Treasure Island Dizzy Walkthrough (ZX Spectrum)

Played on PC with FUSE emulator 1.5.7. Recorded live with OBS.

Time: 14:38

Thirty years on I've finally completed this game and here's the proof! Treasure Island is notoriously difficult, and probably the hardest of the Dizzy series, due to having only one life. This wasn't what the Oliver Twins intended but they couldn't resolve what would happen if the player dropped the snorkel underwater, died and ended up on the beach, unable to retrieve the snorkel from the bottom of the sea. While the previous game had 3 lives (and the option to collect a further 10!) in this game, any slight mistake is instant game over! This is further compounded by a rotating inventory system which often results in the wrong item being dropped (and it that's the snorkel and you're underwater, yes it's game over!) and where collecting coins can accidentally result in inventory recycle if you "fat finger" it (you guessed it: game over!). Overall I'd say this is the hardest of the Spectrum Dizzy games the only thing making it slightly easier being its shorter length.

This is the first game in the series where you have to collect coins in addition to the main puzzle solving action. All remaining games would have this feature as well and I think it does make it more interesting. Many of the coins are hidden behind scenery and indeed this is the game with the most hidden coins with only about half being in plain sight!

The game is a step up from the first in terms of graphics and especially music (it has a lovely exotic sound track). It feels so real being on the beach, exploring the icon treehouses, and swimming underwater. But I think it's a bit of a step back in terms of puzzles (less logical here) and the game is significantly smaller. I also like the jokes in this game, it has a less serious feel to the rather dark original game which had lots of poetry and gravestones. It's good Dizzy can now carry more than one item but the inventory system is very annoying and thankfully replaced in subsequent games! It's also the first time Dizzy gets to talk to another character: the greedy shopkeeper who will reappear in future instalments.