Downed objects on the screen will occasionally spout out collectables that can outfit your bow-shaped paddle with a firearm (machine gun, cannon, laser, etc.), increase or decrease the size of the paddle, let you hold any ball that comes back your way or change the style of the ball (into the schizophrenic crazy ball or unstoppable iron ball, among others). Despite the atypical board design, similar strategies prevail, like getting the ball between the top of the board and its contents, allowing you to sit back and watch each successive bounce remove even more of the puzzle.įollowing in the footsteps of Arkanoid and other brick-busters that utilize power-ups, Magic Ball features a wide array of weapons, special attacks and modifiers that will – in most cases – help you clear the screen more quickly. Rather, the expected corners on each end of the board are replaced by diagonal walls that may deflect the ball in a different direction depending on the angle of the shot. The game employs an isometric perspective that depicts the entire game board, which, unlike most 2-D genre entries, is not entirely rectangular in shape. As if the concept of launching a ball at hovering bricks wasn’t silly enough, now you’re firing soccer balls at giant sharks that float along in formation.Īside from the obvious aesthetic shift, Magic Ball plays very similarly to its spiritual predecessors.
Instead, Magic Ball presents colorful 3-D arrangements filled with the likes of pirate ships, castles, medieval knights and towers comprised of oversized playing cards. While not the first game to attempt this style of game with a 3-D interface (genre originator Breakout had an ill-received PSOne/PC iteration), it may very well be the first to completely do away with the established template of knocking out various types of bricks or blocks at fixed positions. Magic Ball tries to take the basic premise of such titles and bring it into the modern era. But the allure of individually dislodging pieces from a carefully constructed design with a paddle and a ball has endured through the years via games like Arkanoid, Alleyway and some generic knock-off I downloaded to my high school graphing calculator a decade ago. Magic Carpet™ © 1994 Electronic Arts Inc.I’ve long held a fascination with the premise of bouncing balls against inexplicably floating brick walls, though only in video games – all the bricks I find in real life are frustratingly bound by gravity, and besides, vandalism’s really not my thing. You have an absolute freedom in how you achieve your goal there are no corridors, no fixed paths to fly, just an open, living world.Fully deformable terrain - a giant mountain is blocking your view? Destroy it!.Fly a magic carpet, build your fortress, and destroy your enemies using an impressive arsenal of powerful spells.Includes Magic Carpet and the Hidden Worlds expansion pack.The terrain is fully deformable so if you suddenly have an unresistable felling that those peaceful and green fields need more fire, death, and thundering volcanoes, there is nothing that stands in your way! Yes, Magic Carpet, Bullfrog's extraordinary flying action-shooter, gives you all the power a wizard could ever wish for! Summon lighting storms, meteors, raise the dead to fight for you and, of course, cast the classic fireball spell, and that is only the beginning! At your disposal is an impressive arsenal of devastating spells. Duel rival wizards and wade into hordes of deadly beasts in your quest to restore 50 shattered worlds.
Shred the skies on the world’s fastest, most heavily armed flying carpet. Looks like you're gonna have to fight this one out, then. Not enough mana for the accelerate spell. There's a dragon in front of you, killer crabs behind and some guy on another carpet cutting you to ribbons. You're flying just feet above real landscapes.