Magic Garden

It is the turn of 1984, the LX is already a little long in the tooth. Technology was evolving considerably in the 80s, and yesterday’s top machine is today’s trash. Shit, not much has changed, but it was almost more pronounced back then. So in 1984, LX Systems released not only their next game, but an entirely new computer to go along with it, the LX2.

This wasn’t really anything new, and wouldn’t take all that much effort, all things considered. The MSX2 was something very similar to this. Same ol’ computer, but with some added ram, or a few added systems and boards, that kinda thing. I’m not a hardware specialists, I’m a Goblin who plays games on the internet. But anyways, the LX2 was created, and they hired a new specialist to help them develop it. Meesha Danry is our newest employee, and the first woman to work at LX Systems, which is cool. While she never will do a whole lot in the actual game development side, her effects are very pronounced on the company. She’s often considered a confidant and friend to those who work there.

So, what can the LX2 do? Well, it can display more sprites and colors per sprite, mostly. Typical upgrade stuff. And to show that off, we got our first game of 1984, Magic Garden.

And it’s one of the best games ever. This is my favorite game of the collection, hands down. I thought MAYBE Mini and Max would bop it, and it did for a bit, but after cherrying M&M, I have to admit, Magic Garden is still better.

Magic Garden

In Magic Garden, you play as a cute girl who’s tending to her garden, while the jealous witch Cloveranna tries to ruin your day. Magical slimes, named Oppies, grow and sprout out of the ground. You need to collect them then release them in the star squares, which move and shift around every 10 seconds or so. Meanwhile, angy Oppies are spawning, so avoid those. If you release oppies NOT on the star blocks, they’ll get angy. This can be useful, which I’ll explain later. Save 6 or more Oppies, and a potion will spawn, which will make all enemies vulnerable, except for the mushrooms. The mushrooms are only vulernable if you get a gold potion. You get gold potions by saving 10 Oppies at a time, OR by waiting, as potions will grow in strength if you leave them there. On top of the release button, there’s also a jump button, which should probably only be used as a last resort, cause it’s really hard to use. You gotta time it just right, and you can’t turn as easily after landing, so you gotta be careful, but it HAS saved my ass.

The goal of the game is to get 200 Oppies saved, after which the Gardener will tell the Witch that she’d be HAPPY to teach her how to garden, and then they walk off together. I assume to make out. THis game SCREAMS yuri, and I know I see yuri in everything, but no. This is yuri. Also I wanna note, early 1984, and a female protagonist? Ahead of the curve, LX Systems, good on you. Maybe Meesha made a suggestion. It’s certainly possible. Anyways, while saving those 200 Oppies, you can try to get a high score. Save more Oppies, or beat enemies in a row with the potion active to get more points. You can chain potions together to elongate the window of beating enemies, and ALSO to increase your score multiplier.

Magic Garden

This game is so charming. I love the sprites. I love the art. I love how it changes color palettes as you reach different levels of Oppies saved. I love the style and design. The little cat yawning, so cute. The little trees with eyes. The oppies are WONDERFUL. THE YURI, OF COURSE. Also the music is FANTASTIC, this is Petters’ best work yet. Everything about this game works. Like, to be reductive, it really is just… Snake. But with a few extra steps. But it’s so extremely addicting. You take a hit, start all over, and it doesn’t feel bad, you just go “AHHH, okay one more go!” and then it’s 2 hours later. I seriously cannot overstate how good this game feels and is to play.

The ONLY thing that’d make this game better is an endless mode, which sadly it doesn’t have. This means there’s a theoretical cap to the socre, probably, as you can only get 200/6 potions, with which to beat Oppies. That’s where releasing Oppies and making them angry works out, btw. Fills the field so you can get a HUGE combo, which feels so satisfying. This game could also be improved with a multiplayer variant, which I feel it’s built very well for. Clears could send over more Oppies to the enemy field. Could end up with some really long lasting battles, but hard fought.

So, hats off to Chun. This game is fucking fantastic, and I have no bad things to say about it whatsoever. I’d buy UFO 50 just to play this game. Not a joke. 25 dollars for this game. It’s a BIT pricy, cause it’s such a short experience, but I do love it that much. At 50 cents its a god damn steal.

10/10