Welcome to the world of Max & The Magic Marker. In this physics based puzzler you control Max, who one day gets a mysterious marker in the mail. He then draws a monster on a piece of paper. Once the marker leaves the paper, the Monster comes to life and has to be stopped. Max then draws himself onto the paper and the chase begins. Max And the Magic Marker HD, developed by Press Play is a really colorful game. It uses the theme of drawing and coloring to give the platform a different feel and it works, because not only is it fun to play. The worlds in Max & The Magic Marker look really sharp.
Gameplay
In this physics platform, your one tool is the marker you control to make platforms, defeat enemies, and conquer obstacles. In every level, throughout the way, you have to collect golden spheres, black spheres, and of course the ink you need to fill up your marker. There are quite a number of ways to get Max to the next level using his marker. To destroy enemies, you have to draw round orange shapes above the enemies which will then kill them. To get past some platforms all you need to do is draw a line to the other side of the screen. Other times it’s not so easy and you have to be creative to get through to the next level such as making seesaws or stairs to get from platform to platform. Since Max is in a drawing, he can’t come in contact with water or rain, so if there’s a raincloud you need to get past, you can draw a shied of sorts around Max and he’ll pass through easily. During the first few levels, you’re given the line where you need to draw over. I was getting worried that this would continue throughout the whole game. Luckily after the first few levels, you have the option to turn it off.
Graphics
The graphics in Max & The Magic Marker are so well done. Every part of the world is colorful and the drawing aspect of the game blends well with tall he assets and the backgrounds. Even when you toggle the level to pause everything and keep drawing, the drawings and platforms you make, are made to resemble the artwork in the game when its toggled on. From the enemies to the water to Max himself, the game in a whole has some of the most colorful graphics of any platform game on the Mac App Store.
Controls
The controls in the game are pretty simple. You use the direction buttons to move Max and up to jump. The “x” button is used to erase all of the drawings you made with the marker and the “q” button is used to erase the last drawing. The space bar is used to toggle freeze, which is to freeze the environment and continue drawing. The controls are really basic for a platform that takes some thinking and creativity to do on some levels.
Verdict
Max And The Magic Marker is a fun physics platform which has a lot to offer. The game is creative but simple. It will have you playing for house on end. Once I started playing, I didn’t want to stop. There are 58 levels and lots of achievements and puzzles to conquer. There can be more intuitive ways to get through the level besides making stairs and standard platforms, but for what it is, its one of the better platform games on the app store.
$9.99 (Mac App Store Link)
Pros
- 58 levels
- Great art style
- Lots of achievements
Cons
- Can be a bit more challenging
