"Charming, but only slightly above average"

Sega is known for bizarre titles that no other company in their right mind would bring stateside. Heck, the Dreamcast was the bastion of "what the hell is THAT game" titles such as Samba de Amigo. Get ready for an all-new madcap adventure from Sega, but don't expect a whole lot of fun. Feel the Magic XY/XX has all the makings for a truly remarkable game. It's sophisticated, original, funny, and even catchy, but where most games would take these traits and run with them Feel the Magic more or less goes down with its anchor. There's nothing particularly bad about the game; in fact it's one of the most ingeniously designed and heartfelt games of the last few years, but it doesn't capitalize on what makes it so unique.

In essence, Feel the Magic is a game about how crazy love can really be. When your blue-bearded ego discovers the girl of his dreams, he sets out on the most madcap adventure ever conceived. He'll fight raging bulls, dodge spikes will rolling in a shopping cart, and even mathematically parachute from a Cessna. One would think that so much ingenuity would breed just as much playability, but this simply isn't the case. Sega, probably in order to get the game out at launch, didn't really finish what could have been the most addicting game for the Nintendo DS's launch. Instead, Feel the Magic is a very impressive collection of ways to show off every feature of the Nintendo DS (including the microphone), but isn't all that fun to play.

Graphics

The most stylish aspect of this game is its graphics, which are absolutely eye-catching. Characters appear to be cel-shaded, and their bodies are solid black as if to represent cut-outs. The female can be dressed up into many different costumes, and the male... well... the male has a fish shirt and a blue beard. Despite being rather pirate-y sounding, he isn't really all that strange looking, which is a good thing because chances are you don't want to look like a creep in this game.

For the most part, levels are either in 3D or some really bizarre 2D. This isn't such a bad thing, but the 3D levels are stylistically more interesting than the somewhat bland 2D.

Sound

Really bizarre pseudo-voiced songs that will drive you bonkers. Oh, and don't miss out on the... really bizarre pseudo-voiced songs that will drive you bonkers, because they replace the first set of songs. Nothing really special, but I guess if you like J-pop you might like this.

Control

Everything in the game is either controlled via the touchscreen or the microphone. It's very intuitive and actually a good representation of what the DS can really do.

Gameplay

The best I can describe this game is a "garbled mess of minigames that are similar to Wario Ware". There's no coherent reason why you're doing anything, and some of the minigames involving the girl are downright crude (taking off her clothes to "dry her off"?). It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but then again the entire game doesn't make a whole lot of sense. To that end, the whole thing meshes decently and makes for a moderately entertaining game.

Overall

Feel the Magic is a massive amount of style packed into a mediocre game. If you're into the kooky world of Sega, though, this game is right up your alley.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/01/04