Amazing Island is a game about drawing with various mini-games attached. The name is only half-right, though, and I’ll let you guess which half. You start the game off by choosing your gender. Now, identity-issues aside, I choose the little girl and named her “Rose.” I figured I’d at least get a few “Aww” moments out of the game. Well, Rose starts off being told how this random Monster Island she’s been thrown on (with little to no explanation) is in danger and she, for reasons unknown, is the only one who can save it. In order for her to save it, though, she needs to create a monster and merge her heart with her monster’s. Yay, so, monster drawing time, right? Not yet. You’re given a series of questions and then are given a basic model of a monster. You have to use this monster for your first task. This task, interestingly enough, is a series of Mario Party-like mini-games that your monster embarks on. I won’t mince words: this game isn’t that much fun alone. And by “not much fun,” I mean “a vehicle to just get more monster creation items.” The true meat of the game is the Drawing Board, so to speak. You can create any monster you’d like (check out my Terry McGuiness Batman here) within limits. I also made a Kirby, a Pikachu, and any other number of licensed characters that make up for my total lack of imagination. You’ll hear much about the graphics being sub-par and, for the most part, it’s true. The game looks like an N64-era effort, which works for what the game wants to do, but I can’t help but feeling somewhat disappointed. The graphics can sometimes be detrimental, with some awful slowdown to ruin gameplay. Intensity isn’t fun if it goes at the pace of a snail. If this review seems short, it’s for a good reason: the game doesn’t have that much to talk about. The monster creation system is great, but I don’t even see hardcore multiplayer fanatics getting this game. The game should have come as an RPG instead of with mini-games (in all fairness, the GBA-GC connection allows Pokemon-like battles with other people), but the game seems very thrown together as an addition to the monster creation, instead of a companion. 2 out of 5 Monsters. Interesting concept, I just wish there was a game behind it, preferably one with good graphics and decent controls.