Written: 12.21.06 Acquired: 10.3.06 Status: Cart only Price: $14
Publisher: Altron
Released: 12.24.93
Developer: Altron
Scarcity: 4.5
Let's face it. We all have things from our childhood that we loved
Some of them we have no shame in. Transformers come to mind
Others, well.... perhaps we rather not just say...
But confessing is a cleansing of the soul
So today, my brothers, and sisters, I'm here to shed
Er, that didn't come out right, but no matter, a few of you are still here
I have to admit, growing up this was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It was slightly grotesque, ghoulish and, dare I say, groovy. Every kid loved it, and none of us could keep our curious young eyes off the bimbo in the bikini at the very beginning. And how many of us wished that there were some kind of Other-Worldly portal right underneath our beds! Too many of us that's what! The film really captured the senses of a young and healthy robust boy growing up in America in 1989
[That's Little Monsters, not Little Magic ya git! -Ed.]
Oh, right. Um, let's start over, then
Ah Little Magic... I have to admit, growing up this was a fav -- er... wait. Hell, I never heard of it until the summer of 2006 when I was on my crusade for Obscure SFC Goodness! Indeed it is quite obscure, rarely ever talked about and very very hard to find
Shame, because it's an excellent brain-teaser of a game
LITTLE MAGIC (no relation to the NES game of the same title) is not what you'd call an epic game, or a showcase piece. Hell, it looks like something off the 8-Bit Nintendo... Adventures of Lolo immediately comes to mind. But as we all know, gameplay reigns supreme, and Little Magic is rock-solid in that department
Little Magic is a bit like the Soukoban games (see Power Soukoban and Super Soukoban). As May, in each stage you must transport a fiery icon to its designated location. It's a simple concept, but the complexity of the level design becomes increasingly difficult
May moves one square for any D-Pad movement you make. So she cannot turn without moving. 3 ways to move the fire are:
Push (just use the D-Pad)
Poke (A button)
Bubble. It'll pop pushing the fire 1 space forward (B button)
May cannot walk on water. Some wizard in training eh?
No walk on water? No problem! Here she pokes the fire into the proper location
The bubble should be used when May is out of poking range of the icon
Ah, there we are
The first several stages are easy kid-stuff. Level 6 is where it begins to pick up though...
You're toast if you push the fire against the wall there
Form a bubble next to the fire, then move May to the top corner and wait for the bubble to burst, pushing the fire towards you. Now you're home free
Stage 7 is much trickier. Those stairs vanish as soon as you step off
The intro shows off some of the game's clever techniques
It's sort of like a how-to-play video, really
As you progress through the levels, enemies crop up as well, in addition to teleporters, spikes, gaping holes, etc. In all there are 99 levels. 6-character passwords are provided after each contest. As you'd expect, there are themes for each set of stages
Hmmm....
The Bloody Hell...
Now what would this game be without a slippery slidey theme eh?
It's Gon from Tekken! Or Godzooky! Kill 'im! Hey, it's either you or him!
A little Pac-Man-esque, no?
[No. Now go "pac" yer bags... har har har -Ed.]
A little DYK: Those guys there were extra's in SNAKES ON A PLANE
[You're still here?! -Ed.]
Crikey!
Slippery slidey spiky!
May goes a little Indiana Jones on us here. Beware the loose tiles... this theme is mighty tough!
In the infamous words of one, Bernie Mac...
"OHHH LORD!"
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The Game Boy Color version also received a Japan-only release. Crap graphics make a bad game not. This is a classic example of that. Little Magic is a praise-worthy diamond in the rough and definitely worth hunting down
Now 'scuse me, for I think I'll go watch the very beginning of Little Monsters one more time... ahem... because there's that one infamous scene when you were a kid... *shuts the blinds*
