Dazzeloids



Dazzeloids is a 1994 children's CD-ROM game created by Rodney Greenblat (creator of Parappa the Rapper); it features the Dazzeloids (Anne Dilly Whim, Titan Rose, Yendor Talbneerg and Stinkabod Lamé), a team of boredom banishers fighting the forces of mediocrity set by the Mediogre and his geeky assistant, Pin Bleeper.

Within the CD are three interactive stories: It also includes a page on the characters, as well as a how-to page and a "splashy intro".
 * A Child Is Bored: Jeremy Gerbilman ends up a Brainwashed zombie due to bland television, and it's up to the Dazzeloids to cure him.
 * Banker, Spare That Pet Shop: When Stinkabod's pet hamster, Shortnin'head, contracts Fuzzy Rodent Flu, Anne calls the Probe & Poke pet shop for help, but the place had vanished (or rather, "transglumified") into Another Dimension. Yendor, Titan and Stinkabod investigate the scene, but they end up teleported themselves.
 * Dazzeloid Dreams: A look into the dreams of the Dazzeloids, as well as the main villain.

Sadly out of print, the CD can still be found through web stores such as Amazon and eBay. It's well worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Greenblat's work.

Tropes in this CD-ROM:
"Anne Dilly Whim: "Hi-ho! Dazzeloids away!""
 * Black and White Morality: Fun (The Dazzeloids) versus Boredom (The Mediogre).
 * Beeping Computers
 * Card-Carrying Villain: The Mediogre loves making everything sterile of imagination and fun, and he'll gladly tell you all about it.
 * Catch Phrase:

"The Mediogre's only "good side": "The Mediogre still loves his mother.""
 * Choose Your Own Adventure: The first two stories, but especially Banker.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: The Mediogre, head of the BLANDO company in charge of all boring media.
 * Cosmetic Award: The program actually rewards you for playing it a certain number of times, from the 10th to the 25th to the 100th time. This is merely a bit of silly fun that can easily be achieved with some simple rewriting of a file within the program folder.
 * Credits Medley: The credits feature several bits of the incidental music throughout the CD-ROM.
 * Cultured Bruiser: Titan Rose was built on these tropes. He even wrote a book of love poems the same year he won the weight-lifting grand finals.
 * Dead Little Sister: Anne's sister, Liliana Algonquin Whim, was literally bored to death by a rerun of a BLANDO TV show, motivating Anne to fight for those imprisoned by mediocrity.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas:

""EVERYTHING IS NOT FOR SALE! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT, NOW GO AWAY! YOU'RE LITTLE DREAM IS GONNA FAIL! CALL YOUR MOMMY! RUN AWAY!""
 * Explosive Overclocking: What Yendor does to his Personal Distress Assistant to create a reverse anti-reality disturbance to restore the pet shop to its rightful place.
 * Expository Theme Tune: Featured in the "splashy intro".
 * Failure Is the Only Option: When the Mediogre tries to create a superpowered Transglumifier, it backfires in humorous ways (exactly how depends on the Lava Lamp Power Cell you choose), sending the teleported pet shop back to its original place.
 * This is also the subject of the Mediogre's Nightmare Sequence:

"Mediogre: "Being the villain is so much fun!""
 * For the Evulz:

"Are you waiting? Yeah, we're waiting for the CD to spin.
 * Hacker Cave: The lair of the Mediogre and Pin Bleeper.
 * Just a Stupid Accent:
 * Anne has a Texan accent.
 * Titan has a Shakespearean dialect.
 * Stinkabod has a hillbilly drawl.
 * Yendor has a Scotirish brogue.
 * Loads and Loads of Loading: Lampshaded with the song "Are You Waiting", which plays when a section is loading.

Are you waiting? Yeah, we're waiting for the fun to begin.

Are you waiting? Yeah, we're waiting, but it's been too long.

Are you waiting? Yeah, we're waiting; has something gone wrong?"

"Titan Rose: "Behold, the pet shop up on high in the void; we know not why. If it were to fall like a pet-filled bomb, it would ruin this happy CD-ROM.""
 * Mad Libs Dialogue: Happens often, but especially with food.
 * Medium Awareness:

"Yendor: "Hey you! Quit clickin' on my face! Hey, that's my body you're clickin' on.""
 * Neologism: Many of the words on the CD-ROM, displayed in pink. Clicking on them will bring up their "meanings", told by Yendor. Their dictionary also includes Techno Babble and otherwise unusual items, such as "creamy corn" (Titan's favorite between-meal snack) and "energy field".
 * No Fourth Wall: The tutorial.


 * Petting Zoo People: The main characters:
 * Anne is nearly human, but she has bovinesque horns on her head, as do her family.
 * Titan is a hulking feline man.
 * Yendor is a humanoid insect, possibly an ant.
 * Stinkabod is a humanoid sheep.
 * The Mediogre is a worm man.
 * Pin Bleeper is a "techno-weasel".
 * Pixel Hunt: Assembling the Vibrobeam requires you to click-and-drag the main segments of it to their rightful spot; the only trouble is that that "spot" is incredibly small, and it might take a while before they'll fall into place.
 * Police Are Useless: Not so much completely useless as much as useless with the fantastic goings-on.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Anne Dilly Whim's parents were the king and queen of Chucklestein, making her the princess, but they were discharged when Chucklestein was bought by the BLANDO company, and now live in their royal mansion, which acts as the Dazzeloid Headquarters.
 * She mostly sends out the boys to investigate the scene of boredom, but in Banker Spare That Pet Shop, one of the story options has her build a "Vibrobeam" to save her teleported comrades.
 * Sdrawkcab Name: Yendor Talbneerg. Guess who?
 * Talking to Himself: Rodney Greenblat voices a majority of the cast and extras in this CD-ROM, along with several others.
 * Token Girl: Anne Dilly Whim is the only woman of the Dazzeloids team, but she's also their level-headed leader and Team Mom.