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Introduction
Mago is a retro 2D platformer where you play as a sorcerer. It is developed by Dream Potion Games and published by HypeTrain Digital. This game does a good job of capturing the old school feel of classic 2D platformers like Mario. It offers a variety of gameplay mechanics as well as the basic 2D platforming.
Gameplay
Mago is very simple, you play as a sorcerer in a pixelated 2D platformer. Your basic abilities consist of moving, jumping, and casting a small distance projectile. The main character has that “floaty” Mario feeling when moving around. I personally am not a big fan of “floaty” platformers, but that is a personal preference. The game starts of simple enough that you never feel overwhelmed with the mechanics thrown at you. While the first levels are easy to complete, if you want to collect all the orbs, they get a little more difficult. The difficulty starts to ramp up once you finish world 1.
In the overall map, there are couple of different gameplay sections. First one is the mandatory levels you complete to progress. And then there are sections where you play as a bird and race through the levels. Some bonus challenges are also available to be played in exchange for in game blue orbs. These bonus challenges were definitely not easy since there is a time limit and you only have one life. You may also encounter some random enemies on the overworld map, and these enemies take you into either a mini boss battle or a small randomly generated level.
I enjoyed the variety Mago offered while being quite a simple game. There were a good number of different boss fights and challenges. Some boss fights were easier than others. My least favorite boss fight was the end boss of world 1. In which I felt the game didn’t explain the win condition clearly enough. However, since that could be a fault of my own, I won’t be too hard on the game for it.
Story
The overall story is quite basic. Your girlfriend or princess or whatever you want to call it, gets abducted at the start of the game. You continue the game chasing after her. There isn’t any written dialogue in the game. The characters communicate through expressions and symbols. However the animations of these expressions and the simple nature of the narrative makes it so that nothing feels unexplained.
Technical Side
The graphics are pixelated. I personally really liked the art style of Mago, but I can see how some people wouldn’t appreciate pixel art. I suppose this part is for you to decide. As for the animations, they are quite good, especially on boss fights. Even though it is pixel art, the artists did a good job of creating animated characters.
Sound effects and music is pretty fitting to the overall theme of the game. However the music that plays during the levels got boring for me after a while. The sound effects are good and clear. And the overall sound design of the game is above average.
Conclusion
Mago captures the retro 2D platformer feeling perfectly. The pixel art is beautiful, and the gameplay offers a good amount of variety. I would recommend this game to anyone looking to scratch that itch.
