"When stars collide, like you and I..."

Welcome to the Will o' Wisp Academy. At least, that's how the public on planet Kovomaka knows it. Once you look past the cutesy name, you'll find that this place isn't like your typical high school. Instead of learning about algebra, dissecting pig fetuses, discussing historical issues and writing crappy five-paragraph essays, the students here have only one thing on their mind: magic. Not the kind of David Blaine street tricks or Houdini escaping techniques, either. These kids are learning about their innate ability to conjure up different elements, and use them to affect their surroundings. And by “affecting their surroundings” I mean hunting down lesser creatures and unleashing a torrent of light, fire, earth, and a few other nasty spells on their sorry hides. Apparently, the future generation will be trained to kill monsters (or whatever happens to get in their way) as opposed to having knowledge of conventional society.

That lack of knowledge shows, too. As the school year rolls on, one of the teachers decides to take a brief trip to another planet, presumably to visit a former student. But when she doesn't come back, her students start to get worried. But instead of filing a missing persons report, asking the principal, or doing anything that would involve common sense, this band of teenage magicians decide to take things into their own hands. After sneaking into the higher levels of the academy, they discover that the school's roof is really a launch pad for interstellar spaceships. Since the school's ships can only carry a single pilot, the students hijack six of the vehicles, strap themselves in, and blast off in hopes of saving their teacher from some presumed peril…At least, that was their plan until the ships suddenly veer off course, crash, and marooning the six students on different planets. Since the academy seems to be taking their time in sending out a rescue team, it's up to you to figure out how to get off the planet, reunite your classmates, and find your missing teacher.

Okay, so this isn't exactly Gilligan's Island. However, you've still got one thing going for you: magic. At the start of the game, you'll get to choose between learning dark magic for unleashing devastating attacks or light for health restoration and support as the basis for your spells. Once your character woken up from the crash, you'll have explore the planet's enclosed sections by either holding down on the DS's buttons or using the Touch Screen. Interacting with NPCs, menus, and just about everything else revolves completely around your use of the stylus. If you walk around aimlessly for enough time, you'll trigger a random battle that will pit the hero/heroine against murderous robots, otter space pirates, crooked intergalactic cops, lizard people, or whatever the local alien monsters happen to look like. At this point you're given the standard set of options that come with most turn-based RPGs: Use a physical attack, unleash a magical ass-kicking, defend against the enemy's upcoming onslaught, chug an HP elixir some other item, or run like coward. All you've got to do is make the right selections with the stylus, tap your target if necessary, and watch the carnage ensure. Once you've slaughtered enough beasts and gotten enough experience points, you'll level up and gain better stats and new spells.

Oh my, how utterly generic.

In a desperate attempt to avoid mediocrity, Magical Starsign tries to implement astrology into its combat mechanics. As time passes in the game, the various stars and planets of the solar system continue on their usual orbits. Each of these heavenly bodies has its own elemental attribute that can directly influence your characters' powers. If the correct stars drift into the alignment, one or more of your characters will suddenly start glowing and get a massive boost in his or her magical powers. Though such a feature can prove advantageous sometimes, it can prove to be your downfall as well. While your characters may have suddenly gotten enhanced abilities, your enemies have as well. Also, the elemental magic operates akin to the type classes found in the Pokemon series; Earth Magic is strong against Water Magic, Grass is weak against Fire, Light and Dark are balanced out, etc. Accordingly, you'll have to plan out your attack formations, placing certain characters in the front lines or providing support depending on the situation. But when the spells start flying and things start dying, only those with the finest magical combative prowess will be left standing.

It's not like the entire game revolves around battling, though. Despite the fairly rigid combat, you'll be granted a fair amount of leeway with your character in regards to their equipment and stat boosts. Also, much of the game's progression involves backtracking to the planets you've already completed and using rescued characters' powers to access new areas and secret dungeons. If wandering around and dungeon crawling seems like a complete waste of time, completionists will likely enjoy completing the game's Beastiary, a four-volume encyclopedia that can cover nearly three hundred monsters. The biggest extra for the game is its multiplayer aspects, which can handle up to six friends in direct competition for items and other prizes. It may not be the most ideal set of extras ever conceived, but it may keep you playing long after the inevitable boredom of the story mode sink in.

However, not even these minor bonuses can save the game from its horribly bland presentation. The soundtrack may be good, even great on occasion, but it's one of a few positive notes in an otherwise lackluster showing. Magical Starsign may be a DS game, but its graphical style is heavily influenced by Magical Vacation, its predecessor on the GBA. All of the characters sport that signature Brownie Brown art style of overly exaggerated features and flamboyant designs. Though many of the levels are small, enclosed spaces, they are incredibly colorful; the jungles are filled with lush greenery and flowing rivers, the desert planet is scarred with rocky outcroppings and besieged with sandstorms and a glaring sun. Even the Will o' Wisp Academy, a famous school for gifted magicians, sports a purple and teal paint job. The female character looks like a Cro-Magnon ghostly pale skin. Her best friend looks like a rabbit with impossibly large ears and demonic red eyes. It's not like the 2D battle sprites are any better; whenever a character performs one of their spells, the camera makes a point of zooming in to capture the grainy light effects and pixilated attack animations in all their terrible glory. Needless to say, this isn't quite up to par with what a DS owner expects of a handheld game.

Magical Starsign had a few good things going for it. It had a sufficient (albeit utterly ridiculous) plot and cast of kooky characters to make it work. It features quite a few areas and allows for backtracking, collecting, and power leveling. Even the astrological combat was an interesting idea. But aside from that, everything else about this game falls flat. No matter how the stars are aligned, the combat boils down the same old turn-based system that's been seen in so many other handheld RPGs. Despite the bright colors, cheerful characters, and overly cartoonish details, the game's presentation looks like something that belongs on a lesser handheld. In the end, that's what Magical Starsign really is; a glorified GBA game with Touch Screen controls tacked on as an afterthought. For shame, Brownie Brown. You can do better.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/06