Game Card
Magic Ball (PS3)
- Publisher:
- Creat Studio
- Developer:
- Tik Games
- US Release:
- 15.01.2009
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
Review
We play Magic Ball...
Mankind loves destruction. Whether it’s the burning of the Ozone layer or the dismantling of the economy, you can always count on us to hastily sketch our initials into anything valuable with an unprecedented ease. More precisely, we love destructible environments in videogames, often standing back with a sadistically chilling cackle of laughter as we effortlessly press a single awe-inspiring button, unleashing hellfire on the helpless environment below. Fortunately for Earth, Magic Ball has landed on the PSN, providing us with the opportunity to turn our attention away from our doomed planet and onto a gloriously vibrant virtual paradise.
Oddly, the journey you’ll take through Magic Ball will often leave you excited or completely fatigued. When playing to its strengths, the title offers an addictively simplistic evolution of the breakout style games that have appeared over many generations of consoles and mobile applications. Unfortunately, in the duller moments, Magic Ball does suffer with a lack of character as the vital momentum and challenge needed to succeed is out of reach.
That’s not to say that Magic Ball doesn’t offer a challenge, as with some levels, it certainly does. Sadly, out of fifty stages on offer, we could count the number of times a strategy was needed on one hand. Whilst the scenes created are wonderfully constructed to either a pirate or medieval theme, many gamers will find the lack of depth utterly disappointing.
What instantly becomes clear through Magic Ball is that developers Creat Studios decided on two initial themes and then re-hashed level designs to offer a greater sense of value. You’ll quickly notice that in one level there may be a certain number of sharks facing the same way, whilst on the next they’ll all be facing a different direction, as if their laziness had passed unnoticed. Although the continuity is plausible for such a small release, we can’t help but feel the best parts of the game were when something new was thrown in to liven proceedings up.
You’ll face a number of impressive beasts as you use your paddle to bounce a generic football off a whole manner of materials. Granted, chopping a giant purple Kraken to slightly smaller pieces is fun, but the biggest thrills come from destroying scenes that include buildings and a gentle narrative. Players will be able to understand just what they are gate-crashing, as more often than not you’ll envision just what was happening before you arrived with guns blazing. Whether it’s a royal banquet or a sanctimonious operation from treasure thieving pirates, you’ll revel in making a mess out of their glory. Destroying a castle for the first time had us sniggering with laughter, as the physics on show are extremely entertaining and light-hearted, giving a cheeky nod towards the influx of realistic games that have recently hit the shelves.
With that said, the graphical beauty of Magic Ball is most charming when there is a lot happening on screen. Smashing individual blocks will often knock a power-up towards your paddle at the bottom, forcing you to quickly decide if you need to use it or not. Many times you’ll receive an icon that decreases the size of your ball, offering a tiny jab of power where once you could unleash a devastating haymaker, meaning the decision should not be taken lightly. Of course, there are a wealth of icons to utilise that often have a huge effect on how the level will pan out.
For instance, if you decide to use the multi-ball power up at the correct time, you’ll quickly destroy any intransigent statues that stand in your way. However, if you manage to gain an iron ball whilst keeping multiple balls afloat, you’ll begin a combo of devastating attacks. As this iron sphere rips through any material on it’s first contact, you’ll quickly learn to use this as often as you possibly can and to miss out the powers that make things that little bit trickier (Crazy ball, I’m looking at you).
What’s interesting about Magic Ball is the way levels unfold completely differently each time you play them. When a little deep thought is needed to advance, often luck becomes your saviour. For instance, you may receive a weather power up that unleashes a pummelling of meteors that will quickly dismantle strong brickwork. This could trigger a natural disaster such as an earthquake or, much less seriously, a gust of heavy wind, meaning the level demolishes before your raised eyebrows and drooping tongue. Receiving these powers in quick succession is the key to tackling any level effectively, especially towards the game’s conclusion where you’ll often face a scene made up of normal structures hidden within immovable lumps of steel that insultingly hold a defiant defence.
To further aid your offensive against the tougher sections, you may receive a number of heavy weaponry that inevitably turns the odds in your favour. Be it a heavy machine gun, explosive bazooka or blistering laser, having the extra interaction is hugely more fulfilling than idly watching the ball bounce from wall to wall. Adding greater scope to the visuals on offer, the extra firepower is a huge welcome to the original formula, as Creat Studios show they can provide a smattering of modernisation for the largely basic and ancient formula.
Adding to Magic Ball’s appeal is the chance to play with friends via a local or online connection. As you both cover half the screen, you can decide to tackle levels by working together, or alternatively, can battle it out in a points based challenge. When we came to play online the community was largely dead, offering little chance for us to pit our ball-bouncing skills against opponents from across the globe. With only two episodes available to play offline, Creat have left the door open to shovel DLC in by the bucket load, especially with their scathingly obvious “to be continued” sign that sits in the third episode slot.
For all its charming visual glory and fast-paced action, Magic Ball also provides repeating level designs and a monotous formula that will test your patience all too often. It’s ironic that a game based around the bouncing of a ball can sling back and forth between excellence and mediocrity so quickly, as it fails to become an essential purchase for PlayStation owners. With downloaded content coming imminently, you’ll be hard pushed to feel like you’ve finished with the game after two episodes. Sadly, just as it begins to get interesting and suitably challenging, Creat Studios whisk it away without giving the gamer any notice. Although fun for a short period of time, mankind is sure to be returning to the destructible vista of the real world in a matter of hours.
Top Game Moment: Crushing a guarded castle to smitherines in seconds.
Oddly, the journey you’ll take through Magic Ball will often leave you excited or completely fatigued. When playing to its strengths, the title offers an addictively simplistic evolution of the breakout style games that have appeared over many generations of consoles and mobile applications. Unfortunately, in the duller moments, Magic Ball does suffer with a lack of character as the vital momentum and challenge needed to succeed is out of reach.
 |
 |
|
| An innocent, utopian scene...until you show up | If you're lucky, you'll cause this kind of havoc within seconds |
That’s not to say that Magic Ball doesn’t offer a challenge, as with some levels, it certainly does. Sadly, out of fifty stages on offer, we could count the number of times a strategy was needed on one hand. Whilst the scenes created are wonderfully constructed to either a pirate or medieval theme, many gamers will find the lack of depth utterly disappointing.
What instantly becomes clear through Magic Ball is that developers Creat Studios decided on two initial themes and then re-hashed level designs to offer a greater sense of value. You’ll quickly notice that in one level there may be a certain number of sharks facing the same way, whilst on the next they’ll all be facing a different direction, as if their laziness had passed unnoticed. Although the continuity is plausible for such a small release, we can’t help but feel the best parts of the game were when something new was thrown in to liven proceedings up.
You’ll face a number of impressive beasts as you use your paddle to bounce a generic football off a whole manner of materials. Granted, chopping a giant purple Kraken to slightly smaller pieces is fun, but the biggest thrills come from destroying scenes that include buildings and a gentle narrative. Players will be able to understand just what they are gate-crashing, as more often than not you’ll envision just what was happening before you arrived with guns blazing. Whether it’s a royal banquet or a sanctimonious operation from treasure thieving pirates, you’ll revel in making a mess out of their glory. Destroying a castle for the first time had us sniggering with laughter, as the physics on show are extremely entertaining and light-hearted, giving a cheeky nod towards the influx of realistic games that have recently hit the shelves.
With that said, the graphical beauty of Magic Ball is most charming when there is a lot happening on screen. Smashing individual blocks will often knock a power-up towards your paddle at the bottom, forcing you to quickly decide if you need to use it or not. Many times you’ll receive an icon that decreases the size of your ball, offering a tiny jab of power where once you could unleash a devastating haymaker, meaning the decision should not be taken lightly. Of course, there are a wealth of icons to utilise that often have a huge effect on how the level will pan out.
 |
 |
|
| The most reassuring sign in the game! | The best levels are packed with noble knights to squash and royal buildings to demolish |
For instance, if you decide to use the multi-ball power up at the correct time, you’ll quickly destroy any intransigent statues that stand in your way. However, if you manage to gain an iron ball whilst keeping multiple balls afloat, you’ll begin a combo of devastating attacks. As this iron sphere rips through any material on it’s first contact, you’ll quickly learn to use this as often as you possibly can and to miss out the powers that make things that little bit trickier (Crazy ball, I’m looking at you).
What’s interesting about Magic Ball is the way levels unfold completely differently each time you play them. When a little deep thought is needed to advance, often luck becomes your saviour. For instance, you may receive a weather power up that unleashes a pummelling of meteors that will quickly dismantle strong brickwork. This could trigger a natural disaster such as an earthquake or, much less seriously, a gust of heavy wind, meaning the level demolishes before your raised eyebrows and drooping tongue. Receiving these powers in quick succession is the key to tackling any level effectively, especially towards the game’s conclusion where you’ll often face a scene made up of normal structures hidden within immovable lumps of steel that insultingly hold a defiant defence.
To further aid your offensive against the tougher sections, you may receive a number of heavy weaponry that inevitably turns the odds in your favour. Be it a heavy machine gun, explosive bazooka or blistering laser, having the extra interaction is hugely more fulfilling than idly watching the ball bounce from wall to wall. Adding greater scope to the visuals on offer, the extra firepower is a huge welcome to the original formula, as Creat Studios show they can provide a smattering of modernisation for the largely basic and ancient formula.
 |
 |
|
| Interactive power-ups play a huge part in your success, so use them wisely | Charming visuals make this a title full of character, even if that pesky metal fence stands in your way |
Adding to Magic Ball’s appeal is the chance to play with friends via a local or online connection. As you both cover half the screen, you can decide to tackle levels by working together, or alternatively, can battle it out in a points based challenge. When we came to play online the community was largely dead, offering little chance for us to pit our ball-bouncing skills against opponents from across the globe. With only two episodes available to play offline, Creat have left the door open to shovel DLC in by the bucket load, especially with their scathingly obvious “to be continued” sign that sits in the third episode slot.
For all its charming visual glory and fast-paced action, Magic Ball also provides repeating level designs and a monotous formula that will test your patience all too often. It’s ironic that a game based around the bouncing of a ball can sling back and forth between excellence and mediocrity so quickly, as it fails to become an essential purchase for PlayStation owners. With downloaded content coming imminently, you’ll be hard pushed to feel like you’ve finished with the game after two episodes. Sadly, just as it begins to get interesting and suitably challenging, Creat Studios whisk it away without giving the gamer any notice. Although fun for a short period of time, mankind is sure to be returning to the destructible vista of the real world in a matter of hours.
Top Game Moment: Crushing a guarded castle to smitherines in seconds.
User Comments
By crawlroman on Mar 12, 2009
By Wowerine on Mar 12, 2009
By slaythat on Apr 14, 2009
