"A great old-school RPG that lacks a little touch of magic"

Magical Starsign is the follower of a GBA game, Magical Vacation, that never reached out of Japan for some reason. Magical Vacation was one of the best RPGs on GBA, bringing together beautiful and colorful visuals with a stunning adventure. Magical Starsign was created in a similar approach, but curiously, the game doesn't feel as engrossing and epic in its DS incarnation. Regardless, it's still a great RPG if you're yearning for adventure.

The story is about six friends who attend the same magic academy. Their teacher goes missing and the friends depart on a quest to look for her. It's simplistic at best and almost cheesy, but Magical Starsign is a light-hearted and humorous game, which storyline relies on quirky characters and funny, witty dialogues. I must say though that the game has far too many dialogues that seem to go nowhere, even if they are entertaining. Unlike Magical Vacation, which was more of a fantasy, Magical Starsign takes place on different planets of the stellar system. The heroes use their spaceship to travel across the six planets that their world consists of, each planet being themed according to six elements (wind, earth, fire, wood, water and light/darkness). The characters also each have their own attribute, and aside from letting you choose between the male or female protagonist, the game lets you decide if you want to be of the light or darkness element. It doesn't change the storyline, but customization is always welcomed.

Magical Starsign is very old-school, following a very basic formula with very little twists. You'll visit all the planets going with the storyline, exploring every inch of them, opening treasure chests, talking to NPCs and battling foes. The islands are rather small and the dungeons extremely linear. In fact, the whole game is really straightforward and story-driven, leaving little place for ever getting stuck at some point. Walking from point A to point B makes the game easy, although the battles are where it gets harder. It's an entertaining quest regardless, but it lacks puzzles or any other element that could have added a little something to the somewhat bland paths. The only twist is that each character can use its magic outside of battle for certain situations. For instance, if you see a boulder hanging from a cliff, use Earth magic to cause an earthquake and make it fall. If a chest is out of reach, use Wind magic to blow it into your range. It's neat, but too obvious, so it doesn't require any thinking. It's not used that often either, and hides no secrets. More opportunities for that feature would have been nice. The game also is played entirely with the touchscreen, although it's possible to use the directional pad. You most likely won't though, as the game plays with such ease thanks to the touchscreen.

The battle system should satisfy fans of turn-based. It pulls off no new tricks, it's as standard as turn-based goes, but the battles are fast and fun. Some drag on a bit too long, but the spells are nice to watch. Since the heroes are magic users, you'll mostly be using magic over physical attacks. However, the characters could have had more spells at their disposal, as they only have a few each. Quite weak for a game that places emphasis on magic. The good news is that you finally get an RPG that lets you use all six characters at once in battle. The "Starsign" part also takes a role in the battle system. The five elemental planets will rotate around the sun following an orbit, and depending on their positions, the character associated with the planet will get a power boost. A spell allows to move the planets into position, but enemies can use this spell as well, so strategy comes into play. It's a nice feature to have there, but also not that important, as you could play the whole game without paying attention to the alignment of the planets. The day/night system also has a role in the game, as depending on what attribute you chose, your main character will be stronger during the day or the night. An important element to take into consideration for boss battles.

Visually, I was slightly disappointed that the style is different from Magical Vacation. The game now has cartoony graphics, which looks very good and gives a clean look to the game, but it looks far less impressive than Magical Vacation in terms of general style. The 2D is pulled off well and the enemy designs are great. The battles fill up both screens, while during exploration, a map is displayed on the top screen. The game also has a few 3D-ish cinematics that all look nice. The graphics blends well with the music, which is one of the strong point of the game and enhances the experience. The soundtrack has many different scores for all locations and situations. The battle theme is probably the most catchy, but a bit overheard despite important enemies having different music. The character's battle cries also are a nice touch.

As for replay value, it's pretty thin -- you can use the Amigo mode to play with friends or try to complete the large bestiary, but that's all. No sidequests, but Magical Starsign is a lengthy game, surprisingly. It can easily last from 30 to 40 hours. Overall, it's a generic, but fun RPG experience that will appeal to fans of this genre. There is a certain lack of depth and content to the core of the game, it's far from being epic, but it's a great and long-lasting journey that should bring laughs with its funny characters and their adventures.

Breakdown

Presentation 7/10 Weak storyline, but funny characters. The game is all touchscreen only; love it or hate it.
Gameplay 8/10 Very generic and linear quest, but fun. The battle system is the strongest point if you're into turn-based.
Graphics 7/10 Not much better than GBA and lacking style, but it's not bad looking by any means.
Music 8/10 Great musical tracks that are appropriate to the adventure. It would benefit from more battle themes though.
Replay Value 5/10 The game lasts a while, but once it's over, there is almost no point in replaying it ever.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/07