Amazing Island [GC]

Sega's forthcoming Amazing Island can be compared to Agetec's earlier Magic Pengel on several points: Both are aimed at a younger audience, both oblige players to inject custom-created creatures into the game experience... and both have some truly bizarre things happening on the screen.

Amazing Island is a monster trainer/breeder game -- one that's more creatively restrictive than Pengel, yet looks to offer a more thorough gameplay experience. As often happens in these games, a nebulous Black Evil force has descended on the island, endangering its native tribes. Luckily for the natives, this is the sort of Black Evil that can be defeated by entering your custom kaiju (monster) into water-skipping competitions, foot-races, GBA-based card battles, and other assorted mini-challenges.

Amazing Island offers roughly 30 types of challenges (this number still subject to change), where victory gains the player magic orbs and hundreds of new monster-modification options. The creature creation/editing process involves players adding video game "flesh" to a variety of skeletal types, and the resulting creations can look very impressive.

The game engine automatically smoothes the outlines of "flesh" drawn by the player, and manufactures a fully 3D creature that looks at home in its video game environs. Unlockable skins and objects allow for outlandish creatures adorned with shimmering scales, wings, Viking-horned helmets, rotating police-style "bubble flashers," and many others. Such creations can get surprisingly elaborate -- and once you fancy yourself an artisan, you can check out some of the designer's fancy monsters to put you in your creative place.

Early on, players will have to accumulate their creative resources before making a cool creature. They'll need to make their way into the story mode to sketch up their own virtual monster; but before that, they'll need to answer a personal questionnaire, probing into preferences on activities, food and drink, weather, and so forth. With these answers as a guide, the game whips up an impromptu creature that competes in events until the player has the resources for their own animated life-forms.

Challenge courses are composed of mostly familiar mini-games that include activities like sprint races, water-skipping competitions, spinning-arena "Last Monster Standing" battles, and many more party-game favorites. What elevates these admittedly familiar mini-games is that the composition of the monsters actually makes a difference -- creatures must be bred in such a way as to meet the requirements of the various challenges.

As a result, less bulky creatures have increased movement rates, more muscular ones are stronger, and winged ones can fly. Ditto for fanged, clawed, and/or finned creations. One notable editing feature is the game's ability to determine how certain features -- hands, claws, and other extremities -- should be textured.

There will also be something of a multiplayer component. Players can pit their creations against each other in mini-games similar to those in the story mode. Furthermore, Game Boy Advance owners will be able to send their monstrous offspring to their GBAs and pit them in combat against other players in the portable gaming arena. GBA owners can also trade photo "collector cards" of their favorite beasties, for as-yet-unspecified results.

Although the competition is limited, Amazing Island looks ready to trample over similar titles with its superior depth and playability. The monster creation process alone is enough to keep players of all ages amused for hours. Who can deny the allure of battling with your own professional-looking custom freaks, complete with cop-gear, rocker bracelets, and other accessories?

Amazing Island will land on our shores later this summer -- expect to see our critical hats on and our artistic aspirations at the ready.