What was to be Diamond's final game is unfortunately another fine example of the demo curse. However, in this case, the demo is actually quite featureful (if a little buggy).

From a gameplay perspective, Wired plays as a sidescrolling Metroid-ish game, with a non-linear structure and a sword as a melee weapon. The sword is easy to use and has a good range, making it very easy to defeat enemies quickly and accurately, even in mid-air. There is a "charge" indicator on the status bar that tells you when you can swing your sword again, but at the rate it charges, you probably don't need to keep an eye on it at all, as you'll be swinging again in less than a split second. No complaints here.

The defining feature of Wired is its art style - the level designs are not the usual detailed, gritty-feeling styles like other MZX games, but a smoother, more cel-like feeling, with all important platforms and objects sporting a thick black outline. My one complaint with the graphics is that there was not a lot of care put in to the player's animations; the player's feet don't appear to be moving at all, and the sword arm is swinging wildly as he walks.

The game unfortunately presents some (unintentional?) difficulty, as jumping between platforms might be hampered by imprecise timing (MZX isn't as forgiving as most console sidescrollers due to it only running and calculating at 15 FPS by default), and there are also some situations in which you cannot escape, like the acid pits near the beginning of the game which cannot be jumped out of.

The Wired shows lots of potential, and looks magnificent, but is unfortunately quite unfinished. Shame, too - with some bug fixing and perhaps a redesign of the jumping system to work at a higher MZX speed, it could be vastly improved.