System: GameCube

How do you describe this game? I guess you could say it’s a Frankenstein/Pokemon/Mario Party crossover-type game. Maybe. Here’s the deal: you create a monster, give it accessories, eyes, and a voice, and you can run it through mini-games in order to save Amazing Island by collecting the eight Vision Orbs and defeating the Black Evil. Each category will be rated out of 8, for the number of Vision Orbs you need to collect. Duh.

Storyline: 

Ouch! Sorry to nail this game on the first rating, but it’s not quite as deep as most games are. You are a young boy/girl (you choose your gender and name, of course) who finds a book somewhere telling about The Amazing Island, a fairy tale. Fascinated by this, that very night you are called to that island to attempt to save it, being able to transport there with a card that was magically given to you. As you arrive, an Eviling, one of the Black Evil’s henchmen, attacks you. You defeat it with the help of a monster that appears out of the card you received. Later you meet the Chief of the Maboo tribe, who explains his village’s plight: that the island will be destroyed unless one with a pure heart defeats the Black Evil. Naturally, this means you. It may sound a little deeper than I stated at first, but that’s the whole story at the beginning of the game, as it doesn’t really develop throughout the rest of the game.

Graphics: 

The graphics are simply divine! Especially the monsters. The game renders them beautifully after they’re created. The backgrounds for the island always fit the area and are quite colorful. Unfortunately, I had to dock a mark because the barriers pretty much only disappear by sinking into the ground. Even the rock walls. You would expect them to blow up or something, wouldn’t you?

Sound: 

The music is great, though not too memorable. It always fits where you are, whether you’re playing a mini-game or walking through the village. It lost a few points because some of it repeats a fair amount.

Environments/Terrain: 

Hm… Not much on the island to explore. There’s just the village that you actually get to walk around in, and the mini-games, which you don’t get to walk around in. (Unless, of course, it’s a mini-game that you walk around in. Duh.)

Control: 

The controls are perfectly responsive, especially when you’re drawing a monster; that’s when you need it most. This category lost a point because most mini-games involve tapping the A or B button.

Strategy: 

The strategy is about as great as just about every RPG. There are endless possibilities to creating your perfect monster. You can create whatever sick and twisted mutant you want (ie. a four-armed metallic beast or a strange creature with a huge rear end), or make a cutesy little puppy dog. Even better, you’re able to create your favorite video game or cartoon character. I even made Pikachu (bleah!), and my younger brother made Pac-man! (He looked pretty funny ^_^) While I’m at it, I even created myself; it looked sweet! You just have to learn to be creative, like leaving the head off of the monster and instead making the body round, in the example of Pac-man. When you inflate it (make it 3D), you must not have any empty spaces, like a circle with an opening in the outline, and you can’t make a “donut” shape with a hole in the middle, as it will delete the inner circle automatically. If it doesn’t quite look right when you inflate it, you can re-draw it or use the Inflate tool again to make it thicker or thinner. Also, the parts don’t have to match up exactly, so you can have a head floating above the body, or a monster with hands and feet, but no arms or legs (Rayman! =D).

Then, once it’s all drawn out, it comes to life and you give it a color pattern, (like dragon scales or dog fur, etc.) eyes (angry, big, cute, etc.), a voice, (dinosaur, dog bark, phantom laugh, etc.), and accessories (wings, claws, shoes, eyebrows, among other things). Woah! If that’s not enough, everything you do will change its stats, like wings will make them fly farther, though reduce land speed, and a reddish color will probably make them fire element. If this seems too tough to do, you’re given the option to simply answer a few random questions and the game will create a monster for you, which you can tweak later. Remember that each monster takes eight blocks to save.

The mini-games are quite fun, at the beginning. After a while, some are annoying but some you might like to play again and again. That’s just the way the game is. There are three courses, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, and the latter two courses branch out after the second event and the second and fourth events, respectively, with different mini-games on every path. That means that you’ll have to complete the courses several times to obtain the Vision Orbs, as each branch gives you a different one. After completing a course, you battle the Evilings in an Eviling Volley, where you will receive a Vision Orb if you win. There’s a place you can go if you want to practice a single mini-game, if you need to.

Even so, this category got a 6 because many of the mini-games are very much the same, with some differences, as well as the fact that most of the mini-games rely on strength.

Characters: 

Ouch again. The only real main characters are you, the Maboo chief, the Black Evil, and the monsters you create. Oh yeah, as well as Lagu, Folu, and Chinto, the ones that bring your monster to life. Um… I think that’s all I have to say here.

Items: 

An insane amount of accessories, voices, eyes, patterns, you name it! After a mini-game, you always win cash (equal to half your score) and some prize, based on your score (more on that later). A bronze chest (low score) gives you a potion that you can use before a mini-game to boost your monster up a bit to better ensure your win; a silver chest (average score, the majority of the chests you receive will be silver) gives you some sort of accessory; a gold chest (very high score) gives you a Monster Card (more on that later, as well). There are different stores around the village where you can buy items (duh), with the prices ranging from 100G to well over 10,000G! You can accessorize your monster at any time, although you can’t change its shape once it’s brought to life. Every time you create a monster, you receive a Chance Star, allowing you to fail one more time at a mini-game course without having to start all over again. Honestly, it took me a long time to figure out what a Chance Star was. Then, of course, the Vision Orbs, which you need to complete the game.

Secrets/Bonuses: 

There are several unlockables. The Monster Cards you receive allow you to do two things. You can use the monsters on those cards instead of your created monsters to clear events, and you can download up to three on your GBA (if you have a GCN-GBA cable, or as I like to call it, the Gamecube Advance cable) to play an addictive card-battling game. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated like Pokemon or Yugioh; simply choose one of your two or three attacks to use on your opponent. Every monster has a certain amount of MP; the first of your attacks is a basic attack and will regenerate 1 or 2 MP, and the other attacks cost MP to use, but are either powerful or defensive. If a monster is doing badly or is about to lose all their HP, switch them for a stronger one and get back in the game. If you have a friend who also has a GBA, you can link up and battle each other. If not, the computer is always raring to go. When, or if, you win, you will receive a chest, which you can download to your GameCube file for exclusive accessories, extra potions, or Skill Cards to give your monsters an extra attack.

At the end of a course, you will receive a chest for your combined score, which will generally earn you a new frame to draw your monster on. There are all kinds of frames, from Dragon to Hamster (hehe) to a human-type to an Evil Beast, with four arms and two legs! After you complete the game, I hear that you unlock Sound Test, but I had to give my rental back before I could check that out.

As you progress through the game, you unlock new creation tools, like Resize, Line, and what I think is the best, Paint, which allows you to create your own external pattern on your monster.

Ending: 

Not too much of an ending, although I probably shouldn’t spoil it by telling you what it is because people don’t like to be told the ending before they see it for themselves.

Difficulty: Varying

This is a hard one to rate, as most mini-games are completely different from one another, and some people have an easier time performing one method than others. For example, the second mini-game is the easiest one I can think of, though other people have a very hard time with it. The third mini-game took me five tries to complete successfully, while my brother and friend beat it in one try. The final boss took my brother twenty tries, but took me five tries because I already knew how to beat it. Don’t be fooled; the final boss is very tough.

Each mini-game requires that you get at least 700 points. If you don’t, you lose one chance and have to try again. The high score tables are good for a challenge, too.

Length: Varying

It’s a short game if you’re good at the mini-games, but at the same time, it doesn’t drag out like some other games I’ve played. It just depends on your preference, I guess.

Replay Value: 

I just have to give this a high rating because, although it’s a short game, you have endless hours simply creating whatever monsters you want. Try different things each time and see what you like.

Fun Factor!: 

Seriously, rent this game. It is a ton of fun your first time playing it. The card game is addicting, and there’s a multiplayer mode for battling with your buddies on different mini-games. Simply creating a monster is enough fun in itself.

Overall: 

Recommendation: As I stated before, it’s lots of fun. Play a single mini-game or go through a string of them. Especially have fun creating monsters. If you have an open weekend, you should rent this game at least once. Maybe rent it again another weekend. But you should definitely try it and see if you like it. I know I did. The only thing I don’t get is why the kid on the box doesn’t match the kid in the game.

Remember: The only limit is your imagination.

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