How to play Wizard online
- Move the wizard: arrow keys
- Shoot: Space bar (your shots aim themselves at the creature)
- Player 2 (the creature): T/F/G/H to move
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Choose one or two players: F11 (the consoleās Select switch)
- Difficulty switches: F4 (Player 1) and F9 (Player 2)
Gameplay
Your wizard wanders a maze hunting a star-shaped creature. The creature is normally invisible and can pass through the maze walls, although its shots cannot. It only shows itself when it attacks or when it has been hit. To find it, listen: a heartbeat plays in the background and gets louder as the creature comes closer.
You never have to aim, because your shots always fly towards the creature. After each shot the wizard dims while it recharges, and you cannot fire again until it is bright. Both sides have a damage counter that climbs towards 99. Each hit on the creature stuns it for a moment, and when its counter reaches 99 it dies, your kill counter goes up and your own damage resets. If your counter reaches 99 first, the wizard is dead.
With the difficulty switch on A, a glowing flame appears at random places in the maze. If the creature touches it, your wizard slows down. On the easier setting the flame has no effect.
Tips
- Play with the sound on. The heartbeat is your only warning before the creature appears.
- Use the walls. The creature moves through walls but cannot shoot through them, so keep a wall between you while you recharge.
Why Wizard was never released
Wizard was Crawfordās first project after joining Atari, and it was planned as a 2K cartridge. By the time it was finished, about four months later, Atariās marketing department had decided that new games should be 4K. Crawford did not want to rebuild the game and moved on to the Atari 800 computers, where he later made the war game Eastern Front (1941). Wizard was cancelled without ever getting a catalogue entry or part number. Two prototype versions, dated February and April 1980, survive, and the game finally came out in 2005 as one of the built-in games on the Atari Flashback 2 console.
