[?] pros and cons of "hip hip hooray aka superduper overhyped" MC

[Tatsujin]

This game is kind a phenomenon, since some in here tend to quite hate it, while others quite appreciate it. So I would like to know your own pros and cons on magical chase.
Just list in here your likes and dislikes and try to give a clear answer on the omniscient question of "why"?

PS: this discussion is absolutely isolated from any price factors.

[blueraven]

It's a mediocre shooter that doesn't hold a candle to Gate Of Thunder, Galaga 88/90, or RTYPE, imho. It is also not Xevious.

[jperryss]

I enjoy shooters, but I'm not really good at them (only beat GoT once on the lowest difficulty, and haven't beat LoT on hard mode). I find that the lower difficulty of games like MC, Star Parodia, and even Cotton, makes them easier to pick up and play regularly for some mindless fun. As a result I find myself playing these more often than say Nexzr or many of the Soldier games that kick my butt all over the place.

There is also a certain addictiveness to MC that I can't quite nail down. I have a lot of fun playing it.

[NecroPhile]

There's nothing in Magical Chase that merits hate -

Graphics: It's colorful, cute, reasonably well detailed, and has lots of nice parallax.  Admittedly, a few spots are somewhat plain (notably the blocky level (4?) with the toy wood ducks and kamikaze clocks), but nothing stands out as offensive or appallingly ugly.

Controls: The broom speed is adjustable and the options are easily aimed - just the way a good shooter should be.  The hit box is kinda big, yet not so large as to be unfair or to be annoying (à la Cyber Core).

Sound: A couple of tunes are kinda catchy, but nothing is particularly spectacular or comparable to the auditory awesomeness found in the likes of Dungeon Explorer.  At the same time, nothing will make your ears bleed; it's certainly miles better than crap like Talespin.

Replay Value: If it has an Achilles Heel, this is it.  It's not terribly challenging, but neither is Sapphire, Star Parodia, or Air Zonk, and yet those are still fine games.  Besides, setting it on the 'rough' setting and avoiding the more advanced weapon upgrades should ratchet up the difficulty level nicely.

To make a long story short, it's a pretty good shooter but not good enough to be counted amongst the elite shmups.  Does that make it worthy of scorn?  I think not.

[Arkhan Asylum]

My problem with the game is the theme, while colorful and yayyyyy, isn't so amusing sometimes.

It's like I have to be in the mood to play it, but usually if I want lolbroomtiem, I get Cotton out.

[CrackTiger]

PRO: My expectations were low since it was a cheap game like Cotton (bought both SEALED! for $5 each). This allowed me a neutral point of view from which everything I appreciated about it added up without any negative taint. It unfortunately made Cotton look kinda bland by comparison at the time, since I'd played Magical Chase on my TE within minutes of buying it. I've since learned to fully appreciate Cotton's visual style and everything it has packed into each stage. But obtaining these two games at the same time did influence each other and after quickly mastering both, Magical Chase was the one which remained on my active play list (although TE compatibility played a big part).

PRO: Turbo Express/PCE GT/PCE LT compatibility.

PRO: Back in the day I'd wanted some SNES-style games for TurboDuo. I owned a SNES and still loved original Duo/PCE games, but still thought that it'd be cool to have a game with that kind of aesthetic style and overall polish found in many higher profile SNES/SFC cart games. Magical Chase is a full realization of this, with that solid feeling and overall polish without giving an impression that anything is missing

PRO: It's fun. It may not be the greatest shooter ever, nor he most challenging on regular difficulty, but it does excel in the fun level. Many games that compensate for imperfect level design with extra HP are more fun in the end than 'perfectly' designed games with tight gameplay and design.

PRO: Originality. Even though the same console received another horizontal shooter featuring a witch in a fantasy world, Magical Chase still stands out not only among shooters, but even so-called "cute-'em-ups".

PRO: Variety. No two stages look, sound or play the same. Plus there's a nice variety of enemies to destroy.

PRO: It has currency and shops. Something that automatically makes any game that much more awesome (see Forgotten Worlds, Black Tiger, Fantasy Zone, etc).

PRO: A variety of weapons that don't require a long long-term investment. Again just like Forgotten Worlds, it's cool to try out different weapons at various parts of the game, without having to stick with the same weapon path all the way through.

PRO: Health power ups are edible, bonus points for candy and deserts adding to the girly cute factor (see Castlevania series, particularly Maria in Drac X).

PRO: Types of enemies that always leave behind power-ups (see Gradius series).

PRO: The star satellite system helps it feel more original than many other shooters and actually has a major impact on gameplay. It's cool that at least one boss uses this same ability against you and forces you to make full use to counter it (see Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga).

PRO: Variable speed.

PRO: Selectible difficulty.

PRO: Increasable max HP. Bonus points for using hearts. (see Bonk and Legend of Zelda).

PRO: Items (see Fantasy Zone series).

PRO: Boss gauntlet on the final stage, plus it isn't all just rehashes of previous bosses.

PRO: Stage intros with mini-boss introductions, that folds apart like a bunch of origami cubes as it transitions into the stage.

PRO: It has a solid and memorable soundtrack with great PCE PSG/WSG sound. Plus the music suits both the visual and gameplay style of each unique stage. All with solid sound effects with resorting to samples.

PRO: It's a great game to showcase several effects that people like to say are IMPOSSIBLE for the PCE engine to do. Multi-scrolling, multi-layered backgrounds, including transparency/shadow effects. Plus other cool special graphical effects that PCE-haters admit the PCE is actually capable of.

PRO: The TurboGrafx-16 version has some major graphical improvements that are substantial enough to make it worth owning alongside the PCE version.

PRO: The Gameboy Color version maintains the overall high quality and is a faithful port.

PRO: Those blimp-looking cats with squiggly tails and bobbing brows, who meow when shot as their back hair spikes up. All the while dropping little kitten balloon mines.


The game does not suffer from over-hype at all. Just the opposite. Jackholes using it as the milestone to manipulate the non-game-playing market has only brought it unwarranted criticism the very few times the game itself is actually discussed. The kind of criticism so-called legendary games rightfully receive, since the masses are so blinded by them that they refuse to admit any imperfection in them. Sapphire also gets unfairly trashed by people who can't separate collectible hype from game quality hype. In Sapphire's case though, it at least has a much larger reputation for actual game content.

Magical Chase discussions nowadays are almost always over the collectible market aspect. It's so overshadowing that as it has increased, discussion of the game itself has decreased.

If Magical Chase were a common TG-16 and PCE title, it would still be as loved by its fans, but I'm sure that many of its detractors wouldn't be so motivated to give it such a hard time.