Background Story
Dizzy was exploring the haunted forest, looking for some berries, flowers and a piece of wood with which to make a club when he uncovered a mystifying stone slab. Brushing the dirt aside he was able to read (after a great deal of head scratching) the faint inscription The Avawiffovee Potion
.
Dizzy remembered his Eggfather had spoke of such a potion. It is the only way to rid our land of athletes foot, and it can also be used to destroy the Evil Wizard Zaks.
Dizzy trembled with fear as he recalled these words.
Zaks brought fear to the village, he cast spells that turned people old, made men blind and caused it to rain every Sunday afternoon during Cricket. Dizzy was determined to put a stop to all this, he would be the hero of the yolkfolk.
He read on... Fill a potion bottle with cooked Leprechauns wig, cloud silver lining, Vampire dux feather and some troll brew - cook the potion and throw it at Zaks to dissolve his reign.
He covered it up and quickly made ready to liberate the land of Katmandu.
The Remake
A forum member who goes by the name of shezzor created a wonderful remake of Dizzy: TUCA for Windows PCs that I really urge you to try. It captures, quite faithfully, the feel of the original game while managing to introduce new graphics and gameplay elements (such as collecting coins) at the same time.
Solutions
Pokes
- Immunity
- 54216, 0
- Infinate Lives
- 62745, 0
- Walk through walls
- 60137, 201
Game Map
Game map of Dizzy: TUCA (87.7KB)
My Opinion
The first in a series is, more often that not, hailed to be the best by critics, with later sequels frequently falling short of the mark. While I don't quite consider this to be the case with the Dizzy series, this first game was undoubtedly a classic.
The atmosphere is rather more dark than the later games, perhaps mainly due to the presence of a graveyard, haunted wood, and haunted mine within the game (indeed, almost everything seems to be haunted in tuca). This "spooky" aspect of the game is offset well by the surreal (and almost absurdist) humour that the Oliver Twins injected into the plot.
Dizzy — The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure is altogether a great game for those willing to waste a few hours exploring the intricate and mystical landscapes in the far away land of Katmandu.
My Best Bits
- My altogether favourite part of the game is exploring the crystal mountain that towers over the rest of Katmandu.
- The most infuriating part is trying to figure the way into and out from the myriad of mazes underneath the haunted wood.
- There's more than the occasional trap scattered throughout the game. Watch out!
The Poem
There are many references throughout this game to a poem called "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God" by J Milton Hayes. Here's the full text; I'll leave you to find the connections.
The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God
There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
There's a little marble cross below the town;
There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.He was known as "Mad Carew" by the subs at Khatmandu,
He was hotter than they felt inclined to tell;
But for all his foolish pranks, he was worshipped in the ranks,
And the Colonel's daughter smiled on him as well.He had loved her all along, with a passion of the strong,
The fact that she loved him was plain to all.
She was nearly twenty-one and arrangements had begun
To celebrate her birthday with a ball.He wrote to ask what present she would like from Mad Carew;
They met next day as he dismissed a squad;
And jestingly she told him then that nothing else would do
But the green eye of the little Yellow God.On the night before the dance, Mad Carew seemed in a trance,
And they chaffed him as they puffed at their cigars:
But for once he failed to smile, and he sat alone awhile,
Then went out into the night beneath the stars.He returned before the dawn, with his shirt and tunic torn,
And a gash across his temple dripping red;
He was patched up right away, and he slept through all the day,
And the Colonel's daughter watched beside his bed.He woke at last and asked if they could send his tunic through;
She brought it, and he thanked her with a nod;
He bade her search the pocket saying "That's from Mad Carew",
And she found the little green eye of the god.She upbraided poor Carew in the way that women do,
Though both her eyes were strangely hot and wet;
But she wouldn't take the stone and Mad Carew was left alone
With the jewel that he'd chanced his life to get.When the ball was at its height, on that still and tropic night,
She thought of him and hurried to his room;
As she crossed the barrack square she could hear the dreamy air
Of a waltz tune softly stealing thro' the gloom.His door was open wide, with silver moonlight shining through;
The place was wet and slipp'ry where she trod;
An ugly knife lay buried in the heart of Mad Carew,
'Twas the "Vengeance of the Little Yellow God".There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
J Milton Hayes
There's a little marble cross below the town;
There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.