Isekai the game!

This was almost a joy…

The Magical World of Wozz, or Chou-Mahou Tairiku Wozz, is a cute romp through a world of magic and war. You play as Leona, Shot, and Chun, three humans from the real world who are mistakenly warped to Wozz to prevent a tyrant from taking over that world. The elder of Wozz, Sullivan, meant for one great hero but accidentally called forth three kids. He was just as shocked as the kids were. But they’re here, and they’re stuck, so they might as well hero it up. If they want to return home, they need to defeat Balam!

Sullivan gives the three their first task: stop the Fear Rain from turning people into monsters. This hits rocky ground early as Shot is focused on the main task and runs off to do that. And this is our introduction to another of the game’s neat mechanics of branching storylines. Each of the three main characters gets a slightly different view of the world. These times are short lived and infrequent but are welcome nonetheless. They find the culprit of the Fear Rain and end that, but now they need more power. And the best way to do that is to find the magic fairies! 

Our next bit of divergence is how the three play. Chun, the shy Chinese boy, is the resident mage and gains new spells by finding the eight elemental fairies. Bomb is an element. Meanwhile, Leona, the Japanese genius, is an inventor who creates new weapons for everyone and even alternative ways to traverse the world, like an elephant tank. She allows us to reach the final dungeon when she constructs the airship. I weirdly enjoyed warping around the world, buying the materials, and turning them into new things. And then there’s the American Shot… Shot shoots things. But with a bow! 

Along the way, they’re joined by an assortment of fourth party members who fill out the battlefield. They range from the short term important to the “why are you here?” types. Ceramic did not need to be here, but Elise and Ramue could have been expanded. Ultimately, they’re all just generic units to be switched out at any phone booth at your leisure. 

It’s cute, humorous, and low stakes, but is, most importantly, a lot of fun. I spent thirty five hours in Wozz and enjoyed thirty of them. The last five were fine enough, but I think the worst thing Wozz does is it Necron’s itself. The real final boss didn’t need to be here. There was little foreshadowing for him, and the tone of the game shifts. Body horror and generic experimentation kinda kill the vibe. But it’s short, relatively easy, so maybe you won’t mind as much as I did. 

The music adds to the whimsy of the world. It’s filled with fluttery, airy notes that make me think of wind and other fairy aspects. But there’s the occasional earthy bass underneath some tracks. But all that goes out the window when battle starts or when the scene gets heavy. Or when the villages are filled with zombies, skeletons, and ghosts. 

The artwork is consistent with these vibes. High quality sprites and spell animations (eventually) show off the power of magic. Enemy sprites are reused frequently, but our playable cast, the main three especially, shine and can be compared to some of the best on the system. But maybe I just have a weakness for legs. There aren’t a lot of lower body garments in the world of Wozz. 

But I can’t get over the twist at the end. The painfully slow walking speed is also a drag. There is no running through towns in this game, which turns getting from the phone booths to the shops and then to the workshop four times longer than it needs to. 

Before I give my final score, I want to talk about a new review system I’m dabbling with. I’m not gonna stray far away from my usual fifty rankings because it’s nice and simple, but I’ve worked on a weighted system. I’m probably using that word wrong, but whatever. I’ve expanded and added more qualifiers, so it’s now out of 200 points. I’ll skip the meat and say that, with that new system, The Magical World of Wozz gets 142.83 points and ranks in at twenty two on my SNES list. But it could be more. If we could run through towns, and the game ended at Balam, it might be a top ten. Instead, Wozz wallows with an official 34 out of 50 points. 

Wozz is a low stakes game that’s more fun than anything else, which is really all that matters at the end of the day. It’s a solid experience with few downsides that I’d recommend.