In 1981, Sir-Tech, the brainchild of the Sirotek brothers and engineer Robert Woodhead, released their first Wizardry game: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. The original PC release looks archaic today, with its huge, but sparse, info boxes and empty wire-frame corridors. Updated ports for the Nes and Super Famicom would add finer details and more color to the base experience, bringing the dungeons we crawled in those games to vibrant life. Subsequent Wizardry games would introduce further refinements, and, in some cases, sweeping changes.
Yet the original Wizardry games’ barebones style became the version that endured. When Japanese publisher Ascii brokered a deal with Sir-Tech to import Wizardry, they both prolonged the longevity of the franchise and helped ensure that it reached a wider audience. Now there are over 35+ Wizardry titles that have never officially reached US shores, and the number of direct descendants of Wizardry’s sparse, but addictive,...
Yet the original Wizardry games’ barebones style became the version that endured. When Japanese publisher Ascii brokered a deal with Sir-Tech to import Wizardry, they both prolonged the longevity of the franchise and helped ensure that it reached a wider audience. Now there are over 35+ Wizardry titles that have never officially reached US shores, and the number of direct descendants of Wizardry’s sparse, but addictive,...
- 10/31/2022
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
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