Play Wizard Of Oz - Beyond The Yellow Brick Road, The (US)(OneUp) Online

Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road came out for the Nintendo DS in 2009, developed by Media.Vision. It was part of that wave of DS games that tried different things with the hardware, especially the touch screen, and it stood out for its unusual take on a familiar story. The game reimagines Oz with a distinct visual style and a more introspective tone than you might expect.

You control Dorothy and her companions as they travel across Oz, following a golden path on the lower screen by rolling a trackball with the stylus. Combat is turn based; you select actions for each character, but the timing of attacks and enemy movements is shown on a circular gauge that adds a bit of urgency. The goal is to reach the Emerald City, though the journey involves navigating maze like forests, talking to strange characters, and managing the party's often conflicting moods. It moves at a deliberate pace, with some backtracking and enemy encounters that can feel frequent, but the overall experience is quietly absorbing. Playing it feels like slowly uncovering a melancholic, slightly off kilter storybook.