Wired writes: "One of the first games that caught my attention on the Tokyo Game Show floor was Riz-Zoawd, a bizarrely named role-playing game from D3 Publisher.
It's actually, if you can believe it, a retelling of The Wizard of Oz in a Dragon Quest-style Nintendo DS game. The title, pronounced riz-owed, is an anagram of "wizard oz." You play as Dorothy and her three spiritual advisers, as they go on quests demanded of them by Oz himself."
WorthPlaying spent some time exploring The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (the US version of RIZ-ZOAWD), which is scheduled for release at the end of the month.
"Relying on its experience in the RPG realm (Media Vision is responsible for the Wild Arms series of games), the developer took the basic story, mixed in a bit of J-RPG styling and gave Dorothy a bit of Lolita fashion sense. The net result is a game that maintains a sense of familiarity while still being a fresh take on a classic story."
From Nintendo Now:
It seems XSEED Games is showing, once again, its high interest in bringing over titles that many have doubted would ever see release outside of Japan. With their recent announcement of Sky Crawlers, a combat flight simulator for Wii, being made not too long ago, signs of another XSEED localization have appeared.
The next game to be added to XSEED's lineup is The Wizard of Oz: Beyond The Yellow Brick Road for the Nintendo DS. Many gamers probably know this game as RIZ-ZOAWD, the RPG inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Signs of this title's upcoming release have appeared on sites like GameFly and Amazon. A boxart of the game was also revealed.
Its made by Media Vidion,designers of Wild Arms,so it might turn out really good
Patrick Gann writes "Michiko Naruke, composer behind the Wild Arms series, hadn't been heard from in a long time, until the recent announcement that she would be co-composing the soundtrack to RIZ-ZOAWD for the DS.
Today, we bring you a feature article, giving plenty of new information as to where Naruke has been, and where her career path may take her in the future.
The interview took place at the "Press Start Symphony of Games 2008" event in Japan, and was conducted by guest contributor Jeriaska, who has provided similar articles for RPGFan in the past.
Our sincere thanks goes to Jeriaska, Michiko Naruke, and others for providing this interview for us to host."
Great composer.She needs to get cracking on some next gen soundtracks for the PS3,360,and Wii to get back to the big leagues