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> Results: Feel the Magic XX/XY
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One of the weirdest launch titles for the Nintendo DS is also one of the best. Feel the Magic is a collection of mini-games that utilizes the special unique features of the DS.
In this game, the protagonist is just some guy with a skateboard helmet and a really cool shirt with a goldfish on it. One day this guy passes a beautiful woman on the street and falls in love instantly. We'll call her Ms. Game & Watch because that's what she kind of looks like (if Mr. Game & Watch from Super Smash Bros. were female). A group of street performers notices and decides to help this guy ask her out. These street performers call themselves the "Rub Rabbits" and they wear rabbit ears on their heads. In the game, you'll play wacky mini-games to progress the story along as the hero gets her attention, goes out on date, lands on a deserted island, and fights a bully rival for the beauty's affection. But if you think Feel the Magic is like one of those Japanese dating simulation video games, then you are mistaken. If Feel the Magic is a dating sim, then Wario Ware is a business sim. Actually, Feel the Magic has a lot in common with Wario Ware. The mini-games may be a bit longer, but they're just as wacky. Plus you'll use the special capabilities of the DS to play many of these mini-games. In some mini-games, you'll use the stylus pen to guide goldfish out of a man's stomach, rub through sand on the touch screen to uncover Ms. Game & Watch's treasures, and steer a guy on a unicycle through an obstacle filled path using your pen as a guide. Other games use the small microphone on the bottom of the DS. You may have to yell very loud into the mic to get Ms. Game & Watch's attention in one game, or blow into the mic to send a sailboat to safety (you'll look pretty silly if you play this game in public). In other mini games you'll have to swat at bees, tap at charging bulls, roll up into a ball and bowl over people on the other side of a busy street, flick off scorpions crawling on the lady's back, and guide the hero out of a snake's stomach. Needless to say, this game gets pretty weird. Boss battles require you to fight a man-eating plant, giant robot mech, or drive on the road and launch people projectiles at the rival. You've never been on a date quite like this.  You can replay games that you've unlocked in the "Memories" mode to try and get a higher score. Finding secrets and reaching high scores nets unlockables, and in this case the unlockables are rather superfluous. You can get new outfits for the girl to wear. Andﾅthat's it! Some of them are pretty funny, though. If you put a Sega GBA cart into the GBA slot on the DS, you may even automatically unlock some special outfits that resemble other classic Sega characters, like a Sonic the Hedgehog wig or Space Channel 5 Ulala hair. The unique graphics have a 1960's flair to them, and all the characters are shown in silhouette only. Music and sound are pretty wacky, too, featuring crazy vocal effects and funky beats. Play control using the stylus is very good, although I had some trouble with some of the levels that required precision drawing, like the games where you have to draw a straight line to guide a unicycle on a path. Those were hard. But it could've just been me, I could just not be very good at drawing straight lines! I also had trouble in the stage where you have to color an object completely in the lines. I've had trouble doing that since kindergarten! Feel the Magic is a fairly short game and a little low on the replay value, but it's still a pretty fun game that really shows off the capabilities of Nintendo's new handheld. If you like weird and quirky games like Wario Ware or Katamari Damacy, you'll want to check out Feel the Magic. 
Well this game certainly earns the Teen rating. But it's all presented in such a campy way that I didn't think it was that bad. But this is the GamerDad site, so I'll still list all the questionable content I found anyway. It'll sound bad, but it's really not. First of all, some of the mini-games have you doing stuff that could get you hurt in real life, like riding down a hill in a shopping cart. There's a big warning sign when you turn on the game to not try any of this stuff at home. Then there's the more ﾑsexual' content matter. In one mini game you use the stylus to rub dirt off of Ms. Game & Watch, and as you do this her sighs and moans are pretty, well, suggestive. There's another mini game where she got all wet and cold, and you have to help her unbutton the back of her dress so she can get out of those wet clothes. So, yes, there is a mini-game where you undress her. Also, on many of the menu screens, Ms. Game & Watch stands there and you can poke her with the stylus pen and she'll react accordingly. Poke her on the foot and she'll hold her foot and say "ouch!" Poke her in the head and she'll adjust her hair. Poke herﾅwell, like I said, you can poke her just about anywhere and she'll react accordingly. So yeah, in most cases I'd definitely stick with the rating on this game.
This game also kind of limits the audience since you're a guy trying to win the heart of a girl. Why couldn't Sega give you the option to let you be a girl who tries to get a guy's attention? Or better yet, ditch the silly story entirely. I don't need a reason to blow out giant space candles from another dimension! Hey, it worked for Wario Ware. Feel the Magic is still a pretty fun game, though. One of my favorite DS games so far. Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Feel the Magic XX/XY |
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