I’ve played a lot of games, so sometimes it’s hard to impress me. I also know that I good title and a good cover will likely bring me to a game a lot quicker. Well, recently I was impressed, and thanks to this particular game’s name and
cover, it took me about five years to discover its brilliance. Without seeing a few screenshots and some research I would never have picked up Sonic Team’s DS exclusive title “Feel the Magic: XY/XX” because on the surface I would have bet that it’s just another throw-away shovelware game. As you can see…
…it’s not exactly shouting creativity or wild fun. The cover suggests either “a games for the girls” or a perverted dress-up game. But I was dead wrong. What “Feel the Magic: XY/XX” is is a clever, funny, romantic compilation of exciting minigames complete with some the greatest abstract humor, I have ever seen.
You play as a silent protagonist in a bicycle helmet, who sees the girl of his dreams, and with the help of an army of men in Playboy bunny ears known as the “Rub Rabbits,” decides to win her love. How do you go about getting the girl. You have to rescue her and impress her in every way – which involves riding unicycles across skyscrapers, fighting bulls, sky diving, forcing a man to vomit fish, drying clothes, and using a laser powered Mohawk. Every minigame, is fast-paced and a surprising amount of fun, and are perfected by solid stylus controls, which are both simple and easy to learn. Aside from a few other wonderful games, I have never seen the DS controls used so adeptly.
The first major thing you might notice, picking up “Feel the Magic,” is the art style, which is beautiful. Fully aware of the NDS’s graphical limitations Sonic Team used very simple character designs, while still keeping them in 3D. Everyone is a black silhouette, with the the occasional distinguishing article of clothes. And because this is a stream of minigames instead of a standard, linear game, you’ll get to see these characters do a large number of insane activities which you would never have done in a traditional game. That’s another place where the art shines, by juxtaposing black silhouetted characters with brightly colored locations and ridiculous situations.
The story is a standard romance, boy sees girl and wants to be with her, which is a sweet story, but I can’t help feeling that the bare bones “Mario-esque” narrative leaves something to be desired. Essentially, the girl is just a prize, and while I commend the art style, her lack of any genuine features (aside from a hefty bust and blue dress) make it hard to find her appealing as a character. Fortunately, there’s not a lot of time to think about this while the game is throwing exciting minigames at you left and right, and do to some very cute set pieces you’re heart does warm up to her.
The last items of note are a clothing editor only for the girl and a frankly tasteless “cleaning” gaming, where you rub dirt off of the girl and she makes disturbingly erotic sounds. These sexploitive tricks seem to belittle the genuine nature of the game, but looking past them isn’t hard to do. Just ignore the clothing editor, because it’s silly. And try not to feel to uncomfortable while wiping your loved one off, and don’t leave the sound on while other’s are around.
In the end it’s a funny and cute experience. It’s a little short, but at this point it’s a two-dollar bargain bin game, so why not get a copy from your local used game’s shop. It’ll be well worth it.
[...] Chad plays some more of The People’s Games, this time featuring: “depict1,” “Cosmosa,”"Starfeld,” “Balloon in the Wasteland,” “Vatn Squid,” and “Nuclear Baby.” He also reviews “Vanitas” and “Noby Noby Boy” for the iPhone and retrospectively looks at “Feel the Magic: XY/XX.” [...]