island Dizzy a lower rating than Dizzy - The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure.

Rating: 83%