643rd played so far
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: PC/Wii
Year of Release: 2010
Developer: Press Play
Publisher: Press Play/The Games Company
I’m not sure quite where Max & the Magic Marker comes from. It’s a game concept that feels obvious for the Wii and DS – a platform game where you can draw your own platforms. I feel like we’ve seen shades of this in the past… but I wouldn’t know where, especially not as the focus of a game.
Our Thoughts
Max & the Magic Marker lays out its mechanics early on. You collect ink to fill your pen and draw platforms to let you proceed – as a slope or something to jump on to let you get higher, as a boat or platform on a conveyor belt, or as a heavy thing to move others around.
It’s not the most complex, but it’s a decent concept. Part of the annoyance is that there are barriers that drain your ink, meaning that you have to keep collecting through the level. I can see why you’d do that, but it can be a bit annoying and feel pointless.
The variation also felt a bit sparse, with most of the options surrounding creating platforms that need to be at the right angle so you can walk up them, but they still fit in the space available. I’m glad I played this on the DS – I can only imagine how annoyed I would have gotten with the Wiimote not cooperating.
These platform twists are quite interesting, but I do feel the likes of Scribblenauts do these twists better. Here they still have the advantage of being more focused, but despite the listed genre, it felt more like a platform game with puzzle elements rather than a real puzzle, while the variety isn’t in there as much either. Some more variety and earlier, it would have been nicer.
Final Thoughts
Max & the Magic Marker has a pretty solid idea, but it felt like it didn’t sustain gameplay quite as much as it should have. Maybe frustration with the game and lack of variety meant that I didn’t see enough, but it felt like a lot of the potential was realised early on anyway.
Still, it looks decent and makes for a decent enough game, if not always as inspiring as it feels it could be.
[…] got a few games that really came down as a disappointment. Picking two, the first is Max & The Magic Marker. The concept held so much more promise than it […]