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Magnetica (DS) review

"As you advance through the levels, the track designs change and make things more taxing. Suddenly, two streams of marbles may be approaching the hole and you might have more than one bay from which to draw your own marbles. Or maybe there’s a switch that keeps turning the track so that you have multiple intersections to worry about. There are a few tricks like this throughout the game, and they really make things frantic and addictive."

Puzzle games rock. I’m a huge fan of Dr. Mario, and I’ve been known to play a little Klax and Super Puzzle Fighter, even some Lumines. While I wouldn’t call myself the hugest fan of the genre, sometimes all I want to do is sit down and tax my brain and reflexes. Still, it’s hard to deny the fact that--even in the case of the excellent titles mentioned above--there’re too many games that mimic the Tetris formula. You know what I’m talking about, that vertical box where blocks are falling and you have to clear them before they reach the top of the screen. Sometimes, you just want something a little different. Sometimes you want something like Magnetica.

Perhaps one reason that games don’t stray too much from the Tetris formula is that they aren’t creative. Or maybe they’re just afraid that if they stray too far from the user’s expectations, they’ll produce a fun product that no one wants to play. Whatever their reasons, developers just don’t give us anything unique except for once in a great while. Magnetica is that once in a great while, and wouldn’t you know it? It’s a good game!

The goal behind the game is simple in theory. There’s a hole near the center of the screen, with one or more tracks leading to it. As the stage starts, multi-colored marbles slide along the tracks toward the hole. If they reach the center, the game is over. You keep them from doing so by throwing more marbles into the mix, which are generated from one ore more dispensers at the center of the screen. Swiping the stylus across the screen lets you direct where each one goes, and the controls are surprisingly precise. It’s difficult to imagine such a concept working with any other control scheme. When you throw a marble of the appropriate color against two or more connected ones of the same hue, you’ll cause them to vanish. This pushes the approaching orbs back a ways, and may even set off a chain reaction.

There are a few complications, though. For one thing, you might wipe a few marbles off the track but the ones that haven’t been cleared will sit where they are until more come up from behind and push them toward the center. Thus, you have to focus not only on where you can fling your marbles, but also where they will absolutely do the most good. You want to get combos going, but you don’t want to focus so much on those that you forget the approach of a few that won’t do anything to boost your score, but will almost certainly ruin your game if you ignore them.

When you’re given a marble you don’t want, you can also throw it off the edge of the screen, provided there isn’t a stream of marbles blocking the way. Another option is to throw them into the corners, where they will fall into grooves and trigger a slot machine that may give you rewards to improve your performance. Most of the time you’re so busy just removing marbles that you can’t pay attention to such matters, but it’s nice that the depth is there and can sometimes be utilized. There also are stopwatches that come on occasion, and hitting one with a marble can slow things down when you’re about to have a panic attack. Very cool.

Then there are other tweaks. As you advance through the levels, the track designs change and make things more taxing. Suddenly, two streams of marbles may be approaching the hole and you might have more than one bay from which to draw your own marbles. Or maybe there’s a switch that keeps turning the track so that you have multiple intersections to worry about. There are a few tricks like this throughout the game, and they really make things frantic and addictive.

There’s not just one way to play, either. The ‘Challenge’ mode forces you to see how long you can endure the marbles approaching, while the ‘Quest’ mode lets you advance through different zones to see how good you are at adapting to new challenges. It’s where all those extra elements come into play. Then there’s a ‘Puzzle’ mode, which is unique enough that it warrants its own description.

In ‘Puzzle’ mode, you have all the time you need to finish a stage, but there are other concerns. Marbles will still move toward the hole as you throw them onto the field. You can’t just throw the ones you don’t want off the edge of the screen, either. That automatically causes you to lose. Instead, you must use each marble you are given and when you run out, there had better not be a single marble left on the screen. If there is, you lose. If there isn’t, you can advance to the next challenge.

Whether you’re playing one of the modes where your reflexes are tested, or the ‘Puzzle’ mode where it’s all about carefully planning your approach several moves in advance, Magnetica is an excellent example of simple design used to its greatest effect. There’s something about the concept that works. You can sit down to play one game and you tell yourself that’ll be it, but then four or five games later you’re still telling yourself “just one more.” That’s true regardless of which mode you’re trying, because there are so many levels available in each of them.

It’s true that the music isn’t much to talk about. The only reason to keep sound on at all is so that you’re alerted if marbles are getting close to the hole and you hadn’t noticed. Otherwise, there’s only elevator music. Likewise, the visuals are simple to an extreme, yet in a sleek way that lets you see the gleam of each marble and the finer points of the area layout. Anything more detailed would’ve detracted from the gameplay, which is definitely where Magnetica shines. Though it’s true that the game isn’t for everyone, I have no problems recommending it to anyone who likes puzzle games but has had enough of the Tetris clones. Give it a try sometime. Chances are you’ll become every bit as addicted as I am. And now, if you don’t mind, I have some virtual marbles that need my attention.

Rating: 9/10

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Staff review by Jason Venter (October 24, 2006)

Jason Venter has been playing games for nearly 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he also writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words.

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