Released in 1993 on the Amiga, and then later on the Sega Megadrive/Genesis, ‘Wiz ‘n’ Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue’ is a frantic platform based game that sees you dashing around saving rabbits against a time limit.  Made by Raising Hell Software (now known as Bizarre Creations), and published by Psygnosis (those of Lemmings fame), it largely slipped under the radar of most people, which is a shame as it is excellent fun and seriously addictive…  And even includes a cameo by those lovable green haired, blue jumpered Lemmings!

The game is set in the magical world of ‘Pum’, and sees our heroic wizards Wiz and Liz having to race around to save the wabbits from impending doom.  The Area is split into a series of worlds each with their own distinct theme, which are in turn split into eight levels, each of those again having their own theme.  Each level is split into two rounds, and in each one  you have to collect wabbits to release the letters that will complete the word for that level, which varies depending on level and difficulty setting.  Once the word is completed you have to collect a predetermined number of wabbits, which will release bonus time, stars and magical fruit when collected, and when you have saved enough them all the exit door will open.  Failure to get out of the exit before the timer runs out results in the loss of one of your 3 lives.

The game is not as easy as it sounds however, as the timer is cumulative between levels, meaning collecting those time bonuses and magical fruit is essential!  Which brings us nicely to the main feature of this game, the spells…  Of course as wizards Wiz and Liz can cast spells, and this is done by mixing two of your magical fruit in your cauldron.  Depending on which combination of fruits you use you can get anything from bonus time, points, stars and lives to red, blue or green wabbits or some crazy psychedelic screen effects, a full list of the recipes can be found here.

On your journeys you also collect the letters of the word ‘bonus’ and when you have them all it take you to one of the games two bonus levels.  By collecting the letters of bonus you to a dark shadowy world where you are given a target number of gray wabbits to save, which mostly give off bonus time tokens, which you must collect all of and get through the exit door to get your bonuses.  Failure to complete the level does not lose you a life though, just the bonuses you collected in the bonus level.  The other bonus level is a great version of that retro classic Snake, which is accessed by mixing the right fruits in your cauldron, and it’s a great way to rack up the points and gain a few lives.

The game also contains a 2 player split screen mode, which sees Wiz and Liz go head to head in a Sonic 2 style race to complete each level.  Each world is played over a best of 3 setup and the overall loser of each world loses a life.  The winner is decided when either wizard runs out of lives or if one player wins the required number of worlds (decided at the start of the game).

Wiz ‘n’ Liz stands out as one of my all time favorite Megadrive games and playing it again to write this review has been a joy.  Despite its simplistic play style the game is still great fun today, still truly addictive and still doesn’t look too dated now.  The multiplayer mode is still a great way to start a fight with your friends too, honestly, give it a few rounds and you’ll be trying every sneaky trick in the book to win…  ‘I’m sorry, was that your controller cable I just stood on?”

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