GENRE
	Platformer
	DEVELOPER
	Capcom
	PUBLISHER
	Capcom
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

When Nintendo unveiled the first crop of in-house GameCube games at E3 2001, people were a bit perplexed as to why a Mickey Mouse title was amongst the lot of powerhouses. It was assumed, since Rareware had developed Mickey’s Speedway for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, that they surely were the braintrust taking on this unexpected project. Much to the gaming world’s surprise, however, this was just one of many collaborations Nintendo and Capcom – the developer of the Mickey title – would be entering this generation. Magical Quest 2 is actually a sequel to the original Game Boy Advance offshoot of the main GameCube game (which both dealt with mirrors). As such, one must expect a similar, if less ambitious game herein.

visuals

Definitely this title’s strong point, the animations are brought to life in awesome hues of luminescent color, akin to the jubilant nature of the franchise itself. Some nice little dust effects are displayed by the skid of your character and the force of his (or her if you’re Minnie) vacuum equipment. Through the thick of it all, there is no particular point where the system is technically strained, never surpassing the animations inherent to the Super Nintendo’s capabilities. Standard inclusions, such as projectiles and mild motions, are what make this an equally standard sidescrolling platformer.

audio

Moving on from the game’s greatest strength, I contend that the audio track is this game’s greatest weakness. There are select bits of in game audio, for when you face off and hop on top of an opponent. Otherwise you are left with a rather bare-bones and uninspired musical score that, in its repetition, serves to irritate the gamer to the point of shutting the system off and taking a nap. Well, that’s what happened to me, though I went back and eventually conquered the short little quest. Magical, it was not.

gameplay

Titles like Vicarious Vision’s Shrek 2 made a concise and decisive effort to provide gamers with a (modest) wealth of options and lots of entertaining pieces about the adventure. Quite conversely, it would seem as if Capcom pieced together this title as quickly as they could, cashing in off the visibly dated Mickey Mouse license. Seriously, I get the feeling they developed the title in a 1-2 month span of time. Anyway, I’ll delve (with a harness of course) more into this title’s specifics.

Play as Mickey or Minnie (there are no differentiating attributes separating the two, so it’s a matter of gender preference) in an effort to stop Baron Pete from his latest escapade of mischief and terror. You are charged, with the “help” of friends like Donald and Goofy, with the task of restoring the circus to its proper benevolent state. What can you do to help? Assume the visage of a ranger, cowboy(girl), or sweeper, of course!

Using the L button to cycle through which costume you want to wear (once acquired), and R to actually morph into that form, all of which are used at one point or another to progress. Other than stomping, in bare form your mouse protagonist has no attack powers. As the cowboy/cowgirl you can jump high on a toy “horse-stick” and shoot a limited quantity of projectiles. As a sweeper you can suck up enemies and coins with a vacuum, which like the projectiles are to the cowboy, limited to a measure in its meter. And finally, as the ranger, you can use a grappling hook to latch onto certain types of blocks. Once they’re all acquired, they certainly help – but no one will be more useful than another in the heat of battle, as far as requirements go. Per usual with these types of games, watch for spikes, pits, flames, and baddies.

multiplayer

Link up with a friend to take on the Baron together, alternating ala the classic Mario titles. I personally could think of better uses for the link cable.

overall

As brief as it is shallow -- pacing the gamer through six modest levels of gameplay -- there is little to no reason for you to invest in this title. Considering their talent and bevy of quality titles, it’s somewhat disappointing to see Capcom attach their name to, or better yet, create a title of this nature. There’s nothing wrong with Mickey, bless Walt’s career launching creation. There’s something wrong with the way he tends to get portrayed in games such as these, which fail to do justice to the Disney legacy. As it stands I don't have high hopes for Magical Quest 3, which debuts next year.

4.8/10