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If you combined any generic Pinball game, Puyo Pop Fever, and threw in a little of Puzzle Fighter for good measure, you would have the new Nintendo DS game, Magnetica.  Oh yeah, did I also tell you that Magnetica is Zuma reincarnated from your mobile phone. So it is nothing new but that might not be a bad thing. Basically Magnetica is a light hearted and somewhat predictable puzzle game that will be hard to put down once you start playing it.

In Magnetica, marbles roll down a twisted spiral path toward the goal and players must stop them. This is done via the use of the stylus and some tricky puzzle timing. When new marbles appear in the launcher, the player must grab them with the stylus and fire them into the oncoming ones. 

Basically, this game focuses on achieving color combinations to form chains and combos. Sound familiar anyone?  If a player matches three or more of the same color, they will disappear. And since like colors attract one another, players can eliminate one color and cause others to crash into each other, forming massive chains. 

One of the more endearing factors of Magnetica is that it has more than one mode of puzzle play. For the hardcore players there is straight challenge mode which features ninety-nine levels on four different difficulty settings. Quest mode is mission based, with each level passed getting you further along in your journey. Puzzle mode reminds me of grade school IQ tests where you are asked to solve puzzles with a limited supply of marbles. Lastly, there is versus mode which allows players to play each other over a local wireless connection.

Overall, Magnetica is not a game that is going to change your life. This is perfect game to kill time with such as while traveling or waiting for class to begin. The short series Puzzle modes can sometimes be done in under a minute. This would be a great title to pick up if you love puzzle games or you are trying to introduce video games to a novice player.

3.5 out of 5 Magic Marbles