Wizball 1987

Is it still worth playing?

A wizard turned into a bouncing green ball sets out to bring colour back to a world gone grey, in a 1987 horizontally scrolling shooter for the Commodore 64. Starting out is tricky: the ball bounces at a fixed rate, and all you set is how fast it spins. Shooting certain enemies leaves pearls, and pearls buy upgrades: better control of the bounce, more firepower, and Catellite, a cat in the shape of a second ball. That cat matters, since only Catellite can collect paint, and in the two player mode a second player steers it. Every level starts in three shades of grey and needs its own colour, mixed from red, green and blue droplets that fall out of bouncing spheres when you shoot them. Portals take you between the levels you have opened, so choosing where to go for which colour still makes each run something to plan as well as to shoot through.