Magnetica

Rating ESRB: Everyone Genre puzzle Publisher Nintendo External Links Official Magnetica Website Official Nintendo Website

Magnetica may be the newest entry in Nintendo's Touch Generations series (along with Big Brain Academy and the forthcoming Sudoku Gridmaster), but the game may look very familiar. There are a number of reasons for this; most notably, it is a port by Mitchell Corporation of their own 1998 arcade title, Puzz Loop. However, most probably know it as Zuma, a nearly identical copycat that is available for PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and on mobile phones. More than any other reason, it may look familiar because it owes a huge debt to other ball-busting puzzlers like Bust-a-Move, a series that has been around for over a decade. Magnetica may have some interesting touches, but the general concept has been explored several times before - and with better results.

In Magnetica, your goal is to eliminate marbles by matching three or more of the same color. A stream of marbles flows towards an exit - allow them to hit that, and it is game over. Another opening on the screen contains a marble that must be flicked with the stylus towards the marbles in the stream. For example, if you have a yellow marble available to flick, try to find two yellow marbles in the stream that are already connected. If you can do so, the three will disappear, leaving a gap in the stream that will give you a second or two in which the stream will cease to progress towards the exit. The stylus control works well, and this is a game that really was made for a system like this.

Challenge Mode is like an endless, arcade-style mode in which you aim for the highest score. However, unlike many other puzzlers, Magnetica is a game that is best played in spurts. Because the stream of marbles moves regularly, you will have to flick constantly and with few errors to last for more than a handful of minutes. I had a better time with the Quest Mode, which strings together a series of missions, each with a finite amount of marbles set on differently designed game boards. These missions take only a few minutes each, so you will be able to knock out a few at a time. Also interesting is the Puzzle Mode, which provides a non-moving string of marbles that must be taken down with a set number of flickable marbles.

Magnetica has quite a bit of content held within - Challenge Mode has 99 scoring levels, while the other modes are packed with a slew of puzzling missions to take on. A multiplayer mode is also included, featuring some interesting quirks (such as a smokescreen that must be dispelled by blowing into the microphone on the DS). But with puzzle games, the single-player mode should be what sells the experience. While Magnetica is a solid game, it does not pack the interest or excitement of titles like Meteos or Bust-a-Move DS. At full price, it is hard to give this a full recommendation, unless you are a hardcore puzzle gamer. I really do not think there is enough here to justify a $35 price tag - especially when Zuma can be had for $10 on the Xbox 360. The Touch Generations series is supposed to appeal to non-gamers, but many will find it hard to swallow such a high price for a very simple title.