Treasure Island Dizzy – Walkthrough

This is the definitive, spoiler-filled defence of the best Dizzy game, proving that brutal inventory limits and instant-death water hazards were actually good design.

Right, let’s get straight to it. Treasure Island Dizzy (1988) on the ZX Spectrum is the gaming equivalent of a seaside holiday in November: beautiful, unforgiving, and likely to end with you soaked and angry. Today’s kids, with their auto-saves and objective markers, wouldn’t last five minutes. This wasn’t about holding hands; it was about getting dumped on a desert island with three inventory slots and a death wish.

And it was brilliant.

Forget the later, easier adventures; this is the pure, analogue puzzle-solving experience. If you remember loading this masterpiece off a cassette that sounded like a washing machine gargling gravel, you’ll remember the pain. This isn’t a review, this is a survival guide.

🗺 Chapter One: The Shipwreck and the Start

You wash up on that tiny beach, clutching your three little slots. Three! You have to ask yourself why Dizzy, an egg, has no pockets, but never mind. The whole point of the game is ruthless efficiency. Every single action is a trade-off.

The Great Inventory Conundrum

The number one mistake everyone made (and yes, I mean you) was grabbing the first rubbish you saw. Stop it. Your initial objective is not collecting, but clearing a path and acquiring the items that let you access the main island.

1. Start at the Beach Cave: Head left, into the first cave (where the rather grumpy-looking, yet immobile, pirate is).
2. The Gold Coin: Take the Gold Coin. You’ll need it immediately.
3. The Dinghy: Now head right, past the palm tree, and over to the river/sea. See that holey dinghy? Give the Coin to the boatman there. He’ll fix it—for a price, naturally. This immediately opens up the main area of the game.

Ed’s Golden Rule: Never leave an item behind just because you think you might need it later. If you are standing next to an item and you know exactly where it needs to go, drop a currently held item, use the new one, and then go back for the original. It’s a 16-bit inventory management nightmare, but it’s the only way.

🔑 Chapter Two: Getting a Key, and Avoiding a Dip

Your next immediate goal is the main gate key. The water, of course, is instant death. It’s a classic ZX Spectrum design principle: if it’s blue, it’ll kill you faster than a stale chip butty.

1. The Main Gate Key: This key is tantalisingly close, but over a gap near the main beach. You need the Plank of Wood to get it. The Plank is usually found near a hut or tucked away near the initial jungle screen.
2. The Locksmith: Use the Plank to bridge the gap and get the key. Now you can unlock the main gate on the central screen (the one with the palm tree).

You are now in the heart of the island. You should be feeling good, but don’t get cocky. This is where the proper **analogue challenge** begins.

🧭 Chapter Three: From Jungle to Volcano

The game really opens up now. You need to start thinking about the bigger, more complex puzzles. Remember, this is a linear adventure disguised as a non-linear one. You are still moving from one specific block to the next.

• The Rope: Head up towards the jungle canopy. You’ll find a broken rope bridge. Nearby, you’ll eventually find a strong, coiled Rope. Use this Rope to fix the bridge and get access to the volcano area.
• The Pickaxe: In the same jungle area, you’ll often find a Pickaxe. Hang onto this; you need it to clear a rockfall inside the volcano. This is a classic item-use puzzle.
• The Matches: Now, this is a tricky one. Near the volcano entrance, there’s a cannon. Go find the Matches (they are usually in one of the lower caves or huts). Take them, go to the cannon, and use the Matches on the Gunpowder (found nearby).
• The Barrel: The cannon blast should clear the main passage, allowing you to access the highest part of the volcano. Grab the empty Barrel.

Ed’s Rant: The sheer satisfaction of using the Matches on the Gunpowder, watching the screen flash, and hearing that tinny bang… that’s pure, unadulterated 1988 brilliance. You earned that explosion, you big-headed egg.

💰 Chapter Four: The Final Steps to Glory

By now, your brain should feel like it’s been scrubbed with wire wool. But you’re nearly there. This is where you bring the disparate objects together to get to the titular Treasure.

1. The Water: Remember that empty Barrel you picked up? Find the Well (often in the village area). Use the Barrel on the Well to get a Barrel of Water.
2. The Fire: Head back up to the high screens where a raging Fire blocks your progress. Use the Barrel of Water to extinguish it.
3. The Shovel: This is your final working tool. Once the fire is out, you can get access to the Shovel.
4. The X: Now the biggest anticlimax in gaming history: find the ‘X’ on the ground. Use the Shovel.

You’ve done it. The screen will flash, and you will have finally found the treasure, a whole six pixels of shimmering glory. The ending is abrupt, silent, and perfect. You’ll sit there, staring at the screen, realising you just spent three hours of a rainy Tuesday morning solving a problem set designed by a man who hated eggs.

Was it unfair? Yes. Was it infuriating? Absolutely. Did we love every second of this retro adventure and defend it fiercely against all comers? You bet we did. Now go find some rubber rings and save Daisy!