Game Reviews

If you’re like me, you didn’t actually see The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Normally I wouldn’t admit to such a thing up front, but one look at the box office numbers and you’d know I was lying if I tried to claim otherwise. Let’s just say it was a disappointment. Like most of you, I saw Inception instead. But instead of debating the ending of that movie, we’re here to discuss whether or not the Nintendo DS version of Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is worth your time, which may be a tough sell to an audience largely apathetic to the movie on which the game is based.

If I know one thing, it is that the only redeeming hope for a critically panned movie and its handheld counterpart are heavy doses of one Nicolas Cage. When your film’s star has you shaking your head with bemusement simply due to his existence, you know he’s something special. The same should hold true for the game. Step number one would seem to be an extra helping of Nicolas Cage in handheld format. Unfortunately, the developers at Disney didn’t see fit to draw Balthazar Blake, Cage’s character, to resemble the actor in more than the slightest of ways. Strike one.

Snarkiness aside, the game does show promise from the outset. The graphics are colorful and crisp, with a variety of magical spells at your disposal. Each spell is tied to a different color, and when you are attacked by enemies of the same color as your selected spell, you are effectively immune from harm. Mana is used in your attacks for most spells and is charged by filling up at placed mana shrines (or whatever they are supposed to be) throughout the level. As you progress through a level, Balthazar dispenses tips and advice while occasionally progressing the story via pop-up text. During the first hour or two of playing the game, I was quite shocked that I was enjoying myself and impressed by the fun simplicity of the gameplay that managed to also have some tactical depth to it. Games based upon movies are notoriously bad, and for a stinker like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I had very little hope it would be anything better than terrible. It was quite fun to select my spells, run around in a clean top-down view, and beat up floating trash bags, sewer pipes, and oil slicks with my magic.