Magical Starsign is the new Nintendo DS adventure game that introduces astrological magic and an intergalactic setting to the classic role-playing genre.

In the single-player mode you must explore the galaxy, hopping from planet to planet to team up with your lost friends from the Will-o'-Wisp magic academy. In multiplayer Amigo Mode, meeting friends in the real world is the key to success.

Tag Mode

Amigo Mode is split into two parts: trading and battling. Trading, known as Tag Mode, takes the concept of Nintendogs' Bark Mode and gives it a neat RPG-oriented enhancement.

Switch your game into Tag Mode, close the DS and go walkabout. If you pass within range of another Magical Starsign owner in Tag Mode, you'll exchange character info and receive rare items - all wirelessly. Of course, that's nothing new. The clever part is that the higher a character's experience, the better the items that they give to the other player.

One of the items that it's possible to receive in Tag Mode is an egg. If you store it in the incubator on board your character's spacecraft, every time you come in contact with an Amigo, the egg will be another step closer to hatching.

But what's inside? After enough Tag Mode meetings, the egg will hatch and reveal a cute but powerful creature that has an affinity for a particular elemental magic: fire, wind, water, etc. The egg can join your party in the single-player game and also lend a hand in multiplayer dungeon battles.

Unlike regular characters, egg creatures don't level-up in battle. To increase their experience level, you must keep in contact with other Amigos through Tag Mode. The more Amigos you meet, the more powerful your egg characters will become.

Amigo Dungeon

Of course, all this levelling-up is for nothing if you can't show off your powers every now and then. That's where the battling part of Amigo Mode comes in: the Amigo Dungeons. This wireless multiplayer option gives each of the six participants the chance to play as one of the characters unlocked in the single-player game (therefore each player needs a copy of Magical Starsign to take part). Players compete to earn the highest score by defeating enemies and opening treasure chests before the time runs out.

The game can also end when one player finds and opens a special treasure chest, worth 100 points, which reveals itself only when a player defeats a special monster. This player receives a hint about the chest's location but all other players must find the chest on their own. It doesn't pay to open the chest too early, however. If you don't have enough points to win the game, you'll need to defeat more enemies before you track that elusive treasure down.

As well as being great fun, taking part in Amigo Dungeons also earns you new items and experience points that you can carry over to the main game, just like Tag Mode.

So if you're a player who prefers to play solo, get out there and meet some Amigos. There's a galaxy of friends waiting to meet you.

Until next time, adios amigos! - Nintendo.