When Sega announced its pervy/sexy/arty touch-screen love adventure, most onlookers were somewhat baffled. A collaboration between the flamboyant, fiercely independent, and now defunct United Game Artists and the austere patriarchy of Yuji Naka’s Sonic Team Project Rub was bound to result in something special. Of course, special can mean pretty much anything.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has for a long time praised Yuji Naka as being the first developer to fully understand the vision a ... more >>

When Sega announced its pervy/sexy/arty touch-screen love adventure, most onlookers were somewhat baffled. A collaboration between the flamboyant, fiercely independent, and now defunct United Game Artists and the austere patriarchy of Yuji Naka’s Sonic Team Project Rub was bound to result in something special. Of course, special can mean pretty much anything.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has for a long time praised Yuji Naka as being the first developer to fully understand the vision and scope of the DS. Feel The Magic (that was the working title) is the first game from the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog for the new machine, and it’s an oddity, no messin'.

It’s essentially a love game, presented in something of an erotic style. Your task as the player is to ensure that the female lead character falls desperately in love the hapless boy, by performing a variety of day-saving tasks.

It’s a selection of minigames, somewhat slower paced than the frenetic and excellent WarioWare for DS, albeit infinitely better looking.

Indeed, the UGA element of the newly-rejigged Sonic Team really shines through across the array of tasks presented. It’s a Warholian take on such classics as Incredible Crisis, very Japanese and a casual gaming crowd-pleaser, and possibly one that will find its way into the girl-core category of gaming.

You will see goldfish regurgitated, shopping trolleys crashing, lobster attacks and more, all presented in a swirling confusion of colour, shape and sound. Project Rub might not be to everyone’s taste, and to some it’s little more than a dumbed up slower paced take on the WarioWare formula. To others it’s a work of art making Sega’s inaugural DS title a must-buy for many. << less