The Dizzy series is legendary among ZX Spectrum enthusiasts and the series were released across most home computer systems in the 1980s. Less well known are the console versions, even though numerous games were released on the NES and Master System.

Only one game in the series was released on the Megadrive, Fantastic Dizzy, but two were actually made and never released.

Dizzy The Adventurer is actually a polished version of Prince of the Yolkfolk and a thirteen minute video can be seen on Youtube showing gameplay from the unreleased Megadrive version. The Dizzy fansite, Yolkfolk.com (who put the video online), were actually given the original carts of the game by the Oliver Twins but have so far been unable to make backups of the ROMs to properly archive and store the game for future use.

It’s ironic, given my previous views on it, but there is a device called the Retrode that would be ideal for them, which allows you to create backups of your own cartridges. It would cost around �60 so could be a good investment for anyone who comes across prototypes that need converting into ROMs. Sadly it looks like the people behind Yolkfolk.com have already returned the ROMs after coming up blank in their own attempts at converting it to a ROM.

Case closed for now but we know a full game exists out there, it’s just a case of someone who can convert it into a ROM getting hold of a copy.

The second unreleased Dizzy game for the Megadrive is called Panic! Dizzy, and is based on the Master System game of the same name. The origins of the title can be read here and less is known about the Megadrive version than is known about Dizzy the Adventurer. As with Dizzy the Adventurer there has been a video posted to Youtube by Yolkfolk.com showing some gameplay and it like Dizzy the Adventurer looks fully finished.

Panic! Dizzy seems to be in the same situation as Dizzy the Adventurer where the prototype has been found and kept, but without the means to convert it into a ROM so it can be archived safely for posterity.

It’s frustrating to think of people being so close yet so far to successfully archiving some unreleased games in such a legendary series as Dizzy but that is exactly where we are now.

Hopefully with the existence of relatively affordable technology to make backups ROMs of cartridges we might see both games released as ROMs in the not too distant future.