Magnetic Baby Review
PROS
- Multiple intuitive control schemes; touch, drag or tilt your way across space.
- Unique mix of puzzle elements with physics based platforming.
- Gorgeous hand-painted visual style; paired with cute animated characters.
CONS
- Being out of control is being in control; jumping between platforms can at times feel utterly random in its results.
- Odd unlock glitches; new worlds unlocked, but levels not initially available.
VERDICT
Magnetic Baby may look and feel great, but letting go and gliding your way through space in order to collect stars and rescue the damsel in distress can have too many unexpected results.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Sometimes I feel making a comparison is like ripping off a medical adhesive strip - you know it's going to hurt, but sometimes it's needed. So yes, Magnetic Baby by Bravery Plus has many similarities to Super Mario Galaxy, but - and this is the important part - beyond this the challenging physics based puzzle platformer feels like an entirely different beast.
For starters, the somewhat bizarre landscape presents a unique obstacle in more ways than one. Ultimately your aim is to collect as many of the three stars on the level as possible before reaching your 'girl', but each platform/planetoid possesses a magnetic field that glues you to its surface. Thankfully you can roll your way around, gaining momentum before flinging yourself off, potentially entering in to an orbit or pulling yourself in towards another platform to continue your quest. The strange shape of each platform increases the challenge of this task and this is all before even basic traps such as spikes or blades enter in to the picture.
After acquainting yourself with one of three available controls schemes (either tilting your iOS device, using a virtual stick and button or dragging the screen) you'll need to start picking up some 'tricks of the trade' by learning how to effectively launch yourself around a platform to gain momentum; learning optimal jumping points for height versus distance; and when all else fails, learning how to precisely time and avoid the many traps that can get in your way including portals and lasers. It's far from a safe world, but instant restarts provide some succor should you fail to stay alive.
With 63 currently available levels you'll have plenty of time to gawk over the luscious hand-painted visual style and the detailed animations of your character as he responds to your actions either by getting dizzy, grimacing at a speedy change of direction and taking a rough landing.
It's only real short-coming is the inability to shake the feeling that your success on some levels has more to do with blind luck than that of considered planning. The physics are incredibly consistent and easy to get a feel of, but at times it also feels like you're being guided, making what would otherwise seem like a failed jump in to a miracle hail-mary play where you sweep up three stars and rescue the girl in one go. Later levels do curb this slightly thanks to the many ways in which you can die, but it's a hard feeling to shake.
If you can master the controls and like a good challenge wrapped up in a pleasing package, Magnetic Baby is destined to make a home on your iOS device.
Screenshots
$1.99
