..Major Magnet..

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A pudgy, jolly-looking fellow with a magnet affixed to his person. At first, that hardly seems like a fitting description for a hero, but PagodaWest Games is betting that the star of its upcoming iOS platformer, Major Magnet, can change that perception and worm his way into the hearts of gamers everywhere.

As the eponymous major (who also answers to Marv), it will be up to players to save the world from dastardly businessman Colonel Lastin and his devious plan to disrupt the world's magnetic poles. However, Marv's stick legs can only get him so far. To save the day, he will have to rely on his strange horseshoe-shaped accoutrement and use it to bend the power of magnetism to his will.

While Major Magnet will soon be sitting within a genre well-populated on the App Store (to wit, the 2D action-platformer), its gameplay employs a few tricks that few, if any, of its contemporaries do. Instead of controlling Marv directly using a virtual D-pad and buttons, you will use the environment to control him.

This will be done mainly through magnets placed across each level, which can be turned on and off, slowing Marv down or speeding him up as you hurl him from magnet to magnet, making sure he doesn't veer off into one of the various obstacles that stand in his way. Swipe and tap controls will also come into play to help him from Point A to Point B with a speed that would impress Sonic the Hedgehog.

A comparison to Sonic is not undeserved either, as Sega's blue hedgehog has been a major influence in the creation of Major Magnet. This is a fact that PagodaWest isn't afraid to admit, being as they are Sonic fans that worked on a downloadable HD remake of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

It remains to be seen if Marv can capture the iOS generation's attention like Sonic did back in the days of the Genesis, but with an interesting gameplay hook and inspiration from one of the icons of 2D platforming, Major Magnet looks to be a promising game, one we'll all be able to try out later this month (or perhaps in March).

Peter Grimm A writer, journalist, and aspiring storyteller, Peter Grimm has been gaming since the days of the Nintendo 64, and reporting on the goings-on in the World of Gaming since late 2011. His base of writing operations is located within the void between Here and There, or so he would have you think.

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