Remember when you first saw Monster Rancher and thought how stupid/cute some of the monsters looked? Agetec decided to skip that whole random element of sticking in your family's golden oldies CDs to unlock cool monsters and decided to let you draw your own! Yes, if you’re as big of a nerd as me, this is pretty damn cool. Getting hands on with the creation system of your monsters is a thrill, since you can literally create every aspect of them, even giving them wings, adding, and no, I’m not kidding, “Hard” or “Wiggly” pieces, so your monster can have googly eyes and butterfly wings. Creating the monster is simple, you need to do little more then trace a rough outline which animates by itself, and does so quite well, even if you’re like me and have never progressed past the “doodles on the edge of the math book” stage of artistry.

Colors play a big part in Magic Pengel, and selecting unique colors for the parts of your creature gives it special attributes. Though we didn’t go too much into it, my creature was a strange combination of colors, and ended up as a magic type. The battles in the game are little more innovative then in the Monster Rancher series, and it’s basically your best attacks vs. your opponents. There are some neat blocking abilities thrown in, but if you’ve ever played a typical game of raising monsters, you’ll feel right at home in Magic Pengel. I know I did.

The characters in the intro were surprisingly cute, and very likeable. It starts off with a “doodle” (your monster) rushing around a small household’s yard only to accidently startle the family's dog and lead it for a wild chase, ending when your doodle almost falls off a cliff. Luckily, it’s saved by a young lady who manages to stop the doodle from falling into the water, but takes the topple herself. You never see yourself in the game, but it doesn’t seem to matter much, since the characters around you are so vibrant.

The graphics are akin to MegaMan Legends, only much crisper, and the game’s world seems to be carefully created. However, since we only got a chance to play with the monster creation aspect of Magic Pengel, if the rest of the game is as fun remains to be seen. Our Agetec representative actually addressed the point that most game magazines who already received an advanced copy to review had, which was that you’re mainly left to watch the game’s story go by as you play, with little interaction. Agetec defended this, by making it clear that they wanted as much focus as they could on the monsters, which is why the main plot takes a backseat. Still, here’s one guy who’s looking forward to this really cute pastel wonder.