"Original"

First let me say that this review is from memories of playing the game a couple years ago, and so may not be entirely accurate. I probably wouldn't even be writing a review, but I can't let this game sit there without people knowing what it was all about, and I certainly don't remember enough of it to write a FAQ, so... you get this.

The graphics were decent, nothing spectacular. There was a ring with 5 circles, arranged in a pentagon like the colors on the back of a magic card. You selected your mage, one for every color was available, and then you went to battle. Each mage stood on a circle, and you had a cursor to control things. The cursor itself was moved with a trackball. You could press one button to summon a creature or a second button to make a spell. You could also hold down either button to make whatever you were doing stronger. For example, just tapping the summon button might bring up something insignificant like some Scryb Sprites, but charging it all the way could bring something your opponent would worry about, like a Juzam Djinn. You could also bring the cursor over to one of the unoccupied circles and hit both buttons (I think. There might have been a third button) to teleport there instantly.

You could also knock someone's cursor out of the way while they were charging sopmething, but I could never figure out how... I think it just involved slamming your own into it really hard. Once the cursor was knocked away, the spell began to dissipate. Either player could go over and continue the spell.

Creatures would plod over to the enemy and attack. Little ones would die right away, while the bigger ones might stick around for a few volleys.

If you're interested, here's how I'd score it...

Gameplay 8/10
Good gameplay, good controls, reasonably deep
Graphics 8/10
Good, not phenomenal
Sounds NA
Sorry, I've never gotten much of an impression of the sound from any game
Story 1/10
I don't think there was one, besides the generic Magic back story of two planeswalkers dueling for power.
Replay 10/10
It was, for all intents and purposes, a fighting game. An unorthodox one, granted, but a fighting game nonetheless. As such, it thrives on its replay value.

Anyways, that's about it. It was a fun game, no doubt about that, and it's sad that there were so few made (IIRC, around half a dozen). I count myself lucky for having gotten the chance to play it. Unfortunately, the place I played it at, the Wizards of the Coast Game Center in Seattle, is now shut down, or so I've heard. Good luck finding one.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/20/03, Updated 02/20/03