Spindizzy

Spindizzy is a puzzle arcade game released by Electric Dreams Software in 1986 for 8-bit platforms.

The game was designed and programmed by Paul Shirley, who developed it for the Amstrad CPC and then ported it to ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, and Apple II.

Spindizzy's graphics were clearly inspired by Ultimate Play the Game's success Knight Lore, which made the so-called "3D" graphics popular on 8-bit machines. Of course, it was not real 3D, it was just 2D isometric, but it was a real innovation for the time. The gameplay is inspired by another isometric hit, the arcade game Marble Madness. The game's goal is to explore all 385 levels with your rolling ball, named GERALD, finding your way through slopes, bridges, lifts, trampolines, and more. Obstacles such as ice and water will make your life complicated. Gerald can transform into different shapes, each one useful for specific situations. The exploration must be completed before time expires, but the limit is very short, so it's necessary to collect jewels to increase the time. But what makes this game really special is the ability to rotate the screen by 90 degrees using the cursor keys, a truly astonishing feature that made Spindizzy a real 3D game.

The title was a huge success, especially in the UK, where the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC were really popular. Spindizzy is still considered one of the most influential games ever created. Glenn Corpes took inspiration from it when he designed Populous. It is also one of the best games ever created for the Amstrad CPC computer.