Reviews for Feel the Magic: XY/XX

By member: zoglog - Feb 28, 2005

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Fun touchscreen games, innovative title with originality.

Weakness: Gets repetitive and boring after first run, relatively short, Some of the bosses are unoriginal.

This was the game that actaually convinced me to get the DS. So right when I got my DS I instnatly bought this game. It was very fun at first and quite original and has it's own unique sense of style. But after beating it, I found very little reason to try the harder levels. The game itself will provide around 5 hours of entertainment at most to most people. Some of the games are fun while some are rediculous. other ones cause havok on your touch screen. The worst boss by far is making you go through 3 of the games bosses without getting hit once. When will developers learn that rehashing boss fights into a bigger boss fight isn't really original or fun. Seemed like a cheap way to squeeze in another boss to me. This game wasn't really worth the 30 dollar price tag but would have been worth 20. It still is the best game out for the DS that i've seen (besides maybe warioware touched, which I havent played).

80% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Great use of the touchscreen, and even the mic to some extent, original and innovative, catchy music

Weakness: Not a game you'd replay a lot, can get repetitive, rather short

This game is very fun and easy to get into. The music is simple, yet addictive. The graphics are retro, vibrant and beautiful, yet elegantly simple. All the people are silhouettes, sporting clothes, but not showing their face. The story is about a guy who has to win the heart of a girl, and faces some very unique and bizarre challenges along the way, from stopping stampeding bulls, to sneaking past guards in a secured building, to rubbing a stomach in order to vomit goldfishes. The mini games are fast paced and amusing, and this is definitely a game you have to try at least once. It makes great use of the touchscreen, and even a little use of the microphone. Although it has many strong points, it lacks replayability and longevity. After you beat this game once, which will take you roughly 5-7 hours, you probably won't come back to it too much.

60% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Excellent demonstration of the Nintendo DS's capabilities; funny story, catchy music, and cool artwork, and lots of replay opportunity

Weakness: Some games exhibit weak execution; main game is short

This one was one of the first titles I picked up for my new Nintendo DS and I absolutely loved it. The theme is perhaps preposterous -- impress a girl by performing zany stunts -- but the story, told mostly through comic-style panels and in a cool silhouette art style, makes it work in a touching and funny way.

The games are mostly good, and all driven with either the touch screen or the mic. Stunt games range from blowing out gigantic moster candles from another dimension (using the touchscreen or the mic) that threaten to set the city on fire to tapping out security codes to open skydivers' parachutes. As the story progresses, you'll also have the opportunity to use the unique controls to fight boss battles (such as a hundred angry bulls stampeding at you and your girl) and spend quality time with your girl (by, for example, holding her hand on a walk through a garden and swatting away bees that attack her.)

However, not all the games are well-baked, zany perfection, perhaps reflecting the game's rush to market to launch alongside the Nintendo DS. A few games in particular seem to suffer a bit from dodgy collision detection or perhaps touchscreen code; especially in some of the harder levels.

Replay value is excellent if you don't mind playing the games again. Once you complete the main game on "Normal" mode, "Hard" mode appears, providing you with access to harder versions of the games; "Hell" follows that, giving you only one chance to complete each game. Also present are "Memories" mode, where you get one shot to get as high as you can on each game, earning stars for every level you complete.

All-in-all, a great game, and it kept me occupied for a long time. Recommended if you're looking for more titles to play on your Nintendo DS.

50% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Great use of the touchscreen and microphone, unlockable clothes for your "girlfriend", Awesome fun (while it lasts)

Weakness: Some mini games repetitive, pretty short, after you've completed it there's little replayability

Every system has to have a game that showcases its abilities. We all knpw that graphics is not the DS forte. The graphics are good but not as good as the PSP. But it does have two screens/ one of which is a touchscreen, and a microphone. Well, Feel the Magic (FTM) is the game that makes you realize this is more than a gimmick.

Right away from the strange story premise and stylish graphics reminiscent of an ipod commercial you know you're in for a wild ride. And FTM does not dissapoint. The premise is that you're trying to impress a girl that catches your eye by doing stunts and helping her out as part of the performing group, the Rub Rabbits. The game has you doing a plethora of things, such as picking scorpions off her back, blowing out candles, blowing a boat past sharks, guiding a unicycle through narrow paths, dancing DDR style on a deserted island, and fighting off killer mutated plants by burning its tentacles. Yeah, its a mouthful, and that was just the tip of the ice berg, but it sure is fun.

Granted, some of the games are similar and repetitive, and the game is relatively short, but you'll enjoy every minute. And you'll likely replay it once or twice to unlock clothes for your "girlfriend". Bizarre I know, but I dare you to say you're not curious. As far as I'm concerned, it was well worth the price.

50% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Charming, fun, and varied. A great game to show off the system.

Weakness: First time through the game is on the short side, although replay value is high.

Back when Nintendo first announced the DS, with its two screens and innovative methods of control, they were met with a bit of skepticism. Is a touch screen really necessary? Can the microphone or the second screen be used as anything more than a gimmick? What can be done with these features that can't be done on any other system? But what gamers didn't immediately know is that the folks behind Space Channel 5 and Rez, now part of Sega's Sonic Team, were brainstorming plenty of fun things to do with Nintendo's new baby, and put them all together as Project Rub, known in the US as Feel the Magic.

Feel the Magic is a collection of 26 minigames, all strung together to tell a story about a boy trying to win the heart of a girl. These games have amazing variety, requiring you to bowl over pedestrians across a busy highway, blow a yacht past sharks, dance to the beat of the music, and all sorts of other fun things. The story may give you a bit of a smile the first time through, but the games will keep you coming back. Every game is played with the microphone and touch screen - you'll never once hit a button. At certain points in the story, you'll run across boss games, which last longer than normal games, have a higher level of difficulty, and just feel great to beat.

The game has a very interesting graphical style: everyone is just a black silhouette with hair and clothing. Although you may find yourself amused and even a little touched by the story, there are no faces on these characters and very little text. The graphics switch between 3D and 2D on the fly, but it's never jarring; the 2D and 3D versions of the characters look very similar and are animated quite well. Music isn't bad at all, and the sound effects range from effective to hilarious.

People will often knock this game for its length, and that's a valid complaint, although it's not as bad as you might think. Every non-boss game has ten difficulty levels, but in playing through Normal mode, you'll only play the first five levels of each game. Finishing Normal opens Hard mode, in which you play levels six through ten, and then finishing that gives you Hell mode, where you've only got one life to finish the latter five levels. Quite hard indeed. But even when you're done with THAT, there's Memories mode. There, you can freely pick any game you've completed and attempt to finish all ten of its levels in a single life. Losing on the eighth or ninth level may be frustrating... but it just fills you with a desire to come back again and succeed where you failed.

In playing the game, you can unlock new outfits for the girl in Maniac mode, which may be appealing to you. If not, I totally get that. You're free to ignore it. Owning GBA games from Sonic Team unlocks some outfits (have them in the GBA slot when powering on Feel the Magic), but these all unlock by beating Hell mode.

Your first time through the game won't take too long, but since it's so much fun, you're likely to come back again and again to clear out Hard, Hell, and Memories. Not only that, but this is the perfect game to whip out when you want to show your friends how cool your new DS can be. This may not go down in history as the deepest game ever, but you'll definitely enjoy your time with it. It's recommended to anyone who enjoys games that are, you know... fun.

50% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Unique look, sound and gameplay, good use of touch screen.

Weakness: Too short, low replay.

Feel the Magic is like one of those unique and quirky games that are made in Japan but are never released stateside. But now with Nintendo DS's dual screen and innovative touch screen, more of these intersting games should see worldwide release and I couldn't be happier. The game makes you go through a whole bunch of interesting tasks in order to impress the girl. The use of touchscreen is seamless and very addictive; however. while the games are fun, they seem a little shallow and not all that deep. Once you beat the game, you may revisit the game once or twice to show off the DS to your friends but that's about it. Yet, while it lasts, the game is very fun and as one of the few games that fully integrates the DS's touch screen, you can't go wrong. Just be sure you want to pay full price for a game that is short.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Uses all the features of the DS, different difficulty levels, unlockables

Weakness: Graphics, short game

I think this is the launch game for DS that really uses all of the features. It uses the touch screen and the microphone in the different minigames. There are different difficulty levels and there are also things to unlock. It's a nice game if you want to try something different that you can only find on Nintendo DS.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Quirky humor, great sound effects and music.

Weakness: Does not utilize the DS controls to their fullest potential.

This is one of the first games that released with the DS. It's really not a bad piece of software for coming out of the gate so soon. The programmers really tried to vary up the scenarios in which you use the DS microphone to blow into (to snuff out candles, for instance) or use the stylus in various novel ways (e.g. sliding and poking). At times the scenarios can get frustrating to the point that your wrist is cramping, but at least you have the option of playing in doses. This is recommended since too much playtime might infuriate you. This title's saving grace is the warped sense of humor demonstrated with unique siloutte-style graphics and zany sound effects. The lounge music is actualy quite good. Overall--worth checking out.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Fun goofy mini games, attractive graphic style, very simple story yet very charming

Weakness: Short, bosses are a tad too hard and long compared to other mini games, one mini game is the touch screen equivelent to fast button mashing (I hate fast button mashing)

I find this game very charming. I also find it very short, but I loved it so much I played the other difficulties until I found it too hard. The game involves your character winning the heart of the girl of his dreams through various wacky mini games. (You know, fighting bulls, blowing out giant monster candles, riding shopping carts. The usual stuff that girls are impressed by.) Mind you, this isn't in the "dating game" genre. It's more like the warioware games, with all of the mini games connected by a story of winning love. I found the bosses to be a pain. It took me a few weeks to beat this game, but only because I had such a hard time on the bosses. Otherwise I think I would have been done in a day. After the game is done, there is still more to do. You can play harder difficulties, or try for mini game high scores. As you do these, you will unlock new outfits to dress the girl in. That's kind of fun. To sum up: I really like this game even though it's short.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: The use of the touch screen, simple but effective graphics and great variety of gameplay.

Weakness: Weird story line and the music is annoying.

This is another must have for the DS. The use of the touch screen is fun and unique. This is a game that anyone can pick up and play. The game is rather short, but so much fun, you will play it againa nd again. I love Sega for putting out "weird" titles, like they did on the Dreamcast. I feel games like this, seperate the DS from the PSP.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Great use of the touch screen and the microphone.

Weakness: I like using the touchscreen rather than the d-pad and buttons, but they should have atleast incoporated the d-pad and buttons once in a while. Also, it gets repetetive.

A must own if you're going to get a Nintendo DS. This game is one of the bestest games out for the Nintendo DS right now. There isn't much of dialog, but it is fun to play and it is the first Nintendo DS game to use the microphone. For example, this game is made up of mini games. One of them is to save the girl drowning in the ocean, in order to save herthe main character must sail boat. The more you blow onto the microphone the faster the boat moves and there are some obstacles. This game must be one of the most unique and original game I have ever played.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Shows off the DS functions, can get extremely challenging, excellent originality and charm

Weakness: Quite short, low replay value.

This game was one of the two I got along with my DS in January, I had been very excited to finally get to play it and it did not disappoint. I lived up to all my expectations with the creative touch screen games made by Sega. You could see the influence from previous games, Space Channel 5's presence is most prominently seen. The game follows the love story of a young man smitten over a girl and it follows with him performing a series of stunts(mini-games) to impress her. The games are fun and can be challenging but more too often are they short and easy. After going through the game once, you are rewarded with a hard mode, then once you complete that daunting task, you have the option to tackle the Hell mode (which seems almost impossible). Overall I rate the game a four because of its originality and charm. My biggest gripe is the lack of any sort of high score system or something that would give you more of a reason to play the mini-games over and over. I still give this game a high recommendation, especially for the cheap prices you can get it for nowadays. I've had it for 5 months and still pick it up from time to time. Just don't play it too much too soon, otherwise you could end up beating it once in one sitting.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

An excellent DS launch title now available at a...

Strengths: Unique/innovative game play, interesting story, stylish graphics, catchy tunes, budget price, sequel now available

Weakness: Short overall length, limited unlockables and replay value, frustrating difficulty on harder modes

Sega did a great job of finding new and original uses for Nintendo's DS touchscreen and microphone at the system's launch. Both are used extensively in your adventure as a hero trying to win the love of an attractive young woman.

Both the graphics and music are simple yet memorable, and the story will pull you through the couple of hours you'll spend with the default difficulty setting. Unfortunately, you'll find only some harder difficulty levels and unlockable clothing items for your lady friend once you've finished the game.

Personally, I love this game, but I wouldn't want to pay more than $20 for it new. While Feel the Magic was innovative a year ago, it now feels a bit dated and simplistic when compared with recent releases. Luckily for fans of the original, a "more of the same" sequel Rub Rabbits has now been released.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Strengths: Best use of the touch screen and microphone, sound, graphics

Weakness: Short and repetitive

Feel the Magic for the DS definately makes great usage of the touch screen and microphone functionality. In this game, you try to win over a girl that you are attracted to. To try and woo her, you must complete a number of minigames that require you to use the touch screen or blow into the microphone. The graphics and sound are both solid.

Although the game shows of the DS functionalities well, it also causes the game to be very short and repetitive. Be prepared to be rubbing the touch screen with your stylus often.

There are some unlockables in the game, such as hard mode, and also when you insert specific Sega titles into the Game Boy Advance slot, it unlocks some accessories for your female friend.

Overall, it is a solid game.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel The Magic: XY/XX (DS)

Strengths: Unique, odd humor, distinctive graphics

Weakness: Very short, no replay value, not for everyone

Feel The Magic is part Wario Ware, part dating sim. It involves numerous odd games, very Wario Ware-like in their oddity, using the controls, including the mic, and the stylus to accomplish the task at hand. All of the tasks are trying to get to impress a girl, though once it's accomplished, there isn't much else to go back to. The humor is very strange, and the game looks good, though it's certainly not for everyone.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic

Strengths: Excellent Replay Value

Weakness: Maybe to quirky for American Audience

Feel the Magic is another game from Japan that makes you solve mini puzzles/games in order to win the heart of a girl you are attracted to. It is almost like WarioWare touched, but with more of an adult touch. Player who enjoy Japanimation will find the graphics to their liking. It may be too wierd for the average American fan to get into, but if you enjoy good games that dare to break new ground, this excellent game is for you.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Feel the Magic: XY/XX receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.13 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #2,030 game of all time, #2 game of 2004 for the Nintendo DS and #46 Nintendo DS game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 91 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games ranked,...

Read Full Review

Feel the Magic: XY/XX (ds)

In the past few years, Sega has released some extremely niche titles that weren't necessarily huge sellers, but nevertheless gained a hardcore cult following. I'm looking at the Shenmues, Gunvalkyries, Otogis, and especially the Rezes of Sega's library here. Feel the Magic, the company's DS launch title, falls right into that category. It's weird and stylish, and even though there's not much to...

Read Full Review

Feel the Magic: XY/XX (ds)

It may be a fleeting romance, but she'll remain in your heart for some time to come.

Read Full Review