What the heck is RIZ-ZOAWD? If you’re like me and rely on Destructoid for most of your gaming news, then you may have never heard of it, as it appears we’ve never mentioned it. Those of you who have quick minds that can decipher anagrams with added hyphens (or those of you who have simply looked at the image above) will have already figured out that RIZ-ZOAWD is an RPG based off of L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s story, The Wizard of Oz. For me, this is more exciting than the announcement of the first Kingdom Hearts, but I’m probably in the minority.
This is even more so true because the game has actually already been released in Japan to lackluster sales and so-so reviews. This is why a GameFly posting showing the game, which was developed by Media.Vision (best known for the Wild Arms games), shipping in North America on September 30 is a little surprising. XSEED is said to be publishing the game to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the 1939 film. They will also be renaming the game to The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. We haven’t received any news of it from XSEED and hadn’t heard back yet when we asked for a comment, so this all has to remain a rumor.
The game is certainly a unique take on the land of Oz, even if its battle system is clearly ripped from Dragon Quest. With clear redesigns of most of the characters and four witches that Dorthy must take on, it is a different Oz, but Oz has been reimagined so many times by now that it’s just all the more intriguing to see another take. Another aspect that is different about this game is that the player controls movement through a trackball on the touch screen. You can check it out in the video below — it looks… annoying. However, the premise and style is enough to get me excited that there is even a chance of the game making it to our shores. How about the rest of you?
