Let me make one thing clear right now. Feel the Magic XY/XX (or Project Rub, as it shall be known over here) is one of the most original, the most inventive, and the most unusual games I’ve played this year. The game makes full use of nearly all of the gameplay enhancing features that the Nintendo DS has to offer, which makes it not only one of the best DS launch titles, but sets a very high standard for future games on this extraordinary handheld.  

The atypical visual style of the game is the first thing that will catch your attention. The entire game has a unique, almost cel-shaded feel, with the characters as silhouettes and the backgrounds a striking, vibrant swirl of colour. The game tells its story with comic book style cut-scenes (a little reminiscent of last year’s brilliant XIII) with both static and animated images cutting across the two screens. It’s an original, welcome take on the visuals that looks great on DS without pushing it too much. The music compliments the graphics perfectly, with quirky, memorable tunes that you’ll be humming for days.

You play a young boy who sets out to get himself a date with the love of his life, and the game is all about trying to win her affection and persuade her to go on a date with him. Now this is where things get strange - he enlists the help of the Rub Rabbits – a suave gang of super performers who wear plastic, members-only rabbit ears – to help him get her attention. You accomplish this by performing all sorts of madcap stunts and tricks, which are presented in the form of minigames similar to Nintendo’s Wario Wares Inc. The minigames are as random and strange as they come – you pick scorpions off the girl’s back, dig up treasure on the beach, ride a unicycle down a narrow track and protect her from a stampede – and, brilliantly, you don’t need to press a single button. The game is controlled exclusively by the touch screen and the microphone – in fact, Feel The Magic makes fantastic use of every DS feature apart from the wireless (no multiplayer here, sadly). This is one of the first DS games, and already we can see how dual screens enhance the gameplay, how a touch screen makes things simpler and more fun to control, and how blowing out giant candles on the screen by way of the microphone is guaranteed to get you strange looks if you play this game on the train.

Not only are the mini-games mental and innovative, I can guarantee that almost all of them are extremely addictive and good fun to play. The simplicity brought by the touch screen means that anybody can play – and they’ll enjoy themselves too. With a couple of tiresome and frustrating exceptions, each of the minigames is original, simple, challenging and entertaining. Though a few of them are regurgitated later on in the game, you rarely feel like you’re only putting up with a certain minigame just so you can find out if the next one will be any better. The game is easy to pick up and play, and is full of that ‘just one more go’ factor, especially on those more challenging minigames.

Feel The Magic isn’t a completely magical experience, however. Some of the minigames can get tiresome, and a few of them are repeated towards the end, two small niggles which only let the game down slightly but must be mentioned nonetheless. Another minor gripe is the length of the game – it isn’t as short as some games, but it is over far too soon. Given the amount of development time the game had, this is understandable, but still…a few more mini-games would not have gone amiss. It’s a short game, but not too short – I think it’s fairer to say that it’s over before you want it to be. It’s such a compulsive and brilliant game that you will be left feeling a little bit short-changed and wanting just a little bit more. But is Feel the Magic worth buying? Definitely – it’s a great way of showcasing what exactly makes the DS such a unique and special handheld, and you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of it at the same time. This is one of the first must-have games for the Nintendo DS. Don’t miss out on this little gem.

James Hamilton