Amazing Island for GameCube Reviews by Gamers

Among the great many things lacking in Sega's Amazing Island, the lack of a warning label sticks out the most. While some unfortunate gamers may suffer epileptic seizures while playing, nearly all may require minor thumb surgery promptly after finishing the game. Or at the very least, some will be in the mood for a lengthy thumb massage. As for this editor, well… let's just say writing this review turned out to be a tad more painful than originally envisioned. You see, Amazing Island is a game calling for the near exclusive use of the chubbiest of digits. This game wants your thumb. And it wants it bad. So bad, in fact, that a bulk of the game sees you thumbing the controller as if there were no tomorrow.

But we'll get to that a little later. For now, here's a bit of back-story: you play as a young kid (you choose the gender at the beginning of the game) on a quest to save a magical kingdom from a menacing force called the "Black Evil." It's not the most inventive story ever, but the lack of narrative complexity is forgivable. After all, how many times have gamers been sent after "X" amount of artifacts to restore "X" in the magical kingdom of "X" and had a fun time doing it? As long as the game plays well, it'll be easy to overlook Amazing Island's narrative laziness. Herein lies the problem: Amazing Island's gameplay is as uninspired as its story.

Although at first, Amazing Island promises more than an all-out twitch fest. You start the game by creating a character, which includes just two options: gender and name. A mystical book then transports you from your cozy bed on Earth to the Amazing Island. Turns out denizens of the island calling themselves the Maboo Tribe summoned you to help rid their land of the "Black Evil." Within moments of arriving, you're attacked by an "Eveling," -- a denizen of the Maboo Tribe possessed by the "Black Evil." But you can't win the fight alone, and so you're given a magic card with the power to create a monster. Together, you win the first victory against the "Black Evil." Soon afterward, you meet with the chief of the Moboo Tribe who gives you the rundown on what's going on. Apparently, the Moboo lack weapons, balls, or both. Point being, they can't reclaim their land from the evil that has consumed it. That responsibility falls to you.

The Facts

• Play over 30 different mini-games.
• Create hundreds of different monsters and use them in battle.
• Trade monsters with friends and compete with GBA system link.
• Accessorize your monster with collectible items such as wings, horns and bolts.
• Unlockable monster creation abilities.
• 1 to 4 players.

As in the first encounter, you'll spend the rest of the game fighting the "Black Evil" through monster intermediaries. So, before heading out, you'll need to trade in your first monster (it's weak and generally lame) to create a new one. Monster creation is undoubtedly Amazing Island's strongest feature. Tinkering with the options in the monster creator dishes out hours of entertainment. It's a good thing you'll need to spend hours perfecting monsters anyway, because this game wouldn't have much going for it otherwise. Initially, the process seems overly simplistic, with your options limited to aesthetic upgrades. You can change a monster's coloring, skin pattern and accessories. As you progress through the game, you'll get to choose a monster's frame, which dictates its strengths and weaknesses.

For example, certain frames create water monsters while others create monsters with greater stamina. You'll also gain the ability to draw whatever kind of monster you can imagine with an in-game drawing utility. Pretty much anything goes. Although, certain abilities remain locked until you complete a specific number of events. The "Mirror Pen" for example, which you unlock early in the game, helps you by drawing a symmetrical outline. Unless you have a steady hand, you'll appreciate these additions.

When creating a new monster, the Moboo present two primary options: making one from scratch, or creating one based on a personality questionnaire. The personality quiz presents questions ranging from the bland: "What's your favorite number?" To the bizarre: "You find a funny-looking vegetable. What do you think it tastes like?" The Moboo take your answers and then choose the frame of your monster. Players can then take over and apply the final changes such as coloring and accessories. The process works well and delivers quite a bit of fun. The choices you make affect your performance in the game, so the system even adds a level depth to Amazing Island. For example, thin monsters move faster while short, stocky monsters have greater strength. This leads to the breeding of monsters to compete in specific events— the key to success in Amazing Island. Need to win a flying mini-game? Breed a dragon. Need to win a race? Create a skinny monster with stamina. You can also head into Moboo shops to purchase additional equipment and accessories. While the exact number of accessories (think claws, wings and horns) will remain hidden for this review, rest assured there are quite a few. As was stated earlier, accessories actually change the abilities of a given monster, so you'll need to scour shops often. The shop system could use some work, however, as buying stuff is hit or miss on most occasions. Some accessories have obvious effects (wings increase flight capabilities, for example) while the effects of others are only clear after you strap them on use them into battle. And even then, you'll need to play an event a few times before you notice a difference. Shops also contain potions that temporarily increase a monster's stamina, speed, etc just before starting an event. Potions don't cost much, so you can always count on a temporary boost in abilities at the beginning of a mini-game.

Sadly, whatever thrills Amazing Island conjured in the earliest stages of the game evaporate just as soon as you pit your monsters in battle. The addictiveness of monster creation gives way to mindless finger twitching in 30 mini-games. They may differ in setting, but most of the mini-games play out exactly the same way: hit the "A" button very fast and you'll probably win. Admittedly, the first five or so events deliver some amusement, but it's nothing riveting. And it's certainly not fun enough to build an entire game around the experience. Like at a carnival: you may want to play some of the games, and some of them may be fun, but you're not going to spend more than a few minutes (not to mention dollars) playing them. Everyone loves mini-games, but the formula doesn't work a when a game requires you to play them for hours. The place of a mini-game is inside a larger event; it's not meant to be the event itself.

Sega tried to inject a little life in Amazing Island by supplying different kinds of mini-games, but each feels only slightly more involved than the finger twitching madness of the others. One such event has you matching two rows of statues by swapping their heads around. It starts simple enough, with only three statues in need of matching. With every round completed, the game ushers more statues and configures the pieces in such a way that running back and forth trying to match them turns into a real challenge. Another such mini-game sees your monster plummeting to the earth while shooting down enemies. Both these examples entertained while they lasted, but the enjoyment may be from the lack of thumb-twitching and not from the mini-game's actual fun factor. Most other events just modify the incessant "A" tapping of the earlier events by throwing in timed sequences. Most employ a gauge that you'll need to keep a close eye on. These small variations do little to spice the game. It's possible to complete these sequences by just staring at the corner of the screen and tapping buttons when the gauge tells you so.

Sound in Amazing Island fits the simplistic tone of the game. None of it feels genuinely involving or memorable. Then again, how memorable does a mini-game soundtrack really need to be? Most of it sounds like a flurry of chirpy synth beats. In retrospect, it sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the game's frenetic gameplay. And the graphics, while equally simple, look pleasant and fit the general mood of the game. Textures look bland and some of the areas are decidedly low-res, but the design of the characters and of the game world looks good. Some of the special effects, especially during monster creation and during the aquatic mini-games, look especialy nice.

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