Released in 1981, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was the first grid-based first-person RPG—what we nowadays call blobbers—and it proved enormously influential. Its art was rudimentary: the monochrome dungeon halls were a series of white lines carefully placed to simulate the feeling of moving through a three-dimensional environment. Leaving the ruggedness of its “3D” world exploration aside, it was an unprecedentedly complex and immersive take on the CRPG, and the American-developed series sold loads—especially in Japan.
The earliest Wizardry games varied a lot depending on the platform: DOS and Commodore 64 versions were as described, but the Nintendo ports were graphically much more vivid, with evocative fantasy pixel art. What unites the first five Wizardry games, no matter the platform, is that they’re mostly unavailable to play in 2026, save a remake of Proving Grounds handled by Digital Eclipse and released in 2024.
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“Wizardry is such an influential RPG franchise, yet many of the games have been unavailable for more than two decades,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen said. “We are excited to have this rare opportunity to republish, remaster and bring console ports and physical releases of these early games to market.”
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