App Army Assemble: Fireball Wizard - "Will this retro-inspired platformer set the world alight?"

Fireball Wizard is a 2D action platformer that draws inspiration from games of yore, as is probably obvious from its retro aesthetic. It's not always enough to make a game stand out, though, particularly on mobile, where we're not short of games that lean on nostalgic vibes. So, to find out Fireball is also a good time, we handed the game over to our App Army.

Here's what they said:

Fireball Wizard is an extremely well-done adventure game, starting with its graphics and particle effects, its gameplay is great and easy to play, it has upgrades in the weapons to give more fun in picking up the coins through the phases, and there are even several phases each more challenging than the other, always increasing its level of difficulty, making it necessary for you to evolve your weapons and powers.

Fireball Wizard is a delightful 8-bit platformer. We play as a wizard/witch trying to save their hometown and restore order. The gameplay is quite simple, as we need to go through levels (divided into three dungeons) and complete each one of them. There are also secrets to be found, which increase the replayability of the game as they are not always easy to find on the first run. As we progress through the story, we unlock more and more spells, which add to the difficulty and variety of the levels.

I was able to beat the first boss, which was challenging enough but not frustrating. All in all, the game is well-designed, and it is fun to play. Sometimes, however, the controls kind of glitch, and it is not always easy to manage them. Perhaps using a controller would fix this issue. I definitely recommend this game to the fans of the genre, and for all those out there that can't resist an 8-bit-inspired game.

Fireball Wizard is a platform game where you guide your wizard through levels using your wand to blow up creatures to eventually free the land from evil spirits. The visuals are retro as is the gameplay. The technique to charge your wand to release a powerful attack is borrowed from arcade games like R-Type. As you progress you pick up spells that let you get past obstacles and you can upgrade your wand. The touchscreen controls are serviceable but woolly enough that you make the game harder than it would be with a control pad. Still, the game is fun enough that the controls are a minor irritation. Thumbs up from me.

The aim of this platform game is to complete levels and collect hidden treasure. You play a wizard who can throw fireballs with his magic wand at oncoming enemies. The enemies are a motley crew of the usual suspects when it comes to dungeon habitats - big spiders, ghosts, green blobs, etc. The graphics are retro pixilated and gameplay is easy to master. Music and sound effects are repetitive and I turned them off. Fireball Wizard is fun to play for a while, but it doesn’t offer anything I haven’t already seen, but if you’re new to this genre it might be just the game for you as it’s easy to just pick up and play.

This is a decent-looking platformer with a mix of ghosts and bats and other things to fight your way past to discover hidden things and find the exit to each level. The sound and music were okay and the controls worked fine. I didn’t have any issues with visuals or display. It does what it sets out to do, as a retro platformer experience. If you’re a fan of these, you’ll probably enjoy it as it gives you a fairly decent number of levels and challenges, but honestly, there wasn’t anything about it that made it stand out for me. Give it a chance, check out the free trial. It’s good enough to give it that chance.

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Story: You’re a fireball-wielding wizard out to save your homeland from…it’s not important.

Sound: Reminiscent of late 8-bit or early 16-bit platformers, the sound effects and music are complimentary, but not outstanding.

Graphics: I like the little 8-bit sprites of the wizard and his various foes, and there’s just enough attention to background details for the game to be pleasant to look at. What I don’t like is the yellow horizontal lines crossing through the screen intermittently. My phone is completely updated and has no issue with any other game in my library. I have rebooted it, uninstalled the game, and reinstalled it in an effort to fix this issue. However it persists, and when it happens it messes with the…

Gameplay: Could be a fun platformer if the screen tearing didn’t interfere with your sprite. Unfortunately, movement and jumps are severely impacted by it. Outside of that, the platform mechanics are solid.
It is possible that this is an issue with my phone, but that seems unlikely when no other games or applications are having errors. Perhaps the game is incompatible with my model? Given the current technical issues, FW is a no-buy for me at this time.

Fireball Wizard is a good little game about a tiny wand-wielding wizard searching for the exit door on each level… simple as that. There are 3 main levels with 10 little levels in each one of them, the pixel art is very cute and functional, and playability is like every other platform game, you know what I mean. I like it, but nothing more.

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Fireball Wizard