"Did you run over the apocalypse dragon when mage knight was cancelled?"

Having loved the table top game, I was devastated to find out that it had been cancelled. The only hope left for those that loved the game were the Nintendo ds and pc ports of the game. Having made my way through many harrowing battles on my ds, I find myself back in love with the game.

Why does this game deserve a ten? In my opinion it is simply a perfect port of the table top game. It's fun, easy to pick up, extraordinarily diverse, and strategy packed. With nearly 100 units that can be deployed, you will never fight the same battle twice.

The system for battle works much like Legend of Mana mixed with Final Fantasy Tactics. Your warriors move on a grid, while each command menu choice brings up a new ring of sub menu options. There is one flaw which makes the learning curve for this game climb, there is no text to describe what icons you have available on the battle field.

The music is also reminiscent of tactical strategy games. You find yourself humming it when you're not playing the game. But while playing, you wonder if the loop will ever change.

The controls for menu navigation are tight through and through. The one place I've found trouble is with choices in battle when placing and facing warriors. The menus themselves seem tightly packed with information but with a little tinkering and the simplicity reveals itself.

The graphics are definitely up to date. Again, similarities are drawn to older turn-based strategy games. Nothing here breaks the mold, but the inventive character designs of the Mage Knight universe are very easily distinguished. The battle maps suffer no set backs from graphical inadequacy and are very well attuned artistically with the portion of the world map they represent.

The storyline is good enough to keep you almost on the edge of your seat. This must be the only game in which a high council of elves says "yup, sometimes the only way to peace is through war. let's get the 'chosen one' to go kill our enemies." The storyline itself might be forgettable, but the banter between warriors and enemies is pretty funny sometimes.

Overall, this game earns a place in my favorites. The flow is smooth with some hangups, but nothing that will ever slow you down more than a few seconds. My power died on my ds and I was pleased to find that the game has an auto save feature that saves after every battle. This game will continue to please as it is played. This is mostly due to the fact that the instruction manual leaves so much out that you don't know what to expect. With all it has to offer though, it is a blessing to the Mage Knight product line.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/07