Magic: The Gathering

Before the phenomenon known as Pokemon: The Trading Card Game there was Magic: The Gathering. While Magic never quite reached the insanity of P:TCG it had it's own following and actually in most cases still does. "Back in the day", when Magic was still "new" a friend introduced me to the cards and I immediately went out and started buying them. While I had a ton of fun with them once the game's "boom" in popularity hit I realised I could sort of "exploit" those new to it. I became a dealer of Magic cards in a way. By the time the game became popular I had amassed a rather large collection of cards and since my interest in the game was lessening I was able to sell/trade them off. All the Magic players in the neighborhood(most of whom were merely jumping on the bandwagon) came to me with all sorts of things to offer up for cards. Stuff like SNES games, Transformers and even cash. I was living the highlife for that summer, though I made more of a killing with my makeshift Pog selling business....but that is a different story for a different time. Anyway, long story short, Magic holds a nice place in my life, as you may imagine. :-)

So what was the point of that longwinded tale about how I used to take advantage of people? Well, no point really, apart from establishing that I actually have a background in the game of Magic. Besides, it is my website and I can say hat I want, so, nyah! Onto the point, when I heard there was going to be a game based on the actual card game for Dreamcast my interest in the card game itself rekindled. Not enough to repurchase cards but enough to warrant a purchase of the Dc game. So, once I heard this game would not see the light of day outside of Japan I reluctantly plunked down the $53 for the import. I've got one thing to say, tis a big shame this game was not released in the Us with online play.....

So, the game finally arrives and I pop it in my Dc. Initially I am very disappointed in it. Though that can be blamed on my huge lack of Japanese knowledge. Sure I could navigate the menus well enough, but card ability descriptions were out of the question. To top it off, the game uses a newer ruleset that I am not familar with. Well the game sits unplayed for a couple weeks until a friend and I start talking one day. Out of nowhere he brings up Magic(the actual card game). I was unaware he still played it. Well, I tell him I've got the game for Dreamcast and we fire it up. I work as the menu translator and since he is familiar with the cards and new rules he helps me out with what does what, etc. Now everytime he comes over we play the game. My opinion of the game jumped from "waste of $53" to "Wow!".

Now the actual review... Magic: The Gathering is a faithful translation of the popular card game. All of the cards from the "Classic 6th Edition" set are avalible for your use along with some Dreamcast exclusive cards. So how does it play? Well, if you've had the fortune of playing the card game than you know, so you can skip this paragraph. Magic is a card game where you and an opponent have a war. You each have your own deck of cards to use. The decks contain Land(mana), Creatures, Spells and Artifacts. The land is used to summon your creatures, cast spells or bring an artifact into play. You then attack eachother until there is only one standing. It should be apparent that I am horrible at explaining things so for your benefit you should search the 'net for info on the game rather than listen to my babbling.

I'm surprised at how closely this resembles the actual game. Everything you can do in the card game can be done here. In fact I'd even go so far as to say this is better than the actual card game. Why? Well, the lack of a know-it-all competitor is one. Then you have the facts that you do not have to buy the actual cards (which can be taxing on a wallet) and the lack of having to worry about damaging your new investments by playing with them. Add onto that the fact that start up and clean up is a snap and you do not need a big table to play on. Who can forget that there is no longer a need to wait for someone to play with, the cpu player is ready and waiting 24/7. Which brings me to a small complaint, a lack of a 2(or more) player mode. While I understand this would be hard to implement(due to the nature of the game) it still disappoints me.

For players of the card game you'll be happy to hear that you can have more than one deck. You start out with a 40 card(half land) deck of the color of your choice. You get more cards by winning battles. As stated above every card from the "Classic 6th Edition" set is avalible so if you play with that set it is possible to make your real-life deck in the game. Gameplay consists of you building up your deck, facing enemies and getting their gems. Once you defeat an enemy and get his gem you can go back and replay him for more cards. You have 3 enemies per color to face. Two sub-bosses and one big boss. After you defeat all of them you go to the tower. I won't spoil the game any further but that is the gist of it. The AI ranges from stupid to pretty clever. At times it seems like the game "cheats" in that the cpu opponent always seems to have just the card it needs. Though, I hate to say a game "cheats", at times I really think this one does. There is no exploration like that present in the Pokemon Card game for gameboy. You simply choose where to go on a map and then choose who yo want to face at the specific location. The Dreamcast exclusive cards range from awesome to "why????". The Black Dreamcast exclusive cards are particularly nasty! Each color mana has two DC specific cards.

As for Japanese requirement, it can vary. If you do not know the rules to the game you are going to have big problems. Think of it as importing a Mahjong game with no knowledge of how to play it. Thankfully, with the invention of the internet all the info you need is just a search away. Once you know how to play the game, however, your problems do not end there. You see, apart from the normal Land cards, every card has a description that lets you know its abilities and uses and it just so happens these descriptions are, as one would expect, entirely in Japanese. Thanks to something me and my friend figured out though, you aren't out of luck. You see, when "casting a card" the game says what it is called(in English) so you now know the English name. Big deal, right? Wrong...errr is that right? In any event, the official site for Magic just so happens to have a list of the cards and what they do! So, all you've got to do is print that list out and have it with you while playing. Pretty soon you'll learn the cards descriptions and you will not need the list...well epending on your memory anyway. Ok, so basic gameplay is covered, what about the menus? Well, here is where a knowledge in Katakana can go a long way. While it certianly won't help for all the menus it makes playing the game easier. However, there is a FAQ with menu translations and after playing enough you can easily memorize them. As for story, well the voiced parts are in *gasp* English! The rest is, of course, Japanese but story is unimportant in this game. You are simply playing a card game against monsters collecting their "gems" and trying to get rid of evil. With some effort the language barrier can be conquered.

Now onto graphics. I've got one thing to say, it is a trading card game. Seriously, the graphics are actually quite good. The game is played on a 3D table on which you can zoom in and out of. When cards come into play they sort of materialize from a vortex in the table. Spell effects and attacks range from awesome to dissapointing. For some it is simply a few small explosions while with others large rock pillars come up from the ground and then give way and unleash a flood which clears the table of all cards. During the story sections you see a very impressive looking 3D character. The Gorilla-man representing green mana just has to be seen. Music ranges from annoying to semi-good. Nothing special. Sound effects are of your standard "boom" variety. The voice acting, as can be expecting since it is in English, is laughable.

Overall, if you are a fan of the card game and think you can overcome the language barrier you can't go wrong with this game. If you didn't like the card game you won't like the videogame obviously. As for those who are curious about getting the game even though they haven't played the card game, my advice is to read up on the card game and if you are still interested and think you can handle the Japanese than go for it.

©2001 Ed Finnegan

Back to Review Directory