Max & the Magic Marker: Gold Edition

A fine example of how pointing technology can add something worthwhile and extra to a platformer. There's plenty of game to get your head around, and it's all delivered with wonderful presentation - including enough colour to fill a huge box of Crayola - and infectious music that stays in your mind for hours.

During the more than 60 levels, you'll often be drawing the same things, but the game is so cute and lighthearted that you don't really expect more depth. [Nov 2011, p.97]

If you're in the market for a solid platformer that utilizes an intuitive drawing system, then don't hesitate to pick up Max & The Magic Marker during your next PSN Shopping Spree.

The real fun here comes from dedicating yourself to getting through each stage with three stars, which will require an acute level of attention to speed-running while collecting items all the while. But Trophy hunters should beware of Max & the Magic Marker's grueling all-Bronze Trophy roster.

Max and the Magic Marker is an innovative and amusing platformer. Even though it's suitable for a younger crowd, older gamers will still enjoy it's ingenious challenges.

The concept is good but the controls are unprecise and the design is somewhat anonymous.

I struggle with claiming the game is great for younger, uninitiated gamers because I cut my teeth on much more challenging, varied, and interesting platformers at a young age, but that audience is there. For the rest of us, Max and the Magic Marker is a cute and fun, albeit simplistic, romp through an upbeat, pretty, childlike fantasy world that does some neat things but struggles to stay consistently engaging.

Ultimately, Max and the Magic Marker may be like many other puzzle and platforming games, but it's rarely as accomplished.