System: WiiWare
Developer: Press Play
Publisher: Press Play
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1
Points: 1,000
I'm not sure why, but I still have a big stack of sketchbooks from my childhood just sitting around - wasting precious space. They're filled with confusing comics such as 'KFC deal man', and... I've forgotten where I was going with this. Oh well. Max is a kid; he's the main character in this game! One day Max receives an orange marker in the mail and immediately starts drawing a monster with it (as we all would). Upon completion, the drawing starts to move – it's sort of aliiiive! The fiend is now running around the sketchbook, ruining everything. To put a stop to it, Max draws himself onto the same page and enters his own little world.
Max & the Magic Marker is a physics-based 2D platformer. Max is controlled with the Nunchuk, while the Wii Remote becomes an on-screen pen. Holding down the A button allows you to draw lines and objects right into the level, and they'll behave just as you'd expect. For example, drawing a line in mid-air will simply result in it falling on the ground, and a square that's been filled in will weigh more than just an outline. There's a nice mix between pure platforming and puzzle solving. At times it'll even feel a bit like World of Goo as you construct mammoth towers that can easily be thrown off balance.
Ink blobs are scattered all around - these increase how much ink the pen has. Whoa! This review is already chock full of amazing information. However, there are frequent checkpoints in each level, and each one sucks the pen dry (the bad guy pops up with his vacuum cleaner). As such, you'll always find yourself with barely enough ink to get the job done. There's a lot of trial and error involved, but it's really quite fun. Usually that'd probably be extremely tedious, but no! Erasing a line is as simple as pressing the B button while hovering over it, and gently shaking the Wii Remote will wipe out an entire construction in one go.
This is a really easy going, happy-go-lucky game. The difficulty is certainly there, and you'll spend a lot of time redrawing the same thing trying to get it right, but there's never a point where you'll want to jump onto an internet forum and furiously type out rage until your fingers turn to dust. The game even lets you pause the action to draw and erase - handy if there are enemies nearby. Oh yes, they're typically dispatched by dropping something heavy on them, personally I liked to draw little anvils.
For the most part the physics are impressive, but there is the occasional glitch. I witnessed Max have trouble trying to grab onto the edge of a hand drawn platform a few times, or struggle to run up something that he'd usually have no trouble with. Once he went flying off for seemingly no reason and landed on the ground sideways. Nothing too serious, but you'll likely experience a few oddities during the adventure. Max & the Magic Marker has fifteen levels spread out over four worlds (the last one reminded me of Scrap Brain Zone!) The initial playthrough should take about four hours, and there's a lot to keep coming back for with a generous helping of unlockables.
Max & the Magic Marker has slick presentation for a WiiWare title. The graphics are really appealing, mixing cel shaded characters with a soft, painted look. Although for some reason the frame rate tends to stutter at the strangest moments. It won't drop enough to affect your pen, but the slowdown is noticeable. Another nice touch is when you pause the game, the graphics will instantly shift to crude drawings – just like something out of a kid's sketchbook!
Composed by Analogik, the game's soundtrack is very reminiscent of The Neverhood. If you've played it, you should know that's pretty high praise! If not, you should just go with the flow and brag to people that you have - at parties. “Hey, how you been?” “Great! I've been playing The Neverhood. Damn, that music's really something!” “YOU ARE A BETTER PERSON THAN ME”, they'd say. You'd become mayor of SimCity. Basically, it blends big band with polka and insanity. Good stuff.
Oh, and you'll receive a prize (hint: it's related to the above paragraph) when you finish the game! Write down the password and enter it on the developer's website. Neat!
Score: 7.5/10 - "Good buy"
Max & the Magic Marker has a few small issues, but for the most part it's a very enjoyable, laid-back platformer with some really clever puzzles in its later stages.
Review by Lance McGill (Infernal Monkey)
AtGames Mega Drive console
