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Fuzzball (1991/1992) Commodore Amiga Review



Developed by Scangames Norway and published by System 3 Software – Europe’s number 1 name in original games -, Fuzzball is platforming cuteness that you could even play with your girlfriend!

"In one particularly stormy night, the great Wizard had stepped outside for a drink with his buddies leaving his apprentice all by himself in the mighty castle. He had this great chance to snoop around through one of the wizard’s chambers. The chamber had a strange aura about it and the apprentice could feel the electrical energy generated within the air by the heavy storm blowing outside.
The mischievous apprentice had come to the chamber to have another look at the big old chest, the contents of which had been a closely guarded secret by the wizard for years. The apprentice wanted to know why the wizard would not show or even tell him what was inside.
Through the book of spells, he found one to “open”. He thought “this is it”! After reading the spell, a magic glow appeared in his hand. But he forgot to read the entire spell. The storms outside were higher and the boy’s eyes lit up with excitement as the magic began to appear in his hand. He aimed the glowing energy at the lock on the chest and then launched his creation at the target.
In an instant, the lid of the chest flew back and hundreds of strange fluffy balls began to leap from the chest. Fuzzball after fuzzball leapt to their freedom and began to fill the chamber. “What have I done”, screamed the young apprentice. The stream of fuzzballs seemed endless, and as they hit the floor they began to grow and grow.
Trying to reverse the spell, he brought another spell. The magic energy engulfed the young apprentice in a huge blue flash of light. He turned himself into a large blue fuzzball.
The great wizard returned to find his castle full of fluffy balls and told his apprentice that he could only return to his human form once he had collected and returned all the fuzzballs and all the jewels they took with them, back to the strange old treasure chest from whence they came."

This is the premise of Fuzzball and to complete each level, you'll have to collect all the items, food and treasures, while, at the same time, avoiding, or killing, various enemies. You will face mostly other fuzzballs, but also other creatures.
Each level is only a single screen filled with platforms, and can take a while to complete.

Throughout the castle there are several areas that are decorated in different styles. As well as the standard medieval decor you will also visit the gardens, an oriental type of place and a rather cold dungeon that has ice over the floors. 

Each of the areas is filled with loads of rooms to make a grand total of 50 levels.
Touching an enemy once means instant death, so, to survive in Fuzzball, you'll have to plan every move carefully, otherwise you'll die very quickly.

As you rush around the platforms collecting the gems, a clock counts down. When the time runs out, a gate opens and the level becomes infested with flying insects that will hunt your ass down.

Fuzzball was also planned to be released for the commodore 64 and a two level preview was even available to the readers of Commodore Format magazine but, because of inside conflicts, the game was abandoned in its final stages.
  
Back in late 80s early 90s, System 3 software was also responsible for publishing other extraordinary great titles, such as: Myth History in The Making, The Last Ninja trilogy, Tusker and Flimbo’s Quest.


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