Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that while the mechanics of playing this game using the touch screen are easy, testers found solving the puzzles to be challenging. This isn't a game for simple diversion -- it will challenge kids to think and plan ahead. A two-player mode lets players compete against each other.
Families can talk about which mode they prefer -- do you want the pressure of quick decision making at a frenetic pace offered in the Challenge mode, or do you like the untimed Puzzle mode to work things out? Is this a game that kids want to play repeatedly, or do they find it so challenging that it's better to approach it in small sessions?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
MAGNETICA, a new puzzle game for the Nintendo DS, isn't one of those fluffy puzzle games that anyone can play while multitasking through life. This one requires concentration and logical thinking.
Because the game's puzzles are so demanding, this isn't a good game for kids younger than about 12, unless they're precocious.
The concept of Magnetica is fairly simple: A chain of colored magnetic marbles moves through a spiral track toward a game-ending vortex. Players strive to eliminate all the marbles in the chain before they reach the vortex.
Using a stylus on the touch screen, players eliminate marbles by "flicking" new marbles from a special launcher hole into the chain to make combinations of three or more same-colored marbles. These linked same-colored marbles will then disappear.
Like-colored marbles have the special property of attraction. This attraction principle creates an interesting dynamic within the puzzle. For example, you can close a gap in the chain of marbles by placing, at one end of the gap, a marble that is of the same color as the one located on the other end of the gap.
The game offers three modes for the single player. In Puzzle mode, players tackle puzzles without the pressure of a timer. The challenge is to dispatch the marble chain by using the exact number of marbles provided in the launcher. For more frenetic play, the Challenge mode offers 99 puzzles on four levels of difficulty in a marathon-type setting where chains of marbles just keep coming with no break. The Quest mode has individual timed puzzles that appear on over 50 different tracks. Solving a puzzle moves you through the quest.
Two people can compete in the Versus mode if they have two Nintendo DS units and either one or two software cartridges. When one player successfully makes like-colored marbles disappear, the other player receives ball bearings. These bearings are hard to get rid of. This mode also has quirky, randomly appearing attack items, including clouds and black holes.
Nintendo released this puzzle under their new Touch Generations brand, an attempt to create games that anyone can play. While the mechanics of playing this game using the touch screen are easy, testers found solving the puzzles to be challenging. This level of challenge creates a double-edged sword: The game is good because it pushes players intellectually, but it's bad because it will turn off players who are looking for a simple diversion.
Instead of being a fun puzzle game for the masses, this seems like a niche game for hardcore puzzle lovers.
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Educational ValuePlayers explore different ways to solve puzzles. Requires logic and concentration. |
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