Wendy: Every Witch Way (GBC) (2001)
Developer: Way Forward Technologies

Review by Faididi and Co.


Metal Storm for clueless little girls


Story: Average

Wendy, the little witch, lets her curiosity get the better of her when she finds a mysterious chest hidden away in the attic of her aunts' cottage. Opening it, she accidentally frees several magic stones that float away and then cause a castle in the sky to fall to the earth. Now Wendy has to enter the castle, recover the stones, and restore everything to normal. The story is sweet and simple, but explaining why the big bad boss at the end suddenly pops out from nowhere would've been nice.


Gameplay: Average

Way Forward's Wendy: Every Witch Way is an action platformer that stars the magic-wielding character from the Harvey Comics universe, but it's actually a shameless copy of Tamtex and Irem's Metal Storm. While Wendy can attack enemies by shooting energy bullets with her wand, she can also flip gravity to bypass other obstacles. For example, if there are spikes on the ground, she can turn herself upside-down and run along the ceiling instead.

Unfortunately, this knock-off lacks the creative level and enemy designs that make the gravity-reversing ability more than a mere gimmick in Metal Storm. There are normally sixteen stages, but the lack of quirky bad guys and special traps leaves them an unmemorable blur. Four of these stages are also generic space shooter-style scenes, where Wendy rides her broom to fly from one tower of the castle to the next, but they have little to do with the flipping of gravity. There is only a single boss, paling in comparison to Metal Storm's seven exotic bosses and their unique appearances and attacks.

The only unusual part of this game is how three extra stages become available if it's played on the GBA, bringing the total level count up to 19. The GBA-exclusive stages contain obstacle layouts that are noticeably more difficult, balancing out the standard stages' forgiving nature, but they do nothing to address the problems of the cookie-cutter traps and the almost nonexistent bosses.


Controls: Average

The controls are nowhere as smooth as those of Metal Storm. Wendy can't continue to lean forward through the air whenever she flips gravity, and she can't shoot upward or downward.


Graphics: Average

The characters are smoothly animated, but the low contrast of the graphics results in the dark-hued enemies blending in easily with the dimly drawn backgrounds.


Audio: Average

At least the sound effects are decent, and the playful (if forgettable) music fits the mood of the source material. The few vocal effects bring Wendy's giggles and one catch phrase to life.


Overall: Average

Wendy: Every Witch Way is an inferior imitation of Metal Storm that copies the gravity-reversing aspect but forgets the other important points. The earlier action platformer may have been released a decade earlier, but it remains a true classic that features superior controls, memorable level and enemy designs, and no restrictions on the stages just because you're playing it on an older system.


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