It's nothing new for a developer to lose track of their own games. We still remember the the 'rediscovery' of Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner and his father, but now it's the turn of twins Philip and Andrew Oliver, the masterminds behind the old Dizzy saga for Spectrum, C64, and other systems. Wonderland Dizzy was a title meant for the Nintendo NES, and for some reason, the twins forgot they had ever made it.
The Dizzy Saga and the Rejection
If you live in Europe, are old enough, and consider yourself part of the "golden age" of home computers, you've likely crossed paths with some title from the Dizzy saga, developed by the Oliver brothers and published by Codemasters between 1987 and 1992. The adventures of the egg Dizzy and his people (known as the Yolkfolk) amassed hundreds of thousands of followers over the years, but it all came to an end in the early '90s when Codemasters decided to reject a new game called Wonderland Dizzy, along with other titles from the twins. Apparently, the Oliver brothers' displeasure with Codemasters was so great that they completely forgot about Wonderland Dizzy, and it only returned to their minds a few months ago when they by pure chance found the design of one of the game's maps.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/-AAkgpQO9igRediscovery and Restoration
After discussing it further, they concluded they couldn't remember exactly whether they had finished the game or not, and whether they still had a copy. After turning their house upside down and moving boxes and packages, Philip Oliver finally located the mysterious disk. Unfortunately, it contained no compiled version of the game, but the source code and textures were still there. Since it was a game designed for the NES, creating a stable version of Wonderland Dizzy would require a bit more work. The twins contacted the administrator of the fansite Yolkfolk.com, who in turn put them in touch with a Polish fan of the saga, who not only successfully converted the code into a compatible ROM image but also took the trouble to eliminate several bugs.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ds3oM4YbPGkPlaying Wonderland Dizzy Today
How is it possible that these developers forgot about Wonderland Dizzy? Their explanation makes sense: besides the clash with Codemasters, between 1984 and 1993 they developed more than fifty games, not counting ports. In other words, about a hundred games in a nine-year period, so losing one or two in memory is reasonable. The best part? All interested parties can play Wonderland Dizzy online or download its ROM (link below), and there's no legal conflict, since the new authorities of Codemasters said they were delighted with the release.
