Eggs, eh? They're the perfect gift, and not just at Easter either. Glass eggs, stone eggs, Kinder Eggs, Faberge eggs... the list is endless. Real eggs aren't bad either, there are hundreds of ways of cooking them and they're jolly tasty and good for you too. Yep, if eggs didn't exist we'd have to invent them.
    Right, let's have a look at the game. When James wrote his Megapreview a couple of months back, there was still some uncertainty over what was actually going into this pack. Y'see, those cheery chaps at CodeMasters had so many beaut games that they just couldn't decide what ones to put in. But you'll be glad to hear that they've now made up their collective mind, got everything sorted and are ready to roll. Hurrah! Buy this bargainous box and in amongst the spare placcy bags and French words you'll find Spellbound Dizzy, Prince Of The Yolk Folk, Dizzy Down The Rapids, Kwik Snax and Panic Dizzy. The last two have been released before, but the other three are bona fide newies. Let's get the two mouldies out of the way first...
    
Older than yesterday - Kwik Snax
This was reviewed earlier this year in issue 62. Back then it was given a bunch of flowers, a box of chocs and an engraved plaque saying 'I'm a Megagame and I'm jolly ace."
    And guess what? It's still a stonker. The evil Wizard Zaks pops up once more and sends four of Dizzy's eggy friends off to separate islands. So each egg is left on it's little ownsome. It's an obvious job for that egg-about-town, Dizzy. Now, there's one thing I don't understand about zapper Zaks, how come he never sends Diz anywhere? I mean, surely he must have realised by now that wherever he sends those eggs, that darned Dizzy will soon find them.
    Dizzy's brief is to visit each island and rescue an egg on each one. Instead of your run-of-the-mill sun, sea and sand affairs; each island has a special theme - one's covered in ice, one's got loads of clouds to lounge around on, one's full of teddy bears and one's got a castle on it. Diz has to spend his time collecting fruit, avoiding meanies, negotiating mazes and picking up bonuses. It's especially brilliant if you think bananas are one of God's greatest inventions. Why? Cos there's screens full of them. Yum!
    If you haven't already got it, then it's worth buying this compilation, Kwik Snax is clear and bright and great fun. In ish 62, Rich gave this 92° and it's certainly a Megagame. 90°
    
Panic Dizzy
This one's a bit different from most Dizzy games. Instead of running around collecting things and getting all hot and bothered, Dizzy just sits tight in the middle of the screen. This is the Codies' attempt at a Dizzy puzzler, it's a Tetrissy/Klaxy sort of game where different coloured shapes fall down from the top of the screen and you've got to get them in the matching holes at the bottom of the screen. Rich, our humble reviewer, gave Panic 49° and a bit of a hard time. Boring and tedious, he called it. Now I think he was a trifle harsh, it is quite a simple game but I thought it was quite good. Call me weird, but I'm a puzzle fan, I actually like dropping little coloured things into holes. (You're weird. Ed) Rich thought that it was a game for the younger player and rated it accordingly. Personally, I'm all for the little ones having a nice, easy to pick up game to play. So I'm going to disagree quite strongly with Rich and give it 65°.
    
Younger than yesterday - Dizzy Down The Rapids
The Codies have only just made up their mind to stick this one in. It's a conversion of a Nintendo game which sees Dizzy and his girly chum, Daisy, rolling around in a barrel. (Eh? Ed) Well, they're not actually rolling around, but the barrel is. It's just like that Burt Reynold's film where he's in a canoe, fighting furiously against the might of nature. You know, the one that always comes up in Trivial Pursuit. (She's talking about Deliverance. Ed)
    Yep, our Diz is a right little hero, and a gentleman at that. He's out to protect his woman from, amongst other nasties, trolls and sharks. Dizzy can't very well lay into these baddies, instead he's got to, erm, throw apples at them. Now, the idea of going down a turbulent river and throwing things at people will seem a bit familiar to those of you who have played Toobin'. It sounds similar, but it's actually a side-on view thingy, rather than a look-down-at-it thingy. Graphically it looks much the same as every other Dizzy game, except it's got a bigger river than most. It's fun, it's sweet and it's quite good. Well worth the 84° I've awarded it.
    
Prince Of The Yolk Folk
I really liked this one. It's your usual Dizzy affair. He has to wander around collecting lots of things like magic carpets and heavy pick-axes and getting lots of info from the people he meets in his travels. The kingdom is in a terrible state cos an evil troll has taken over the castle. The good king is away fighting in the crusades, so the pretty princess is left to the mercy of old Mr Troll. Dizzy, dude that he is, offers to rescue her. Hurrah!
    The beginning of the game sees you trapped in an underground cavern with no visible escape route. You'll have to exercise the old grey matter a bit if you want to get out. But nay fret Spec-chums, it's set at a similar difficulty level to most of the previous Dizzy games. Find the exit and it's time to march over to the castle. Unfortunately, there's a big, green, blobby troll in the way and he's not going to let you pass. Not just like that, anyway. So it's time to go walkabout and meet lots of odd characters, like a mysterious ferryman who demands something valuable and a lion with a sore paw. It's all jolly good fun, but it's only got about 30 screens so it's not exactly humungus. So it can have 80°.
    
Spellbound Dizzy
Originally, so my tomato sauces tell me, this was going to have 90 screens. Good, eh? But! The rather wondrous Codies have decided that it'd be loads better if they went for 105 screens instead. Crivens, gosh and by gum! Not only is it bigger, it's also more difficult, than Prince Of The Yolk Folk.
    You, as Dizzy, have been a bit of a silly sausage and magicked all of your mates and your girly friend into the very depths of hell. Eek! Better go and find them, hadn't you? Once again, there's loads of daft objects to collect and use. Along the way there's stars to bounce into and plenty of fruit to keep those sugar levels at a steady rate. When Dizzy has a snack, his mouth moves in a most realistic manner. He's so amazingly sweet, his little face scrunches up with pain and he just looks so stunned when he knocks his head. I had an ace time playing this but it really annoyed the rest of the team. Not the game you understand, it was my 'oohs' and 'ahhs' that had them reaching for the vom bucket.
    Poor Diz comes in for quite a bashing here, whenever he smashes into a wall or takes a tumble loads of little stars float around his head. It's very difficult to resist the temptation to hurl him into every solid surface, just to see what happens. You can even drown him! (Linda, that's just horrible. Ed) I know, but it's not as if he's real or anything. Don't worry, Spec-chums, I love Diz dearly and I wouldn't dream of hurting him. Ahem.
    Spellbound Dizzy is big, bold and beautiful. It's also the best game in the pack so I'd be a real meanie to give it anything less than 90°.
    
All in all, Dizzy's Excellent Adventures is a stonker of a compilation. What's more, it's exactly what you need for the Christmas hols. Eventually you'll get really bored with cold turkey and mince pies, the pine needles will start dropping off the tree and the only choccies left will be the crap coffee creams. At this point of despair you'll be so glad that you bought this game. So think ahead mort petit bleu chapeaux, get down to your local gaming paradise and buy this. So what if you've only got enough money to buy the dog a present. Buy it this, it'll soon get bored when it discovers that cassettes don't smell of other dogs. Then you can nick it back.
    FIVE ACE WAYS OF MAKING YOURSELF REALLY DIZZY
    
1. Put on the number one hit, Dizzy, by Vic Reeves and The Wonderstuff and twirl around on the spot for the entire duration of said record.
2. Find a fairground, not easy at this time of year, and go on the waltzer five times in a row. It's best if you go on with loads of girls who scream a lot. Then you get spun around by all the nasty men. Hurrah!
3. Find a hill, walk to the top and have a rest. When you've got your breath back, lay down and roll down the hill. It's blimmin' ace.
4. Buy the Jane Fonda workout tape and get a few cans of Devon custard in. Watch the vid for a bit and eat all the custard. (What, cold? Ed) Yep. Then stand on your head for half an hour.
5. Do fifteen cartwheels in a row.
    EGG HE, OR EGGN'T HE?
    I've always wondered about Dizzy, I mean - is he a real egg, as laid by hens? I don't think he is. Real eggs are incredibly fragile, all you have to do is sneeze in their direction and their shells begin to crack. Dizzy and his chums are all very active eggs, they're always jumping around and rolling down hills and yet they remain smooth, firm and distinctly ovoid. All this begs the question - what are they made out of then, smarty-pants? Well, I've given the subject much thought and I think Dizzy's made of mutton fat jade. It's fairly hard, so our Diz wouldn't break into a thousand tiny pieces if he fell off a table and it's the right colour too. What's more, it'd explain why Dizzy games aren't full of mother hens rushing around and trying to sit on their eggs.

Ratings given by other magazines

9/10      9/10

Info supplied by the SPOT*ON database

YS Cross-references
		Dizzy Down The Rapids/Codemasters	YS79	65
		Dizzy Prince Of The Yolk Folk/Codemasters	YS85	71
		Kwik Snax/Codemasters	YS62	92
		Panic Dizzy/Codemasters	YS66	49