Out of the frying pan: Dizzy takes to Kickstarter

After seeing what DNA Interactive could do with the Dizzy license last year, the franchise's original co-creators Philip and Andrew Oliver are bringing the egg out of retirement, twenty years after their previous game. A Kickstarter for a new Dizzy game on iOS and PC, Dizzy Returns, has launched today and the brothers have their Blitz Games studio on board to create the next chapter in the franchise -- if they can fund it. "We're very aware that we're dealing with the stuff of childhood here, and in some cases people's earliest memories of playing computer games," Andrew Oliver tells us. "Our ultimate aim is to stay true to the sprit and magic of the old series, whilst bringing Dizzy bang up-to-date using all the technology and resources at our disposal now." The industry veteran is extremely keen to make sure that the new game respects everything that Dizzy was about, while also pleasing new gamers. "It's not just technology that's advanced in the 20 odd years since the last new Dizzy game, the way we play games has clearly evolved too," he adds. "We want to design a gaming experience that's relevant to gamers today and the way they play - providing gameplay that lends itself to both short and long session play sessions, for example, as well as making the most of the platforms that we'll be tackling - particularly the touch-screen space on iOS."

Having a crack at crowd-funding

But why now? Why does Oliver believe now is the right time to bring Dizzy back from the dead? "We're now more connected to the gamers and our fans than we've ever been before and Kickstarter has shown that those fans want to grow that connection into something that allows them to really contribute to shaping their future entertainment experiences," he explains. "It's also proven that people are willing to put their hands in their pockets and actually contribute financially too and this, in our opinion, is just part of the evolution of the changing business models we've seen since the start of digital distribution and the mobile gaming space." Dizzy is something that the duo has wanted to revisit for a very long time, but it has never really seemed possible before now -- Kickstarter has changed that, he tells us. But isn't £350,000 ($558,215) rather too much to ask for what is seemingly a rather simple game? Do the brothers expect to easily breeze past that total? "We want to create the biggest and best Dizzy game ever, and deliver the best possible gaming experience for players," notes Oliver. "That vision does comes at a cost though. We have an enormous amount of experience of making games so we're being realistic about the budget that we need to really do these ideas justice." He admits, "If we don't hit our target then it'll be disappointing certainly, but we feel it's much better to make sure that we're asking for the right amount of funding - this isn't just about creating a successful Kickstarter campaign, it's about creating a successful game. There'd be no point asking for half the money if we didn't think that that would be enough to deliver the experience that the fans, and we, are after." Those interested in backing the project can do so on its official Kickstarter page.