Author Topic: [NDS Review] Slide Adventure Mag Kid  (Read 4728 times)

Offline CarolineJohnson

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[NDS Review] Slide Adventure Mag Kid
« on: July 24, 2014, 08:46:56 AM »


スライドアドベンチャー マグキッド / Slide Adventure Mag Kid
Release Date: 8/2/2007 (JP)
Developer: Nintendo NDS // Agenda
Publisher: Nintendo
System: Nintendo DS / Nintendo DS Lite
Peripheral Required: Slide Controller

This one's pretty obscure, guys. Wanna know why? It's one of them gimmicky games that has a peripheral no other game uses, like Learn With Pokemon: Typing Adventure. Yaaaaay! It's quite a game, too. Quite a game, indeed. However, since it's obscure and Japan-exclusive, I don't know all too much about it! So...short review incoming.

The story, as far as I can tell, works like this: There's a thunderstorm. Ma-kun drew some metal bugs and stuck the picture on the fridge with a little round magnet. Lightning hits the house. The picture and magnet fall off the fridge. The bugs and magnet come to life. The magnet is Mag Kid, the hero of this little adventure. Mag Kid works in a series of time trials, of which there are two types: 1.) Ma-kun is drawing Mag Kid and some metal bugs. Make yourself look like the example, find Ma-kun's sketchbook, and match up with his drawing! 2.) Great Robo, Ma-kun's robot toy, is missing a limb. Go find the boss that took it!

The second type is the one that gives you story. Basically, you see Ma-kun playing somewhere with Great Robo, then he goes to talk to one of his family members (which one depends on where he was playing)...which I believe may be him asking if they've seen Great Robo's missing limb. I don't know Japanese, so I dunno exactly. I can only make an educated guess. Anyway, after that, Mag Kid is seen reacting to what Ma-kun is saying and then the level begins.


Now...onto the gimmick. You control the game with the Slide Controller peripheral, which is...basically an optical mouse that interacts with games through the Slot-2 of your DS Phat or DS Lite. It requires about as flat a surface as a normal optical mouse, and it's not an optional control scheme, so you can't really take this game on the go like you could take, say, that Pokemon typing game, or Guitar Hero On Tour. However, it control very well! It's fun to use, too.

Mag Kid is actually a bit like Kirby. You start with no powers. All you can do is tackle enemies and attach to them. You know, because Mag Kid is a magnet and the enemies are made of metal. However, the first enemy you attach to gives you a power. Attaching to more of the same kind of enemy makes that power stronger. Attaching to any other type of enemy other than the first does nothing but lengthen your chain. For example... Attaching to ミドリムシ (Green Insect) first gives you their ability to shoot needles. Attaching to more of them makes the needle longer and shoot through more stuff at a time. Attaching to カッチュー (Katchu? Dunno how this is translated) first, however, gives you the ability to dash at enemies. Attaching to more of them makes you dash further. There are also enemies that can only be stunned by a certain enemy's attack as well as environmental hazards that can make you lose your chain depending on what enemy was attached to first and barriers that require the attacks of certain enemies to dispel. There are even enemies that can't be attached to, but will attack you in some way (some can even demagnetize you for a few seconds!)


There are different rooms Mag Kid can go to, via travel points. These range from manga to a glasses case, and as long as they're open you can use them. When you do use one, it's shown that one character takes that item from one room to another. For example, it appears that Mama, Ma-kun's mother, wishes to take the "empty" paper sack from Ma-kun's room into the bathroom for some reason. However, when you go back to Ma-kun's room with the paper sack, Ma-kun takes it back to his room (presumably to use it for those books sitting in the level border).

Along the way, you'll find bonus Great Robo cards, which unlock minigames that make great use of that Slide Controller, but they're short and more arcade-type things.

The graphics are very simple, and in a cutesy, cartoon style you'd see on a kid's cartoon. They're nothing special, but do convey Mag Kid's tiny world uniquely. The sound is equally simple, and is also cutesy stuff you'd hear in a kid's cartoon. Again, nothing special. Not much to talk about on either end, actually, but it fits the game VERY well.

This is just about as deep as it gets, as I don't understand Japanese to know anything more. As much as I've played it, I can say it's a very enjoyable experience even if it isn't the best game or in a language that helps you understand it further than what you can see without reading. Also, again, no other game uses the peripheral this game requires. However, it's pretty cheap on Play Asia nowadays, so if you have a DS or DS Lite, I recommend you pick it up.

Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Replay Value: 6/10

Score: 7.8

Oh, also, here are some videos for the unconvinced:

« Last Edit: July 24, 2014, 08:57:52 AM by CarolineJohnson » »

 

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