The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy

The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy brought to the NES a series that had until then been the domain of European home computers. It was released by Codemasters in 1991 as an unlicensed title distributed through the studio's own Camerica cartridge solution, which at the time was one of the few ways to get around Nintendo's restrictive licensing policy and bring a game to the console even without its official approval.

The gameplay combines simple acrobatics of the anthropomorphic egg named Dizzy with clever logic puzzles that require collecting items and using them in the right place within a large, interconnected game world. Unlike most platformers of its day, the main goal here isn't speed or reflexes, but patient exploration of the environment and working out the sequence of steps needed to progress, which places the game closer to the point-and-click adventure genre translated into action form. Using an item incorrectly usually doesn't end the game, but merely lengthens the path to the solution, which encourages players to experiment rather than fear making a mistake. On top of that, Dizzy's character can turn even a modest jump into precise acrobatics, adding a light platforming edge to the puzzles.

With its emphasis on puzzles and an interconnected world, Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy stood apart from the typical NES lineup, dominated by action and platforming reflexes. Its arrival on the American console also showed that European game design had something to offer overseas at the time as well, even if it came by a route outside the official distribution channels that Nintendo strictly controlled for the NES.

Why play it: it offers a clever puzzle-platforming adventure you won't find anywhere else on the NES.