Previously referred to during development as ‘Project Rub’, Feel the Magic: XY/XX is a seriously strange, but undoubtedly original, title coming courtesy of the warped minds over at Sega. Being prepared for launch, it could also turn out to be one of the secret weapons in the DS locker.

The main story mode behind Feel The Magic: XY/XX is just as mad as the title suggests it may be: Man spots woman of dreams, man swallows goldfish, man is recruited by team of folks wearing bunny ears and calling themselves the Rub Rabbits, man sets off to win heart of woman by becoming the ultimate performance artist. Did I mention this game was whack?

Of course, it’s all just an excuse for some exceedingly pretty and distinctive visuals, and a series of Wario Ware-style mini-games which range from flicking scorpions off of the body of your beloved, to blowing out candles using the built-in DS mic. The first boss stage? A herd of rampaging bulls that must be tapped into oblivion, of course.

Coming back to the visuals, the story is laid out using a series of comic-book style illustrations, which tile nicely over the two screens. In-game, a mixture of 2D and 3D graphics are blended together to give everything a unique look which many will instantly compare to the colourful iPod commercials.

It’s obvious that the Sega designers just wanted to have some fun with the DS hardware – indeed the entire game can be played using just one hand to jab and swipe at the touch screen. Exactly how all of this will tie together to form a game is unknown, but as long as the variety is there to compliment the originality, Feel The Magic XY/XX could be a game that keeps you coming back to your shiny new DS.