Skip to main content

Finally! ‘Fantasy World Dizzy’ NES remake arrives 24 years later

Let's Play Mystery World Dizzy by The Oliver Twins - written 1992 for NES
Fantasy World Dizzy, the third entry in the platforming series starring an anthropomorphic egg, was scheduled to be ported from arcade to NES in 1993. Unexpected financial woes kept the game from seeing release — until now.

Philip and Andrew Oliver, the twin brothers behind the Dizzy franchise set up a booth at the National Videogame Arcade to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dizzy — The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure, the first entry in the series. At the event, the duo revealed that the NES remake of Fantasy World Dizzy would finally be made available.

Titled Mystery World Dizzy, the retooled game is available to play as either a flash game or ROM right now. You may be thinking, “Well, that’s not technically an NES game since you play it on PC.” You’re right, it’s not, but there’s more. While everyone can play the game now for free in their browsers, if you want the experience you thought you were going to have in 1993, you might get that chance. The Oliver twins announced that they will set up a Kickstarter campaign to produce NES cartridges of Mystery World Dizzy.

If that isn’t enough Dizzy for you, you can pick up Let’s Go Dizzy: The Story of the Oliver Twins, a new book about the franchise and its creators, from Fusion Retro Books. According to Eurogamer, the Oliver Twins discuss the development of Mystery World Dizzy in the book.

“We had some good staff and I thought we could direct them to make an updated, slicker version of our favourite Spectrum Dizzy game — Fantasy World Dizzy,” Andrew said.

This isn’t the first time a Dizzy game has been updated for modern audiences. In 2015, Magicland Dizzy, the fourth numbered entry in the series, was released for free online as Wonderland Dizzy.

Even with renewed interest in the franchise in recent years, don’t expect a new Dizzy game anytime soon. In 2012, a Kickstarter campaign for Dizzy Returns, accumulated just $25,000 of its $350,000 goal.

Editors' Recommendations

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
How to get to Monkey Island in Sea of Thieves
An election poster for guybrush in Sea of Thieves.

Over the course of its many years of updates and expansions, Sea of Thieves has had a few notable crossovers with other pirate franchises. The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover let you team up with the legendary Jack Sparrow, but the Monkey Island content felt like it came out of nowhere. For those unaware, Monkey Island is a series of pirate point-and-click games that were as funny as the puzzles were obscure. Thankfully, you don't have to intuit that you need to combine a cat whisker with a mason jar to bypass a skeleton guard to get to this new content, but it is more challenging than you might think.

Read more
3 Xbox Game Pass games you need to play this weekend (May 3-5)
Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Another weekend is upon us, and you're probably looking for some games to kill time with over the course of it. We're in a bit of a lull right now ahead of a flurry of releases starting next week, so it's a great time to dip back into the Xbox Game Pass catalog and check out some games that you may have missed. There are three games in particular that I think you should check out this weekend if you're looking for something to play.

One is an unsettling adventure that's getting an Xbox-exclusive sequel later this month. The next is a finely animated roguelike indie that recently made its way to Microsoft's gaming subscription service. Finally, there's a relaxing adventure that gives players a lot of freedom, yet is short enough to beat in a weekend. If you're having trouble deciding what to play this weekend, give one of these games a shot.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Read more
3 underrated PS Plus games you should play this weekend (May 3-5)
The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra have been around for almost two years, and during that time the subscription service has established itself as an ample competitor to Xbox Game Pass. That means there is a wealth of great games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners to check out if they're looking for something to play this weekend. I think PS Plus subscribers should be looking toward some of the more underrated games in the subscription service this weekend too.

I have three particular picks in mind. The first is an enjoyable Metroidvania that came to PS Plus' game catalog when it launched just a couple of weeks ago and deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. After that, there's an action-platformer that pays homage to series like Ninja Gaiden that you should check out before it leaves the catalog. Finally, there's a PS2-era Star Wars game that fills the niche a recently canceled game would have.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Read more