Amazing Island

Sega. An enigma in and of itself. On the one hand you have Shinobi and Sonic. On the other hand you have Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. Sometimes I wonder what wonderful state of mental bliss their developers live in. How else can you explain some of their titles? So, what's next in the smorgasbord that is Sega's library? Amazing Island.

Hitting shelves in the midst of next month's Olympic Fever, Amazing Island is Sega's foray into the monster raising genre. Of course, Sega is not one to traipse down the road often traveled and they are bringing a few unique twists up against the Pokemons and Monster Ranchers of the gaming world.

First and foremost, Amazing Island is utilizing a patented Monster Editing System. What, pray tell, will this accomplish? In a nutshell, this means that you will be able to tweak with nearly every feature of your monster. Take a look at a couple of those screenshots and you will see what I am talking about. Look at that twisted bird-thing and all of the accessories you can add. Heck, you could probably spend hours just coming up with one bizarre combination after another.

While you are checking out those screens, take a gander at the vivid graphics. This game is at the top of the pack when it comes to a family-friendly yet incredibly detailed visual package. Some of you "hardcore" game players might find the character models to be a little bit skewed towards the younger audience, but you can't deny the quality of their craftsmanship. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see these smiling faces on my TV in a Saturday Morning Cartoon.

Of course, what good is a quirky GameCube title without GBA connectivity? That's right. Not having GBA connectivity makes it a generic PS2 game. With that in mind, Amazing Island is going to allow you to transfer your monster to your GBA for even more four player fun. You don't have three friends? Don't fret; Amazing Island is going to allow you to acquire special GBA-exclusive monster upgrades.