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Wizard of Wor (Arcade)
1981

Game developers have remade arcade classics for modern video game consoles, but for some strange reason, they all seem to have overlooked Midway's Wizard of Wor. While games such as Pong and Breakout have been brought into the 3D realm, this early corridor shooter has somehow been left behind. Perhaps Wizard of Wor has languished in relative obscurity when compared with those games, but, whatever the case, it remains a far more likely candidate for a modern revamp. The game made you feel like you had landed on the planet that the aliens from Gorf were from and were taking the battle to them. Space cadet, indeed.

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Just be glad the Wizard isn't around...yet.
The premise of Wizard of Wor was simple. You were an astronaut (or "Worrior") armed with a laser rifle, trapped in a maze full of monsters. The most common kind of creature was the blue, wolflike Burwor, followed in number by the yellow reptilian Garwor and the red, insectlike Thorwor. A beast known as the Worluk would sometimes appear at the end of a level and quickly make tracks for a side exit--sometimes running straight through an unwary Worrior. Every six or seven levels, the fearsome Wizard himself would make an appearance. The Wizard would teleport throughout the level at random, throwing lightning bolts in every direction.

One of the elements that made the game most appealing was the fact that the Garwor, Thorwor, and Worluk creatures would occasionally become momentarily invisible, forcing you to track their movements through the use of the radar found at the bottom of the screen. Even better, two players could play the game at the same time, either cooperatively or competitively. Players would often hide in easy-to-defend corners and blast away, covering each other's backs. This strategy would work until the "Pit" stage, which was an open level with no walls to hide behind. That's when things would get really intense.

 
 Which of these was the coolest thing about Wizard of Wor?

Cooperative multiplayer
Using radar to fight invisible enemies
The way "warrior" was misspelled
"If you shoot my babies, I'll pop you in the oven. Ha ha ha."

 
Without a doubt, the most charming element of Wizard of Wor was its voice. If you thought that Sinistar taunted players, you never played Wizard of Wor. The machine was capable of dozens of different taunts, including the memorable "Thorwor and Burwor are hungry for space food" and "If you shoot my babies, I'll pop you in the oven. Ha ha ha." That the Wizard's lines were delivered in a deadpan Stephen Hawking-like tone made them even more unforgettable.

Industry scuttlebutt has stated that an isometric Diablo-like revamp of Wizard of Wor was considered by Midway at one time, but ultimately, nothing ever came of it. Many might consider a first-person version of the game to make the most sense, but the concept of an isometric revamp along the lines of Diablo (a game itself inspired by the similarly styled Gauntlet) is an interesting idea as well. Either way, the original premise of Wizard of Wor holds a lot of promise that could be fulfilled in a modern remake.

[Thanks go to Arcade Controls and MAME for the screenshots.]


 

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