Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Puzzle
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Mitchell
ETA: June 2006

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Magnetica

A short time ago, Nintendo made a few announcements for games that they plan to bring to the DS in North America this year.  Among the games mentioned was Magnetica, a new puzzle game for that handheld that some may recognize by its other name, Puzzloop.

Here we have a game that revolves around colored marbles that slowly descend along a track.  Players will use a launcher on the game board to fire more colored marbles at the ones going down the track.  If the launched marble hits at least two connecting marbles of the same color, all of the marbles involved in the collision will disappear, and the player will 

be rewarded with points.  If players continually screw up, though, the marbles will slowly make their way to a gutter at the end of the track and fall down it.  If this happens too often, it’s game over.

While the game may appear new to DS owners, Puzzloop has existed in one form or another for almost a decade now.  Originally developed by a company named Mitchell, the game has appeared from time to time in the arcade.  Hell, you can download a free version of the game from Real Arcade.  While Magnetica will retain the pure arcade mode that it initially played as, the DS version will see the inclusion of a sort of quest mode.  Here 

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players will be faced with various objective based missions in order to succeed.  Some of the more interesting ones include trying to launch marbles with black holes interfering with the shots, or smoke coming down over the screen, obscuring one’s view.

Magnetica will also make liberal use of the DS’ stylus pen, as players will use this in a flicking motion to launch their marbles, where the pen will determine the direction in which they are launched, and their velocity.  Also of note is that if players have a DS Rumble Pak connected to the handheld, it will begin to vibrate when they lose.

As time wears on, the DS is starting to establish a very good selection of puzzle games.  Magnetica has established a strong following among those who like free / inexpensive downloadable games.  With luck, this enhanced version of the game will prove just as popular.

Mr. Nash

(March 7, 2006)