Feel the Magic XY/XX

XY/XX Feel the Magic is a quirky Japanese puzzle game and SEGA's first release on the Nintendo DS platform that anyone who can remember feeling awkward, and/or doing something stupid around that significant other, will immediately feel at home in. The entire game is animated in a 1960's Deco art style and is a random series of mini games with a love story that could only come from Japan tacked on. The easiest way to describe XY/XX Feel the Magic, not to promote drug use, but it’s like a good acid trip. Simply put, in XY/XX: Feel the Magic you are a random boy walking down the street who is star stuck by a girl that walks by. You then make it your life’s mission to get together with her and "feel the magic." This is just what any normal boy would do, right? To accomplish your goal you travel through a very strange series of mini games that can unlock even stranger mini games, which will leave you scratching your head wondering just what substances the developers were abusing when they created this thing. XY/XX Feel the Magic makes full use of all the features the DS has to offer. You will be blowing on the microphone in an attempt to snuff out a candle. You will punch random numbers into a calculator on the touch screen in order to save people who are jumping out of a plane over shark infested water's. You will do other more “normal things” too, such as take off your girls dress, pick scorpions off of her, move giant spikes out the path of people riding in shopping carts, and fight raging bull's in order to win your lovers heart among other things. When each mini game is over, and you have won, you are treated to a scene of the games “rub rabbits” lounging around, as well as your girl relaxing in a nice warm bubble bath. Ah, what was I talking about mentioning “strange things?” This is all perfectly normal. I mean everyone does this stuff to win the heart of their dream person, right?

Control wise, it's obvious from the start that this game was designed to work with the stylus, and it’s recommend that players stick with that because things tend to get a little infuriating if you use the thumb pad. Most of the mini games treat the two screens as one with the stuff you are supposed to pluck, calculate, or move around at the bottom. This is great because it gives the dual screen more meaning, as opposed to having the bottom screen for 3D control and schematics like it is in every other DS title. Most tasks are accomplished by rubbing the touch screen either with the stylus or touchpad; however, several games make use of the microphone and some other features. To say the least, it’s all pretty amusing, and the setup is very different, which works out perfectly with the Nintendo DS. Also, please keep in mind that as previously stated, the visuals for the game are all done in a very vibrant Deco art style so they are completely harmless to younger eyes. You will never see anything beyond basic shapes and outlines, which keeps the game well within the traditional Nintendo G-PG rating.

XY/XX Feel the Magic has a multiplayer mode as well, and it is frantic fun. You play with your friends wirelessly in the mini games that you have unlocked. Most of the competition here is to the finish line, for the high score, or both. However, as simple and shallow as this sounds, those who venture into this realm of the game will find that things get pretty complicated and heated very fast, especially with four players.

One of XY/XX Feel the Magic’s main problems is that it’s simply a bit too weird. Most people will probably pass it up because of this, or understand it, which is a shame because it is a very fun game. Another problem, and what is probably the games biggest problem, is it’s disgustingly short. You can easily beat it in a sitting or two since the game is really no longer than 5 hours at most. This is a game that if you were to pick up for going on an average flight would occupy you, probably, the entire way one way for a longer flight. You would probably beat it, and once you have done that there is really zero draw, reason, or need to go back to it. While that four, five or maybe six hours that you’re “feeling the magic” is great mindless fun, it's not as much fun to replay. Sure, you can unlock new games, but they don't do much to remove that stale, old, replay feel. Similarly, if you can find someone to play the multiplayer with it’s great fun, but it’s so shallow that it suffers from the same things the single player does, so after you have dragged your friends in to the feel the magic once they aren’t liable to return, despite how good it was. Also, as anyone who plays XY/XX Feel the Magic will find out, its not one of those games you get and keep in your library after beating it, "because it's so good", or to play again at a later date. XY/XX Feel the Magic is one of those games you get, play, beat, trade in, and move on. Don't think this is a bad game though, because it's not. XY/XX is probably the funniest fling of a game for the DS available, and its wackiness alone makes it one of the most hilarious games in years. For this reason it's definitely something that everyone should at least invest a look into.