Amazing Island

"It's pretty awsome."

March 23, 1996. Pokemon and Mario Party both fell in love from the moment they met. Such a strong relationship between them. And when the day Mario Party proposed to Pokemon, people believed that they were a great combo. 7 years later, they learn that they're going to have a baby, and so they prepare with a storyline, nice graphics, sounds, and all that other stuff. Then on August 25, 2004, the little one arrived! The proud parents named their baby child..."Amazing Island". Amazing Island slowly grows up while getting its personalities from its parents.

Well, that's basically one way you can describe this game: Quirky, Strange, and Fun. And another way to describe it is by calling it a "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" video game. But it doesn't mean it's bad. But now I have to point out the main things in this game to help you decide what it could be:

Story: 6/10
Yeah, the story is just like one of your everyday games. Somewhere in the world, a forgotten island awaits. And the island is called...well, Amazing Island. The creatures and citizens have been imagined there by real humans. Yup, what you imagine there'll come to life. But unfortunately, an evil terror named "Black Evil" exists on the island terrorizing all the citizens (called "Maboo") there, making the island less remembered..or something along those words. And so, Black Evil must be stopped by a human, and guess who's that human? Ding-ding! That's right! You. So, you somehow end up on the island and need to go through a series of courses that'll bring back most of the Maboo. The game isn't very long, but it'll do. And the real reason why the story gets a 6 is because this kind of story is over used. Something evil awaits, and you're the only one who can stop it.

Gameplay: 10/10
Now this is where the game rules. Though you play as a mere human who has no physical abilities that can stop Black Evil, you get a monster for a partner (like Pokemon), but you get to create one yourself. Hell yeah, they literally mean create your monster. Yeah, you draw what your monster's head will look like, the body's shape and form, all of it. There's over 15 types of body frames that you can use for a monster (Hamster, Bunny, Horse, Scorpion-Worm, and more), and a hell of a variety of accessories, color/patterns, eyes, and voices. Like, you can make a monster that has horns, have demon-like eyes, a dinosaur voice, and be colored pink, or even metal; hell, even both! Then when your done, you can check the stats of your monster (the stats all depend on the form of your monster, color, accessories, whatever), then put it to the test in a selection of minigames that you can win thing to use on your monster (potions, new accessories, colors, etc.) for even better monsters! Best part in the game. Can't say much with the multi-player.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are colorful, beautiful, and smooth. Thanks to the graphics, you can see your monster run without looking like a triangle. And the water looks beautiful. Nice reflections, smooth waves and all. Though some things coulda been better (the trees look like they've been cut out).

Sound: 7/10
Yeah, the sound...sounds nice and calm, but later get's quite annoying when your monster roars with it's voice and all. Say "Wolf" for example.You'd hear a wolf howl every 1 1/2 seconds in a minigame. So that's a -3.

Replayability: 10/10
Though each monster you create uses up 8 blocks(ouch) of memory on your memory card, I'd suggest buying a new/used one to save your monsters. Anyway, creating monster's is really fun, and you might come up with a new idea for one at least once a day, plus you'll want to keep creating monster's to play games with everyday.

Overall:
Story:6
Gameplay:10
Graphics:9
Sound:7
Replayability:10

*Grand Finale* Rent or Buy?
I suggest renting it first to see if you'll get used to the game's monster creating system, and then decide if you want to buy it or not.

That comes to the end of my first review, so...I hoped it helped.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/05