Challenging old school gameplay | Review - Fireball Wizard

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Fireball Wizard is a 2D retro arcade platformer featuring a wizard that jumps, shoots fireballs, and navigates treacherous platforms across 40+ levels in the world of Wizardonia.

🟩Pros

+Nostalgic retro experience

+Challenging old school gameplay

+Diverse enemy types and platformer level design

🟥Cons

-Minimal storytelling

-Difficulty and death mechanic is not for everyone

-Nonoptimal control setup for simultaneous jumping or moving/attacking

There's not much in the way of the story; only that the Darklord's army has invaded Wizardonia, and you have to defeat their army and its bosses, one level at a time. At the start, players can select one of two wizard characters: a male or a female. However, there are other unlockable character skins as you progress through the game.

Fireball Wizard's retro-inspired pixelated graphics capture the essence of classic arcade games. The art style is charming and meticulously designed, reminiscent of the 8-bit and 16-bit era. The environments are visually distinct, featuring dark castles, gloomy forests, and treacherous caves. The enemy designs are varied, differing in mannerisms, attack patterns, and visual design, showcasing imaginative creatures and challenging bosses that provide both visual appeal and gameplay diversity.

Overall, the visuals evoke a sense of nostalgia, immersing players in a retro gaming experience. Even in some of the mechanics, it resembles Super Mario Brothers when you are jumping headfirst into a block to gain bonus points, and these points are golden rings, just like what Sonic The Hedgehog collects.

At its core, Fireball Wizard is an action-packed platformer with shoot'em up elements. Controlling a wizard armed with fireball attacks and elemental spells, players navigate through a series of handcrafted and nostalgia-inducing levels, battling enemies, overcoming environmental obstacles, and uncovering secrets.

The controls are very simple: players can move left and right, shoot fireballs, jump, and cast spells. Despite the player controlling wizards equipped with wands and shooting fireballs, Fireball Wizard actually feels like a shoot'em up game, with the fireballs shooting in a straight line and as fast as the player can press the buttons. The difficulty level is high, demanding players' coordination, reflexes, and strategic thinking.

While the simplistic controls have customizable positions, they ultimately failed to provide the optimal control setup that I was looking for without resorting to some weird four-finger grip-type with my phone, as if I were playing PUBG or COD Mobile. Mainly because you cannot freely jump while charging your attack, and placing the jump button on the left-hand side makes it impossible to jump while moving either. An option to have two jump controls on both sides would have solved my personal gripe.

As a retro-inspired game, Fireball Wizard is not for the faint of heart. With limited health points and instant-death hazards, players must exercise caution and precision in every move. For example, falling into pools of poison or touching spiked blocks results in immediate death, leading to a complete level restart, and there are no checkpoints within these levels. While this can be frustrating at times, it adds a sense of urgency and rewards players who are willing to master the game's mechanics, level layouts, and enemy encounters.

The progression system in Fireball Wizard is well-paced. As players advance through the game, they unlock new spells, each with unique abilities and effects, providing strategic options for different situations. Additionally, players can discover and collect costumes in secret rooms hidden in each level for cosmetic purposes.

Each level is well-crafted, with carefully placed diverse enemies, platforms, and obstacles that require precise movements, well-timed jumps, reactive reflexes, and a bit of luck. The levels progressively increase in difficulty, featuring more obstacles and harder enemies, ensuring that players are constantly engaged and increasingly challenged across the entirety of the experience.

Throughout the adventure, players will encounter four worlds and over 40 levels filled with enemies, obstacles, and secrets waiting to be discovered. Each world culminates in a challenging boss fight with its own unique mechanics and patterns, providing intense and strategic encounters that can definitely pose a challenge. The challenging old-school gameplay will push your skills to the limit as you jump, shoot fireballs, and navigate treacherous platforms. In addition to the main levels, Fireball Wizard also includes side game modes such as a Flappy Bird copy or a time attack mode spanning all levels and allowing only one life.

Conclusion:

Fireball Wizard offers an enjoyable retro gaming experience for fans of 2D platformers. The combination of retro gameplay, nostalgic visuals, and challenging level design creates an engaging adventure. While the controls could be better and the difficulty level can be demanding, the sense of accomplishment and progression is incredibly rewarding. Players who appreciate an old-school challenge and seek a genuine retro gaming experience will find themselves at home with Fireball Wizard.

The game is available for PC at around $6 at the time of writing, and the first 10 levels are free to play on Android and iOS, with an in-app purchase of $5 to unlock the full game.