Platform: Nintendo DS
ERSB: Teen
Genre: Action
Number of Players: 1
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: US 11/16/2004
Official Website
Writer: Typhoid

Rating: 4.5

Feel the Magic: Make it Disappear

One of my weaknesses as a gamer with a sense of humor is that I can’t resist dumb games. As long as I have a few spare bucks, I can’t help but throw it at something that might make me laugh. I’d heard stories about “Rub Rabbits” and “Feel the Magic” for a while and finally had to get a look at one of them for myself. While the entire game is too dumb for words, it’s also fascinating. I just couldn’t stop playing it, because each new level astounded me with stupid. Impress the girl by dancing by the fire with sound effects straight from Bozo the Clown? Save her from a 3-story carnivorous plant by setting it on fire? Ride a Unicycle over a tank of sharks? Sure, why not! She’s cute!

Graphics:
Think: shadow puppets and the absolute lack of anything resembling a “detail.” However all the bunnies make it kind of amusing, especially in the more deranged levels. I could have forgiven the graphics if they had hit the mark of being artsy and cute.

Controls:
So very bad. After a while I just started figuring that the character I was controlling had terrible coordination. Most of the levels that required simple stylus tapping worked fine, but the levels where you needed to control the boy in a maze or platforming type environment were aggravating.

Sound:
Not terrible but still badly synthesized wanna-be techno. The most disturbing thing about the sound is that after you finish the game you have the ability to use and remix all of the music and sound effects from the game which includes girls moaning and gasping. So you too can be a HIPpity HOPpity DJ.

Flow:
A stupid story, tons of unavoidable cut scenes, and levels that aren’t even any fun to play. This game has a consistent flow alright- a flow of CRAP.

Fun Factor:
There is only one level in this entire game that is actually fun. Most of the levels involve trying to steer a dorky boy with bad coordination though a series of stunts. However in one level you are controlling a mech and are battling another mech with missiles and lasers and… it is all kinds of awesome. Also some of the bad Japanese to English translations are pretty amusing, like “Monocycle” instead of “Unicycle.” The character was riding a unicycle and not Mr. Garrison’s travel invention from “South Park” (which more closely resembles a “monocycle”). So I started making jokes like, “My unicycle is powered by a kissing disease.”

Female Aspect:
This game is entirely about impressing the girl, saving the girl, and doing things to her like washing her because she’s dirty…yeah.

Replay Value:
When you beat the game, you start earning new outfits for your girl. I suppose if you really want to keep earning her outfits you can keep playing. However considering that you and the girl are both simple shadow outlines, it wouldn’t be spectacular even if the clothing was interesting.

The game achieved what it wanted to, and it is playable from start to finish. If the game had better controls and was more fun, then it would be a neat little game. It’s probably worth renting just for the pleasure of mocking it. However make sure you’ve got a screen protector on your DS, there’s a lot of rubbing involved.