Reviews// Feel The Magic

All in all, we’ve got mixed feeling towards Feel The Magic. As a brand new Sonic Team launch title for a brand new Nintendo machine, we can’t pretend we didn’t want something a little more revolutionary. The package is just too small and too short-lived to gain our full respect. It’s a real shame, because most of what is there is a good deal of fun while it lasts. It certainly looks absolutely fantastic, the audio is basic but cheerful, and the insane storyline and characters are unbelievable and totally ridiculous (in a good way),

The mini-game structure works well in the world of handhelds, but we suspect Made In Wario will put this totally to shame. It just doesn’t last long enough, and when it’s finished, there’s little to draw you back. There are unlockable costumes and such in ‘Maniac’ mode, but these extras are so superficial and blatantly shallow that only the most devoted players will be bothered to find them. Beyond that, you might occasionally replay your favourite levels in ‘Memories’ mode; but after you’ve played each one a few times, interest rapidly tails off.

It’s a nice showcase for creative design and DS control possibilities, and so is well worth investigating if you’re an early DS owner, but we don’t imagine this will do much to sell hardware to people still undecided. But if anything, it does emphasise what an amazing package its first-party colleague is, with Super Mario 64 DS's healthy spread of mini games combined with the entire reworked interpretation of an N64 classic now seeming monumental by comparison

SPOnG Rating: C+

Quirky gamerphiles and those with a keen interest in arty design and all things Yuji Naka will love this game for the short period that it lasts. But once the box is slipped out of the cellophane, the seal of freshness is broken, a mere couple of days later you’re left with what seems quite a stale example of style over substance. And for those barely intrigued by the artwork or whimsical mini-challenges, there’s nothing here for you. We felt the magic initially, but now we now how it all works, it seems more Paul Daniels than David Blaine.