Monday, July 23, 2012

Is a Bubble Bobble clone really a Bubble Bobble clone if fruit and other food items aren't involved?

I asked myself the question in the header above shortly after I played the awkwardly titled (in my humble opinion) DSiWare title, Magical Whip: Wizards of the Phantasmal Forest, for the first time a few weeks ago.

In case you've never played--or even heard of--Magical Whip, it's a nice little dual-screened "Bubble Bobble clone" that puts players in the shoes--not to mention flowing robe and pointy hat--of a young warlock (or witch, if that's the way you swing) and tasks them with clearing 50 forest-themed stages of bats, ghosts, slimes and other baddies. That's accomplished, for the most part, by picking up--with the titular whip--one or more of the aforementioned spooks and tossing them at each other. (Larger enemies and bosses, which appear on every fifth stage, also can be beaten by bopping them with your weapon.)

Disappointingly, Magical Whip's foes don't produce an eruption of fruit and other food items, a la Bubble Bobble and most/all of its wannabes, once dispatched, which I have to admit caused me to wrinkle my nose in disgust at first. "What's the use in being a Bubble Bobble clone if you can't collect food?" I asked myself after clearing the game's first stage.

I've since gotten over Magical Whip's lack of munchables (for the most part) thanks to the unique spin it puts on this well-worn genre. Like I said earlier, rather than encasing enemies in bubbles or bopping them with hammers, the witchy protagonists in this digital title use their whips to grab and then hoist baddies above their behatted heads. After that, they can toss them at other baddies, causing them to flip into the air. Catch the spinning enemy (with a flick of your whip, of course) and you create a combo that slowly but surely increases your character's attack strength.

That's not all Magical Whip has to offer single-screen platformer fans, of course. It also offers up some surprisingly well-crafted sprites and an appealingly triumphant--if slightly repetitive--soundtrack.

Speaking of repetitive, the only real negatives associated with this game, in my mind, are its backdrops, which barely change from stage to stage. Considering buying the game will only set you back $1.99, though, I wouldn't let it keep you from giving it a try.

18 comments:

  1. I've been looking at this since it hit the eShop. I think, given this review, I'll check it out!

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  2. It's really hard to sort through the good games on DSiware, so much shovelware.

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  3. Fruit is mandatory :| Nice looking game though, almost makes me wish I had a DS :P

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  4. Looks cute! Am I the only one surprised to find out that Agetec still exists? The last game of theirs I played was Raw Danger! And that was 5 years ago.

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  5. Yes, do it, Justin! Honestly, if the game were $10, or even $5, I'd be much less likely to recommend it -- mainly due to the repetitive enemies and backdrops -- but for $1.99 it's a pretty obvious pick-up if you're at all into games of this genre.

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  6. Adam: Agreed! I've had my eye on a number of interesting-looking DSiWare games since the service was launched way back when. So, when I got my 3DS, I decided I'd finally try some of them -- including this one. A few others I'm planning to try soon: AlphaBounce, Captain Sub, Penguin Patrol, Portable Shrine Wars and Rabi Laby (and Rabi Laby 2). Have you played any of those?

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  7. Fruit or something similar, right, Simon? Really, I should like it that someone decided to do something different, but I really like collecting food/fruit :|

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  8. warp: Maybe they only do digital games these days? Honestly, I don't know much about them!

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  9. DavidR11:31 PM

    I can recommend Portable Shrine Wars, Bryan. Fun, quirky, tough, and just a little addictive. I find myself going back to it from time to time. Well worth the two bucks. I too have been eyeing Magical Whip for awhile. Think I'll pick it up!

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  10. I think in general, clones does not exists.
    Some game can be very popular and being example of starting point for others, but I think this not involve the new game will be a clone.
    If you make a game similiar to another, it will be an inspired game but not a clone, instead of you clone everything from the original.

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  11. Thanks for the recommendation, DavidR! I've had my eye on Portable Shrine Wars for some time, so it seems I should stop eyeing it and start buying it, eh? BTW, let me know what you think of Magical Whip should you actually pick it up!

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  12. Pix3l: I agree with you, for the most part. In fact, I've been meaning to publish a post about this for some time -- about how saying something is a 'Bubble Bobble clone' isn't correct, as very few games clone Bubble Bobble's gameplay. That said, I still think calling these games clones of one game or another makes sense, at least to an extent. Most people don't use the word to suggest they are carbon copies of one another -- rather, they use the word to suggest that the latter game was inspired by the earlier one, and likely wouldn't exist without that form of inspiration.

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  13. Yeah, you got the gist :]

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  14. Great! Thanks as always for the comments :)

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  15. You're welcome :]

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  16. Sorry to keep this going, but are there any, er, Bubble Bobble clones/impersonators/look-alikes/wannabes that you're particularly fond of, Pix3l?

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  17. Sure, long time ago I was fond of "Acter World", and a game called "Troy 2000".
    The first was really a "clone" of Bubble Bobble, the last one something similiar that remind me this game.
    Other one similiar in concept, was Barbie Seahorse Adventures, a really good game.
    Try those and let me know what you thinking about :]

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  18. Well, Pix3l, I can honestly say that you stumped me with all three of those games you just mentioned. Off to Google I go to find out more about them!

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