Wizard Willy

Wizard Willy is a fantasy action-platformer developed by Codemasters in 1990 under their "Cartoon Time" budget label. You control Willy, a young wizard on a quest to rescue Princess Fifi from an evil Emperor's dark fortress. The game features four horizontally scrolling levels—enchanted forests, dungeons, stairways, and battlements. To progress, you must collect ten "Magic Eyes" in each level; only then can you reveal and defeat the end-of-level guardian, a fireball-spitting skull. Willy fires lightning bolts at enemies, which grow more aggressive in later stages. Power-ups include a "Vanish" smart bomb, health restoratives, extra lightning, and bonus lives. The gameplay delivers fast-paced platforming with exploration and combat at its core .

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum version, released in 1990 by Codemasters' Cartoon Time label, was priced at £2.99 on cassette . It features a distinctive monochrome visual style with a notable technical achievement: a parallax scrolling effect, which was considered impressive for the Spectrum hardware . The game supports Sinclair, Kempston, and Interface2 joysticks, plus customizable keyboard controls . Reception was mixed—Crash magazine awarded 42%, criticizing the "chunky" sprites and indistinct visuals that made gameplay confusing, while Your Sinclair gave 68%, praising the "neat perspective graphics" and presentation despite the visual muddiness . The game was later re-released in the budget compilation Quattro Cartoon . Originally developed as Spellfire the Sorcerer, the name was changed for 8-bit releases .