Developer: Genki Publisher: Crave Released: June 12, 2000 Genre: Platformer
Sonic Adventure set a high bar for platformers on the Dreamcast. Say what you will about the game’s ultimate quality but no one can deny the sheer spectacle of its set pieces. Yet oddly enough 3d platformers were few and far on the system. One of the most interesting is Super Magnetic Neo, a game with a brilliant gameplay hook that is like nothing else out there. Unfortunately its design does not fully live up to its mechanics. That being said it is still a fun but frustrating experience.
Super Magnetic Neo is a 3d platformer similar to Crash Bandicoot. You move along a fixed path but have freedom to move around your immediate surroundings. The main thrust of the gameplay revolves Neo’s ability to create negative and positive charges. Throughout the game are charged platforms and swings. Like real magnets opposites attract while similar charges will repel you. Using these principles you can use these mechanics to cross gaps by magnetizing yourself to a swinging ball and using the momentum to fly. Similar stationary platforms will bounce you around and the game calls on this in rapid succession. Using an opposite charge on an enemy will change it to a box to help solve puzzles or defeat other enemies. The game’s use of its magnetic mechanics is a breath of fresh air in the genre and help set it apart.
The best way to describe the control is adequate. For the most part you can control Neo well enough. But there is noticeable input lag at times. It is not uncommon to see Neo completely ignore your commands, especially on tight ledges. The run button in particular is also outright bad. Once you start running Neo makes a blind dash that is hard to control. Needless to say a running jump is always an iffy proposition. Without any form of camera control judging depth makes the control issues worse. You can adjust but the game the controls needed to be tighter for what the game asks of you.
Playing Super Magnetic Neo is a roller coaster of emotions. When the game is firing on all cylinders and launching you from one creative scenario to another it is incredible. But when it asks for a level of precision that its controls cannot fulfill it is one of the most frustrating experiences out there. I love the magnetic mechanics and how they are utilized in 50% of the game. Using your momentum to utilize the various shortcuts littered on the map is thrilling. Trying to perform a running jump onto a narrow platform while converting an enemy midair to destroy a wall before a timed switch runs out is not. The game is full of opposing moments like these. The fact that it remains compelling in spite of its flaws speaks to the strength of its core mechanics.
The difficulty is incredibly high and according to the developers it is by design. Early on there are alternate paths if the polarity switching platforming is too hard. By the game’s midpoint they disappear and you have to sink or swim. Using momentum to swing and timed platform bouncing become more common as well as navigating tricky sections before a switch flips. The sluggish controls will let you down and lead to many cheap deaths. Someone must have realized this as the game showers you with extra lives. Even with that prepare to die 15-20 times as the game is not great about signaling what you need to do. The American version adds an item that absorbs one hit which I am baffled wasn’t in the game initially. The boss battles would be impossible otherwise. A little more time spent balancing the game would have done a world of good.
For a platformer Super Magnetic Neo is a bit short. There are only four worlds with four stages and a boss battle each. While it sounds like a lot most of the stages are brief. Once you know what you are doing you can clear each in two or three minutes. Of course with the finicky controls it might take a while to reach that point. There are rewards in each level such as beating the best time, finding the hidden items in each and collecting eight pinki coins. But your reward is furniture to decorate your room which is lame. The twenty optional challenges are fun ways to explore the game’s mechanics and are hard as hell. Sadly there is no reward for their completion other than the satisfaction of doing so.
In Closing
Super Magnetic Neo is a flawed gem. Its gameplay mechanics are brilliant enough to overcome many of its flaws and it is fun while it lasts. I can’t help wondering what could have been with a little more polish however.
