Please help me find the name of a side-scrolling arcade game

March 1, 2006 10:12 AM

I'm looking for the name of/info on a mid-eighties side-scrolling arcade game...

You played as a wizard (robes, white beard, pointed cap) who wielded a sword which you could swing in a 360 degree arc, controlled by a scroll wheel. You could also cast spells such as invisibility by collecting and using dragon eggs. (No it is not 'Dragon Egg'). I used to play this game all the time at the local arcade, probably between 1986 and 1987, but have never come across it again. Thanks!

posted by drgonzo to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Was it Dragon's Breath/Dragon Lord? Or Wiz?
posted by iconomy at 10:22 AM on March 1, 2006

Man, I'm stumped. But a judicious browsing/searching of the Killer List of Videogames may turn up your answer.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:32 AM on March 1, 2006

Nope, none of those :( Thanks, though!

(Wiz is the closest of them in terms of the layout - side-scrolling...)
posted by drgonzo at 10:33 AM on March 1, 2006

I have a vague memory of what you're talking about, but I can't find an answer. You might try What Was That Game.
posted by brain_drain at 12:41 PM on March 1, 2006

I would suggest having a quick scan over the lists of games released 1985-1987 (say) to see if a name jumps out at you.
posted by teleskiving at 12:43 PM on March 1, 2006

When you say "scroll wheel" do you mean a "dial" style controller - a la Tempest / Pong? Or was it a rotatable joystick, like Ikari Warriors / Heavy Barrel?

Kinda sounds like a bastard-hard Neo Geo game I used to have, but the name escapes me.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 1:01 PM on March 1, 2006

OMG! thanks for the link teleskiving!!!!

'Zwackery' was it!!!!!!! released in 1984...

link 1
link 2

thanks for solving one of those little annoyances that my memory just couldn't let go of :)
posted by drgonzo at 1:15 PM on March 1, 2006

yes, coach, a rotary dial which controlled the sword action, and indeed, i remember this game being as extremely hard.
posted by drgonzo at 1:17 PM on March 1, 2006

It's especially hard on MAME! Anyone know where I can get a USB-based rotary knob controler? =)
posted by idontlikewords at 2:26 PM on March 1, 2006

idontlikewords: I bet this would work
posted by freshgroundpepper at 11:25 PM on March 1, 2006

freshgroundpepper, I have a Griffin PowerMate and it doesn't work so well with MAME— I mean it works, but not like you'd hope it would. Less like a Tempest spinner, more like the wash-cycle select knob on your washer... hard to explain.
posted by blueberry at 3:24 AM on March 2, 2006