Disney's Magical Quest (Game Boy Advance)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.6 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 10/09/2002
• Released on: 08/13/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: Disney's Magical Quest (Game Boy Advance) Review

There sure are a lot of SNES ports on the Game Boy Advance. The latest is Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey & Minnie, which was developed by Capcom and published by Nintendo. For the most part, the Mario-style action gameplay comes across well on the tiny handheld, as do the visuals, which are at times spectacular.

The game's story is the typical cute Disney fare. Mickey Mouse and his friends are playing catch outside one day when the ball slips away. Pluto takes off after it and falls into a magical portal. Goofy offers to help, but inevitably it is Mickey who follows Pluto into the portal--which just so happens to lead into a world ruled by the evil Emperor Pete. This introduction, like the game's later cinematic elements, is rendered with a combination of still artwork and sprite animation.

Disney fans will be pleased with the game's overall look. The backgrounds are colorful, and they resemble the settings of older Mickey Mouse cartoons. The graphics aren't quite as crisp as the SNES version's graphics, and some of the backgrounds are cropped to fit on the tiny screen, but the game approaches any of the Super Mario Advance titles in terms of graphical quality. The characters are large and the animation is smooth, and there are a few background special effects like smoke distortion and mist.

By comparison, the soundtrack isn't nearly as exquisite, but it is charming nonetheless. Since there are only a few cartoon sound effects, the majority of what you'll hear is the game's music. Each stage has its own particular theme song that reflects the overall environment. For example, you'll hear jungle beats and drums in jungle areas, but underground areas will feature tunes that are more somber. Although none of the music is drawn from identifiable films or cartoons, the soundtrack still elicits the same soothing mood evoked by so much of the music in Disney's animated features.

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