Game Reviews

Wizorb

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iOS
| Wizorb
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Wizorb
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iOS
| Wizorb

Genre mash-ups can often produce wonderful things. Games that make no sense on paper can somehow manage to combine the best elements of their strange parentage in practice.

Wizorb is one of the odder combinations, melding as it does the classic 16-bit RPG with the even more classic Super Breakout.

Yet somehow it manages to largely pull off this unholy combination, twisting its two inspirations into a thoroughly entertaining and self-aware stroll down a gaming avenue that's never been explored before.

Roll playing game

You play as a wizard who's able to turn himself into a magic wand and orb. Using this uncanny skill, it's up to you to smash the blocks and beasts that make up each level, stopping the titular Wizorb from dropping off the screen.

You slide your wand around by swiping a finger across the black area at the bottom of the screen. It's not an ideal control solution, but it works reasonably well most of the time.

Different blocks require more hits to smash them, and some contain coins, potions, or extra lives that will aid you in your quest to rid the fantasy world you're fighting through of evil. Shops are accessed by slotting the orb through a doorway at the top of the screen.

As well as your wand, you have a number of magic spells at your disposal, controlled with buttons on the bottom-right of the screen. You can blast out fireballs at any time, but if you get your timing right and unleash them just when you orb bounces off your wand you'll get a super-charged shot.

Wizard

Of course, these abilities don't come cheap, and you only have a set amount of mana to spend on them. You can replenish this by grabbing the potions that fall from certain blocks, or by spending some coins in one of the in-game shops.

Wizorb is an entertaining retro experience, but it's not without its faults. The controls are a little weak, and sometimes you'll find yourself spending far too long trying to clear that last annoying brick from a level.

Still, there's plenty here to enjoy, and as mash-ups go it's among the best and oddest combinations available on the App Store.

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Wizorb

A strange concoction that somehow just works, Wizorb is an entertaining, though at times unwieldy beast
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.