Nintendo Okie

Howdy:

• Storybook art style is charming.
• Puzzle elements are unique.
• Lukus has a killer hairdo.

See Ya’:

• Camera not so hot.
• No direct control over Lukus.

Puzzle platformers are an interesting genre.  It seems that if one company is successful there are a rash of clones that follow.  Game Arts has been known in the past for their re-releases of their older franchises, but they’ve broken that mold and ventured into something new with their lastest WiiWare offering, The Magic Obelisk. 

The game tells the story of a young wood sprite named Lukus who are the beginning of the game is witness to a ceremony for one of his friends.  That friend is now going to venture out to find his place in the world to take root.  You see, these wood sprites will wander the world for just the right spot before stepping out into the sunlight and becoming a tree.  Lukus thinks he’s ready and tells the Elder that he’s going on his journey now too, despite the fact the Elder doesn’t think he’s ready. 

The Magic Obelisk is built around the mechanic of shadows.  If Lukus spends too long in the sun he’ll take root and the game will end.  Accompanying him on his journey is a light spirit Popo.  Scattered throughout the game’s many levels are obelisks that each have different properties.  Some of these cause the ground to freeze creating a path that will freeze enemies in place and cause Lukus to slide uncontrollably until he runs into something that will stop him.  Others cause him to float briefly in the air.  The main objective for these obelisks, though, is to create paths of shadows that Lukus can use to reach the end of each level.  You have to manage these obelisks and move Lukus to the next safe area before the shadows run out.  Each time you activate an obelisk it has a limited time before it’s shadow will disappear and you have to recreate it.  Many times along the path there will be enemies that will try to force you into the sunlight.  You have a life bar that will allow you to enter the light 5 times before you turn into a tree and the game ends.

The puzzle elements of the game are most definitely the strong point of The Magic Obelisk.  Some times you’ll have to use paths of ice to freeze enemies in place and create shadows to walk, sometimes it’s just a matter of activating the right sequence of obelisks.  There is no time limit to the game so you have as long as you need to puzzle the pieces together, so to speak.  It’s a relaxing time if nothing else.

The game is played with the Wii Remote held sideways and you control Popo with the D-pad.  Pressing two near an obelisk will create, or remove the shadows as needed.  Control of Lukus is achieved by simply moving Popo to the place you want Lukus to move to and pressing a button.  He’ll take the quickest, most safe path he can find and will never intentionally walk into the sun.  I never ran into too many issues of him getting stuck or wandering into an enemy when I didn’t want him to, but it would have been nice to have more direct control over Lukus. 

Visually the game is very reminiscent of a children’s story book.  Everything is bright and rounded and just feels safe.   Even the enemies in the game don’t look ominous, they just look sort of irritated, rather than evil.  Lukus himself looks like a blond version of Jimmy Neutron if he were created for toddlers.  That’s not to say the game isn’t good look.  It’s quite the opposite actually.  It’s almost as if the world’s inviting you to come and play in it. 

The only other issue I had with The Magic Obelisk was that there was no direct control over the camera.  Because you’re holding the Wii Remote sideways you don’t have an analog stick that you can use to rotate the viewpoint.  This causes some issues when the camera tries to zoom in on Lukus and Popo, but you get the view of an obelisk covering ¾ of the screen.  It was very easy to fix, just move Lukus a small amount and the camera would readjust and get around the obstacle, but it wasn’t always easy to tell if I was moving into a safe position. 

Aside from the small gripes of no direct control over Lukus and the camera I had a lot of fun with The Magic Obelisk.  It’s a very relaxing puzzle adventure that taxes your brain rather than your reflexes.  Children will love watching you play and listening to the story while you tackle the puzzles, or it’s just a good game if you’re looking for something to relax with after a long session in the latest first person shooter.  I think it’s a great game to use to wind up the day. 

Final Score: 4/5 Average

Review copy of the game provided by Game Arts.

Photos Courtesy of IGN.