Magi-Nation

Never accept a dare!.

Sage advice, but unfortunately, advice that evidently Tony Jones had never heard before. Tony's the new kid in town, and accepts a dare to enter a creepy looking cave, find a crystal and bring it back to show how brave he is. Tony finds the crystal, but as a result is catapulted into a strange world with no way home.

Magi-Nation is a typical RPG, with other added elements. Tony must explore vast worlds, collecting items and battling magical creatures. Gameplay is reminiscent of Pokemon in the use of creaures you collect and control to battle others, and also similar to games such as Zelda in the amount of exploration and character interaction. The comments of characters are humorous, and add much to the feel of the game. Battle is different from many handheld games of this type in that it's more structured and less arcade-ish; in order to fight, commands are issued and followed in order, which is common for CRPG games, but not so common for handheld RPGs. Based on the popular card game Magi-Nation Duel, much of the flavor of the card game is preserved in the gameplay.

You'll spend a lot of time wandering around trying to find places to go. This can be slightly annoying at times, as in the beginning of the game where you're following your new-found friend to the ruler, but can't keep him in sight. As a result, you just have to wander around until you find him again. Also, save places are infrequent.

However, gameplay on the whole is varied and engrossing. There's lots of interaction, and strategy also plays a key part in planning your upcoming battles to gain more power and creatures. After finishing the game, many players will want to go through again with different combinations of creatures, which will change some aspects of the game (but not all, the game is mostly linear). The worlds are colorful and interesting enough to counteract the sometimes tedius treks across vast landscapes. If your family liked Zelda, then Magi-Nation is a great choice for your game library and one everyone should enjoy.