An excellent game for its time, very addictive and well worth playing.

User Rating: 7.5 | Magic Carpet PS
By Random_Squiggle | Review Date:
In Magic Carpet you play in first person as a wizard who must fly around various damaged worlds (on a Magic Carpet, as the title suggests,) collecting enough Mana to restore each world to equilibrium. In each world there are various monsters located around the map - destroying them produces golden orbs of Mana which you can claim as your own. Claimed Mana is then collected by balloons and taken back to your castle, allowing you to cast more powerful spells. After the first few levels you begin competing for Mana against rival wizards.

Gameplay
The gameplay is relatively simple but very addictive. There are plenty of levels, with enough variation and challenge to keep them interesting. The monsters range from swarms of bees to dragons and wryverns, and all behave differently - for example griffins won't attack unless you hurt them first, and genies can teleport around the map and steal your mana (rendering you incapable of casting any spells - extremely annoying!) The magic system works well with plenty of spells to choose from, from basic fireballs to large meteors and undead armies. The controls feel a little awkward at first but become comfortable after a while, and the game does a great job of making you feel like you're flying.
In terms of difficulty the game starts out relatively easy, and gradually progresses to become very challenging in later levels, as you compete with more rivals against stronger monsters. In general, the gameplay isn't too frustrating (with the exception of genies) - as being killed with simply return you to your castle with a reduced amount of Mana. Considering the goals are the same on each level the game has a surprisingly high replay value.

Graphics
Magic Carpet's graphics were great for its time, and the game still looks decent today. The monsters are all unique, look good and move fluidly, and the more powerful spells are suitably impressive. The movement across the landscape as you fly is very smooth, and a constant foggy haze in the distance adds a nice atmosphere to the game.

Sound
As you're flying round exploring the world the music is very calm and non-intrusive, and perfect for the atmosphere of the game. As you fly low over water or land you can hear the gentle 'swooshing' noise fo the flying carpet - a nice touch which makes the flying experience much more believable. Once the fighting starts, the music immediately changes to a more dramatic piece to set the pace of the battle. The sound effects for spells (fireballs, lightning bolts etc) are all decent.
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