Originally released in 2021 on Switch, Artax Games and Flying Beast Labs have ported their color matching tower defense(ish) download title, Magic Twins, to Xbox and Playstation. While it is nice to see their unique reaction puzzle game become available on additional platforms, all the pros and cons of this five-year-old game remain.
Here is a link to my original Switch article of Magic Twins for reference.
Designed for local co-op, Magic Twins earns a gold star for trying something different. Instead of matching four descending pieces of the same color, gameplay takes place on volleyball court-looking grid. With each player manning one side, the goal is to shoot the colored pieces that spawn in the middle with their matching color. For example, if a red piece appears, shoot it with a red magic shot to make it drop a spell piece. Once enough spell pieces have been collecting, pressing a button unleashes that spell to all pieces on the board. The game is broken into stages through an overworld map and each stage contains objectives.
In order to complete the objects for most stages, pieces of a certain color must be dispatched in a specific sequence. This is why playing with another player is paramount as the AI doesn’t understand these objectives. Each stage has a 3-star rating scale but it is nearly impossible to get higher than one star on most stages because of the inconsiderate AI. Being honest, playing game solo is unfair, drawn out, and feels like a chore. Unless you have the reaction time of the Flash, playing co-op is required. Also, some stages linger for much too long, especially when playing solo. Grinding for ten minutes just to create a certain number of spells that are never coordinated with the blind AI simply isn’t fun. At least all Achievements can be snagged without too much effort or needing to struggle through the harsh campaign.
The art style, musical score, and overall presentation is pleasant and well done but there are some quirks. For example, it is impossible to see a black vile when killing an enemy in the middle spawn point. Also, the screen shakes a tiny bit with each color connection. After 20 minutes, I actually got seasick and had to stop playing. There is no option to turn off this pointless effect either so be warned if you are prone to motion sickness.
Creating a game designed about coordinated co-op attacks sounds like fun but is mind-numbingly head scratching when it doesn’t include online support. If you have a dedicated partner close by, sure, Magic Twins isn’t terrible in twenty-minute bursts but becomes borderline unplayable solo.
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
OUR SCORE - 5.5
5.5
SCORE
For a game designed entirely around coordinated co-op attacks, restricting the player to local co-op only is an unfortunate and hard missed opportunity.