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> Results: Barbie & the Magic of Pegasus
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Scroll down for our Kid Factor. The Pegasus is one of the few things that's been delighting little girls longer than Barbie. Finally, the two shall meet as they venture together in Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. (I'm sure Barbie is a breath of fresh air for Pegasus after having sprung from Medusa). Anyone who's seen the movie will find the abbreviated storyline and vibrant colors very familiar. Vivendi Universal Games has managed to create a visual feast for the eyes and solid game play with this latest endeavor, but the game's overall potential is somewhat compromised by poor menu structure and a faulty save mechanism It's time to celebrate Annika's (Barbie) birthday at the Cloud Kingdom with Rayla, the Cloud Queen, and the Cloud Princesses. Immediately, the kingdom's evil Wizard, Wenlock, arrives demanding Annika's hand in marriage. Upon being rebuffed, he maliciously turns all present guests and the remainder of the kingdom's inhabitants into stone statues. Annika and Brietta (the Pegasus), armed with the Wand of Light, are the villager's only hope of restoration (take THAT you Barbie haters). The Magic of the Pegasus is one of the most visually pleasing games I've seen, to date, on the Game Boy Advance. The images are crisp and beautifully colored. Annika and Brietta's movements are realistic and the developers did an excellent job of adding small details such as how the hem of Annika's dress wafts in the breeze or how her hair moves.  There is no question that the game play is solid. Annika, Brietta, and the Wand of Light all move and function just as the player requires. Movement consists of walking, jumping, waving the wand, and flying on Brietta in the mini-games. Playing of the game is a satisfying experience for the most part. While this game has excellent merit in visuals and controller response, it's a bit lacking and repetitive on the storyline front. Players will indeed journey through 5 locations that correspond with the movie, but the game play is limited to restoring villagers to their previous state, searching for keys to unlock additional outfits, and zapping antagonist creatures with the wand. A certain amount of variety IS present in the wand, as there are four jewels that provide additional functionality and movement. Utilizing the flutter jewel, twirl jewel, flower jewel, and warmth jewel, Annika is able to access high places, cross wide chasms, transform nature's obstacles into tools, and melt away ice obstacles. The one absolute criticism I have of this game is the ridiculous and malfunctioning save mechanism. Like many other children's games, The Magic of Pegasus has opted for a password feature, over a straightforward save mechanism. After each area is cleared of stone villagers, a four picture password is assigned utilizing pictures of Annika, Brietta, Ollie, Wenlock, the Wand of Light, or the Castle. There are in excess of 20 passwords, and each password opens up ONLY one section of that level. Even when using the final password, players cannot travel to prior parts of the game, but are limited to the final boss fight, which assigned that particular password. Finally, a bug in the save mechanism causes additional, earned clothing outfits to be lost after leaving the level where the outfit was locatedﾅkind of the same thing that happens in your closet on a weekly basis, but more frustrating. This malfunction also impacts the ability to replay mini-games.  Overall, The Magic of Pegasus is an enjoyable game if you don't mind repetition and don't get hung up on changing your outfit as often as Liberace or Cher. 
Undoubtedly, this game will delight any child who loves Barbie or Pegasus. The developer did an excellent job of capturing the visual beauty of the story on the Gameboy Advance platform, and the characters Annika, Brietta and others are a good size, crisp and detail oriented.
Children lacking reading skills will require a parent to assist them with this game, but older children will be led from game beginning to end via excellent written instructions. Brietta addresses Annika at the beginning of each level, explaining the objective. Collected items are defined, use is detailed, and instructions are given for securing additional outfits, playing mini-games, and beating the bosses. Some parents may view the premise of the story and some portions of Wenlock's dialogue offensive. Again, the adventure itself is a result of Wenlock's demand that Annika marry him and his responseﾅturning the people to stone at her refusal. Some comments to Annika, such as addressing her as "dollface" may be off-putting, but he IS the antagonist, after all. Alternatively, these scenarios could be used as learning tools to introduce children to the idea that any relationship is something one chooses, not forced into, and that some phrases like "dollface" are considered rude when used by rude or inappropriate people. Antagonists are in the form of porcupines, frogs, Griffins, spiders, poison flowers, Arctic foxes, etc, and may be avoided by jumping or zapped with the wand. Either way, they merely bounce out of the way once zapped, so it's not overly violent. This game follows each level with the typical "boss" match, with Annika defeating, via physical means, Wenlock, or Ollie. Boss fights include causing chandeliers to fall on Wenlock, turning miniature Griffins into stone for Ollie to trip over, or outrunning a large rolling snowball. I doubt many kids want to see Annika overrun by the snowball. The game is suitable for even the smallest gamers in that it can be played in "easy" and "hard" mode. Both modes are identical with the exception that easy mode is "no-fail". Normal mode is written in typical action style and utilizes hearts as a health meter. Children who can't write or draw will be unable to document the passwords, and kids who are old enough will either have to draw out the pictures or spell the characters. Once this is accomplished, the usual issue of actually maintaining and locating the password still holds. A few words of cautionﾅdue to the buggy save mechanism, children who enjoy accessing previous levels will need to note the password that is associated with an individual level in order to avoid frustration. Also, outfits will be lost once the game is saved, so a child is required to replay the levels in which the outfit was awarded to secure the outfit again. Overall, this is very little objectionable material involved in this game, and with the exception of the physical aspects of the battles, most of the scenarios can be turned into learning opportunities. Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Barbie & the Magic of Pegasus |
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