Magical Starsign (Nintendo DS) Preview

People in the West will know of Brownie Brown only for the seemingly rushed GBA port of Seiken Densetsu / Final Fantasy Adventure from the Game Boy, renamed as 'Sword of Mana'. However, gamers disappointed by that effort on behalf of Square Enix should realise something about Brownie Brown. The team is actually made up of ex-Squaresoft employees that previously worked on the Mana series for both the SNES and the PlayStation, so they definitely have a lot of talent amongst them. Looking at their d

In Japan this game was released on 22nd June under the name Magical Vacation: 5-tsu no Hoshi Ganarabutoki (roughly translated as 'When the Five Stars Line Up') and has just been confirmed for a 23rd October release in the US, with a European release mentioned in Nintendo Official Magazine as being set for January, 2007. Unfortunately, given the complexity of the text in the GBA adventure, it would be unwise to import this from Japan unless you want to a) get really stuck on several occasions, b) completely miss out on the meat of the story. At least October is not too far away. But anyway, what can we expect from the title, I hear you cry?

First of all you will be getting one of the most attractive 2D-style RPGs on the Nintendo DS. In fact, if you have been enamoured by the forthcoming Children of Mana, you will find many parallels between the two on the visual side. The folk at Brownie Brown seem to be sticking with their usual style, whilst Square Enix is also keeping to the original Mana appearance, so the two look quite alike. Hopefully this will not deter people from buying this game, since Square Enix's Children of Mana belatedly hits the streets only one week later on 30th October (it hit Japan in March). Just looking at the array of screenshots revealed so far, the hand-drawn appearance of the graphics looks as clean and crisp as those in the gorgeous Children of Mana and the powerful battle / magical attack animations in promotional videos also highlights just how impressive Magical Starsign really is. With massive two-screen bosses and even cut-scenes featuring 3D models, Magical Starsign appears to be a real graphical treat!

The first piece of feedback that stemmed from Japan recently was about the game's control system. Apparently you can use one of two set ups, with the first one having players use the directional pad and face buttons to control character movement, with the R button acting as a dash function and the L shoulder button being the 'action' button (opening chests, talking to people, and so on). However, using this technique will prove to be quite awkward as you MUST use the stylus for menu control. Therefore, the second control option seems a far better solution

With not just Brownie Brown but the lead man behind the first Magical Vacation on-board this project (Shinichi Kameoka), the sequel is shaping up to be quite strong, as is mirrored by Famitsu's latest review of the title, scoring it a very healthy 31/40 (the original received 34/40). The storyline is slightly different this time round, with none of the characters from the first game included. However, it is the same school involved (Will O'Wisp Magical Academy) and a new group of trainee magicians are integral to the adventure, each one able to channel the power of certain stars. When they find out about their teacher and fellow students disappearing under mysterious circumstances, they take it upon themselves to head off on a rescue mission, using their rookie skills to the best of their ability as they travel across many different planets, each one affecting various character's strengths.