its heightened difficulty and sub-par controls. There were also frequent comparisons made to the Crash Bandicoot series due to the similar "running into the screen" viewpoint and animal rides. Jason Weitzner of GameFan came to a similar conclusion as the eventual reviewers of the game and commented on the difficulty of the Japanese import, stating that "This game's tough" and "difficult enough to discourage its target audience." He went on to explain that changes would be needed for the US release especially the "get hit once and die gameplay." As it turned out, this was something that was fixed with power-ups granting extra "hits" being added to the English language version. Anoop Gantayat of IGN praised the presentation, graphics, and sound, but criticized the gameplay's "silly definition of difficulty", "slippery sense of control" as well as its lasting appeal. He went on to explain that the biggest flaw of the game is level mastery due to the difficulty being based on "trial and error deaths" which can become frustrating to the player. Xavier Burn of GameSpot shared a lot of the same views as Gantayat, mentioning "impressive presentation" and criticizing the "frustrating control issues" in the Japanese import. Burn mentioned that the core concept of magnetism is "interesting and easy enough to grasp" and ultimately "a solid and unique enough game to warrant a look". Dave Halverson of Gamers' Republic described the same Japanese import as a "hard-core old-school platformer" and framed this difficulty in a positive light. Halverson was also positive about appearance, character design and sound, stating that "every facet of the game...are tailored to perfection". His view on the controls conflicted with that of Burn and Gantayat, with Halverson describing them as "pinpoint accurate controls". Francesca Reyes of NextGen said of the game, "It's cute. It's addictive. But ultimately, it's been done plenty of times before." Notes References External links 2000 video games 3D platform games Crave Entertainment games Dreamcast games Dreamcast-only games Genki (company) games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in amusement parks Single-player video games