The Sorcerer's Apprentice DS boxart.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a fantasy action adventure third person shooter puzzle videogame for the Nintendo DS published by Disney Interactive based off of the movie of the same name. It is rated E and was released on July 13, 2010.
Plot[]
Prologue[]
| “ | My name is Balthazar Blake. I'm the last apprentice of Merlin, the most powerful sorcerer who ever lived. Merlin was killed by Morgana, the only sorcerer nearly his equal. As he died, Merlin asked me to find his heir. The one who would inherit his power. I've been searching him for a thousand years. | „ |
| ~ Balthazar Blake's narration of his past. |
The game starts with the Merlinean sorcerer Balthazar Blake's brief narration about his past where he witnessed how Morgana le Fay murdered his master Merlin, before being defeated herself and sealed within The Grimhold. Balthazar further stated that he embarked a centuries-old quest for Merlin's successor, the Prime Merlinean, where it brought him to New York.
In the present day, the 20 year-old nerd Dave Stutler arrived at Arcana Cabana, having received an invitation from its proprietor (who is none other than the Merlinean Balthazar Blake himself). Balthazar revealed to the young man that he will become an important sorcerer thanks to his magic potential. In the middle of their conversations, Dave's presence somehow unsealed the outermost layer of The Grimhold nearby, releasing the notorious Morganian Maxim Horvath. Horvath demanded Dave what year it was, only to be interrupted by Balthazar who demanded him to return to his prison. Instead of fighting his former comrade as with in the film, Horvath made a pragmatic option where he banished his nemesis into the Magic Dimension and left, but not before taking the Grimhold with him.
With the notorious Morganian sorcerer on the loose, the wise Merlinean wizard Balthazar conjures his telepathical projection from the magical dimension to guide the reluctant Dave Stutler in Earth's dimension during his pursuit for Maxim Horvath as well as teaching him the crash course of magic and science along the way. As the sorcerer's apprentice, Dave must master the elements of sorcery using magical attacks and spells to defeat the 6 evil sorcerers and their army of monsters in order to save New York and the world.
District: Chinatown[]
Domain: Elements
Entering the Chinatown District, Dave finds the district has been overrun by beings from the Magic Dimension summoned by Horvath. Infesting inanimate objects throughout the area such as trash bags, sewage pipes, oil slicks, and even chunks of concrete streets, they wreak havoc upon Manhattan, a chaos Balthazar sees as the opportunity to teach Dave some combat spell as he fights his way for Horvath's trail. Along the way, Dave also disposed crystalline structures which create a rift between his world and Magic Dimension to halt the monsters' invasion.
Upon arriving at a Chinese temple where Horvath supposed to be, Dave is ambushed by Sun Lok, apparently released from the Grimhold very recently have too gained enough power from the Elements Domain within the Chinatown District to recover his magic. As the two are about to fight, Balthazar explained that he locked the Asian Morganian up in 1532 A.D. (which contradicts Horvath’s claim of him lived around 200 years prior to the film's events and thus imprisoned around 1800s). Dave and Sun Lok do battle, and the former emerged victorious. Horvath soon entered the scene, dismayed by Sun Lok's defeat and intrigued by Dave's magical talents. Just then, Balthazar's projection appears and instructed Dave to get the Grimhold. Before the science nerd could do anything however, Horvath unexpectedly killed Sun Lok with the Parasite Spell as punishment for his failure and took the Asian conjuror’s item with him. Horvath then teleported away, with Balthazar discovered that his forces now invade University District. Fearful with everyone's well-being there, Dave makes haste for the next location.
District: University[]
Domain: Transformation
As within the Chinatown District, the Morganians’ monster army have overrun the area, yet they focused their attack on Dave over everything else. The surge of Mana Horvath released to empower and summon the creatures came from the Transformation Domain. As neither Morganian prisoners within the doll excels in such domain, Balthazar warned Dave that he is likely about to face someone else that is clearly on their enemies' side.
As it turns out, Dave's next opponent is Drake Stone, a flamboyant illusionist and present day Morganian generation. In the brief exchange between both apprentices, Drake addresses Dave as the Prime Merlinean much to the science nerd's surprise, but he nevertheless put the confusion aside for their oncoming duel. As much as he is dismayed to learn Horvath just have recruited an ally who wasted his talents for personal gain, Balthazar reassured Dave that he will like the meaning of such title and discouraged him from following Drake's example.
Although Drake proved himself as a formidable opponent despite his lack of proper training, his overall skills are rather pale in comparison to Dave who managed to defeat him in their magical duel. The defeated illusionist cannot help but perplexed over the difference of their strengths as Horvath shows up, fatally drains him of his magic with Parasite Spell, and takes away his ring as with Sun Lok previously for spending too much time in "pulling rabbits out of a hat." Horvath then abruptly makes his leave, but not before expressed his interest in Dave's abilities.
Putting his suspicion over Horvath's actions aside, Balthazar explained to Dave that he was Merlin’s centuries-old apprentice and the science nerd is indeed the heir of his late master. Balthazar further revealed that their mission is not just to retake the Grimhold, but also to destroy the founder of the Morganians, Morgana le Fay herself.
District: Downtown[]
Domain: Matter
Arriving at Downtown, Balthazar warned Dave that the latest attacks were just the beginning of the worst that yet to come. It takes a while for the Merliean sorcerer to realize what Horvath planned with both stolen energy and rings from both Drake and Sun Lok, though for now they have to deal the next Grimhold prisoner; Marrok, lord of the Matter Domain, whom he locked within the doll's third layer.
As Dave eventually comes face to face with Marrok himself, Balthazar explained how the Morganian used his power to become the most infamous gangster in the city back in 1935 A.D. until the Merlinean sorcerer imprisoned him and confiscated his car. Because Balthazar only project his telepathic avatar to Dave, Marrok cannot see with whom Dave converses with, but put it aside to challenge the Prime Merlinean into a fight.
Unlike Sun Lok and Drake before him, Marrok is a physical adept, using magic to improve his brute force beyond average sorcerers and able to summon a golem for combat assistance. Unfortunately, the brutish Morganian had underestimated Dave's abilities, unaware that the Prime Merlinean have taken his time training under Balthazar's tutelage throughout his journey, resulting his rather humiliating defeat. In his confusion over who really his opponent is, Horvath appears and reassures Marrok that he will help him reclaiming his beloved car nevertheless before unexpectedly killed him with the Parasite Spell and took away his ring before left, again.
Putting pieces together, Balthazar realized Horvath aims to gain enough power to unlock the innermost layer of the Grimhold. Acting fast, he magically tracks down Horvath's whereabouts and eventually pinpointed his next location; Broadway. At this point, Mana from the Love Domain has flooded the district, with Horvath now working on unlocking the second to last layer of the Grimhold.
District: Broadway[]
Domain: Love
Reminding Dave not to get cocky with his improving skills and new spells in his disposal as they fight through monster-infested Broadway which flooded with Mana from the Love Domain, Balthazar realized he had missed something while deducting Horvath's plan: Stealing other sorcerers' life energy and rings will never be enough to release Morgana and the chase takes them to the center of Manhattan for some reasons.
Arriving at the center of the Love Domain Mana surge, Balthazar revealed that there's one more prisoner left before Morgana's layer and warned that he/she is far worse than Marrok. Instead of even more monstrous-looking Morganian like the physical adept as he expected, Dave comes face-to-face with Abigail Williams, a young Morganian witch in a colonial dress and mistress of the Love Domain. Abigail inquires Dave whether he happened to be in love with anyone. Unsure what to answer, Dave stated that he cherished his roommate's pet dog instead of mentioning Becky Barnes or Tank, (plausibly a bluff to keep her in the dark about them). The Prime Merlinean becomes more perplexed by the cruel witch's remark about love being a fragile thing, leading Balthazar sarcastically explained that she had a bad luck during a prom night back at "Salem High School in Class 1692" which made her rather petty about the subject.
Dave and Abigail battle on top of the buildings. To make up her inferior defense, the latter distanced herself from the former and attacks with two long-ranged spells (grenade-like Heartbreaker bolts in addition of proximity Unrequited Love energy mines) along with summoned monsters. Despite proving herself a considerable challenge to the Prime Merlinean, Dave managed to study her attack pattern and eventually defeated her in the end. Reveling in his victory, Dave teases Abigail about how love indeed hurts.
Once again, Horvath appears seemingly come to her rescue only to execute her with the Parasite Spell and confiscated her pendant for his own use as with previous fallen Morganians. Realizing Dave tracks down the Grimhold through its magic signature, the former Merlinean magically cloaks the doll so he will not be able to track him down through it as he makes his leave. Even so, Balthazar still managed to deduce his nemesis' next location thanks to the surge of Mana from Time-Space Domain that floods Broadway with the American Radiator Building as its epicenter, allowing the epic chase to continue.
District: Uptown[]
Domain: Space Time
Remarking his nemesis' scheme being akin to drop a map and teleport something into another dimension through the Space-Time Domain, Balthazar warned Dave that as he is about to face Horvath himself, the fight will be a difficult one with all powers and rings he stole from fallen Morganians. As much as he certain Horvath is at the center of Mana surge, he is still unable to see through the Grimhold's cloaking spell.
Arriving at the supposed center of the Space-Time Domain, the Prime Merlinean confronts Horvath who remarks him not being sporty for constantly following him, citing he had no chance to stretch his legs because of it. Dave demands Horvath to hand him the doll, but the former Merlinean refuses as expected. As they about to settle things in duel, Balthazar tells Dave not to take his taunts at hearts since his former colleague had been like that for a thousand years and warned him of his opponent's status as the Master of Space-Time Domain and thus more powerful than other Morganians except Morgana even without stolen magic and rings.
True to Balthazar's warning, Horvath deploys ectoplasm mines and purple bolts with great mastery against Dave, giving the Prime Merlinean a hard time fighting the Master of Space-Time Domain. Although he finds himself exposed to the mines' temporal displacing effects, the science nerd refused to back down, and emerges victorious after a difficult battle. Unfortunately, turns out Horvath had released Morgana sometime prior to his arrival and (presumably) passed everything she needs for her master plan before unexpectedly uses the Parasite Spell on himself combined with stolen magics to open Forbidden Domain at his mistress' current location, seemingly killing himself in process.
With Horvath gone and Morgana on the loose, Balthazar revealed Morgana's motives; she seeks to learn the secrets of Forbidden Domain that wield the power over life and death from her rival Merlin. But Merlin refused, so Morgana opted to kill him and has Horvath stole his notes pertaining the Domain, particularly a ritual which allows her to summon the army of undead sorcerers. With the Grimhold inhis possession and everything he learned until this point, Dave sets out to stop Morgana and put an end to this sorcerous war for good.
District: Central Park[]
Domain: Forbidden
Entering Central Park for what would be their final battle, Dave and Balthazar's telepathic projection make haste for Morgana. The wise Merlinean warns Dave that their battle will be tougher from this point and teaches him Outcast spell to send the creatures back to their home dimension to even their fight, lamenting that he ended up stripped from the chance to directly fight alongside his apprentice and that guiding him through the projection is the best thing he can do. It doesn't take long for Balthazar to realize the significance of very location Morgana chose to summon the army of dead sorcerers; Central Park has a hidden castle built by a Morganian sorcerer in 19th century to conduct magical experiments with Forbidden Domain before eventually sealed it off along with the entire building for some reasons. Apparently, Horvath somehow discovered the castle and took his time exploring the whole place before passed everything he learned to his Mistress before battled Dave moments ago. With the wicked sorceress now working on reopening the Forbidden Domain for her nefarious purposes, the Prime Merlinean must make haste to stop her.
Dave arrives in the nick of time just as Morgana is in the middle of reciting the ritual to summon the undead sorcerer army. As Dave discusses his odds with Balthazar, Morgana notices the Prime Merlinean's presence and mistaken him as disguised Horvath. The science nerd, under Balthazar's suggestion, awkwardly introduces himself as the Prime Merlinean, the one who destined to defeat her much to Morgana's amusement. The indignant Dave's mention of Balthazar surprised the wicked sorceress who remarks that the veteran Merlinean has indeed found himself an apprentice and nods to the science nerd's potential, but sneered upon his seemingly inferior strength or skill compared to his famed ancestor before steps in to engage him in their would be destined final battle.
The Prime Merlinean and Morgana battle, and it proved to be Dave's toughest battle yet. Not only the evil sorceress displayed mastery over her fellow Morganians' signature abilities in greater scale, but also possesses immunity to all spells except electrical blasts out of Mana drawn from Transformation Domain. Even with Balthazar's useful tips, the fight is not easy one. Having come up this far and have mastered all Merlinean spells along the way however, Dave nevertheless got everything he needs to fulfill his destiny and thus defeated the wicked sorceress in the end. Eventually, the Prime Merlinean reseals her back into the Grimhold.
With all Morganians gone, Dave pulls Balthazar out of Magic Dimension by channeling all Mana residue their enemies left behind. To celebrate their success, Balthazar suggested that they buy a pizza, humorously stating that he had nothing to eat while imprisoned there. To Dave's chagrin, the apprentice had to pay for the meals since he still has much to learn. As they about to make their leave, Dave recalled on Horvath and worried by the possibility of the treacherous former Merlinean's return, though Balthazar reassured that his former colleague now gone for good.
Or so he was led to believe, as the game ends with a familiar-looking hand with glowing rings and cane that crackle with power...
Gameplay[]
Overview[]
The player take the role as Dave Stutler, who is tracking down Maxim Horvath whom escaped from the Grimhold and invading Manhattan alongside his fellow Morganians and an army of monsters. Whenever Dave encountered monsters, he had to endure and defeated few waves of them before proceeding.
The game is primarily controlled by handheld features and the process of activating a Merlinean Spell is via using stylus on the touchscreen. Ricochet Bolt, spell of Elemental Domain, is Dave's first basic spell that he used until he proceed to new area where he later gained other basic spells from other domain. Out of six basic spell that Dave gained, only Ricochet Bolt that not consuming Mana. Had Dave's Mana reserves depleted, he will automatically switch to Ricochet Bolt. To activate a Merlinean spell, Dave must collect 3 Domain Shards required for that spell and when accessed via stylus, the player will play a minigame to either split, fuse, mix, and touch molecules until they dispersed completely before time runs out. Had the time runs out before the process finished, the spell will failed and the player had to start all over again.
Health and Mana[]
Health Meter
When combating enemies, the player must keep an eye on Dave Stutler's health and Mana reserves. Dave's health bar is the white bar located on the upper left of the screen while his Mana reserve located on the upper right. Had Dave's health bar depleted completely, the player had to start all over again from the entrance of the area or portal where Dave emerged from. The player can restore Dave's lost health by taking medkits scattered around the area.
Dave's Mana Bar in Purple when Space-Time is chosen.
Also, when Dave casting spells with exception of Ricochet Bolt, it consumed his Mana reserve. Had his Mana reserve depleted, Dave will automatically choose Ricochet Bolt and cannot switch to other spell until his Mana reserves refilled itself after few minutes. Dave can also refill his Mana reserves by absorbing Mana-imbued objects around him where the said object glitters with energy. Unlike his health bar, the color of Dave's Mana reserve bar will change color depend on chosen spell.
Obstacles[]
Over the course of the game, Dave would face many obstacles around him, which gives him both advantages and disadvantages.
| Image | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Magic Shards
Maxim Horvath’s conjured crystalline structure that serves as a teleporter beacon for transporting his monsters to designated area and (possibly) as conduit to bring objects near it to life. |
 |
Oil Barrels
Barrels that randomly found in the game. As with cars, they can explode if attacked with magic projectiles. |
 |
Cars
Parked Cars would explode if given enough damage. |
 |
Trash Bins
Horvath has enchanted some trash bins to periodically spewing forth hot steam that will harm Dave if struck. He had to avoid its steam blast as it cannot be destroyed. |
Items, Power Ups, and Upgrades[]
- Medkit: Restoring health.
- Domain Shards: Domain shards are items needed so Dave can conjure his Merlinean Magic.
- Portals: Portals are gateway for magical realm where Mana surge from the Domains of theMerlin Circle come from. Though during the events of the game the whole magical realm were overrun with monsters that Horvath conjured and gathered there before transported to strategic locations through magic shards at Manhattan, the monsters' presence in the realm made it perfect for Dave to fully mastered his Merlinean Magic. Upon entering tge magical realm, Dave must enter six different area of the ream each overflowing with Mana from different Domains and survived waves of monsters there to fully master his Merlinean magic. Each area can only accessed thrice (if he survive each battles in there) and had all areas have been entered, Dave will lost access to the magical realm.
Spells in Game[]
Spells that Dave can master in the game come from 6 domain of Merlin Circle where the domains in game are Element, Transformation, Matter, Love, Space Time, and Forbidden. Unlike in the film, Love and Forbidden are separate Domains while the Mind Domain is omitted.
| Domain | Spells | Special Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Element |
|
Rock Storm (summons a rain of rocks and boulders around Dave). |
| Transformation |
|
Plasma Bolt (summons a lightning pylon from the sky that seeks out and electrocutes enemies around Dave). |
| Matter Domain |
|
Vacuum Sphere (conjures a protective shield around Dave that deflects the energy from incoming attacks back in form of shockwave with equal power, making it a perfect tool to turn enemies’ projectiles against them). |
| Love Domain |
|
Absorption (upon casted, Dave forms energy-draining aura that leeches on nearby enemies to restore health). |
| Space-Time |
|
Time Slow (temporarily slows down time around Dave). |
| Forbidden |
|
Outcast (conjures 3 homing blue orb around Dave that can banish monsters back to the Magic Dimension). |
Enemies[]
Monsters[]
The Morganians as seen in the videogame The Sorcerer's Apprentice on Nintendo DS.
See: Monsters
Horvath and his fellow Morganians have enchanted objects in Manhattan into monsters that Dave must face as he track down escaped Morganians. At first, they seemingly left to cause destruction under their masters' command, but it is apparent that they actually conjured by their creators to deter Dave from succeeding. They must be dealed with extreme caution.
Bosses[]
Sun Lok[]
Sun Lok
| “ | So... You fight like a true sorcerer. | „ |
| ~ Sun Lok |
Domain: Element
Dave can only move on the Yin-Yang Symbol as Sun Lok levitates around and fire either orange or green bolts. When Sun Lok stopped moving and switching between his orange and green bolts, the Asian Morganian is vulnerable, so blasted him when he do this until he defeated. After losing 1/3 of his health, he will infuse either Yin (green) or Yang (orange) part of the floor that resulting it glows and would harm Dave if he stood there. As with switching elements, he was vulnerable when casting this spell. Once he lost 2/3 of his health, he will use both attacks and attacking more aggressively.
Drake Stone[]
Drake Stone
| “ | How did you do that? No matter... I have plenty more tricks up my sleeve. | „ |
| ~ Drake Stone |
Domain: Transformation
Drake Stone at first, only teleport on the stage where he summons two Mailboxes to his side. He only vulnerable when stood in front of red boxes on the stage. Upon losing his 1/3 health, Drake replaced two Mailboxes with two Fire Creepers to aiding him and began to personally attacked Dave by summoning explosive purple bolts whilst positioned himself behind speakers for cover. Once he lose 2/3 of his health, he began more aggressive attacks by dismissing his Fire Creepers before replacing them with a pair of clones of himself that firing yellow and purple bolts respectively. Both clones must be destroyed so he will stand before the red boxes on the stage where he was vulnerable. Once this happens, Dave must give everything he got to attack him. Repeat the process and Drake will be defeated.
Marrok[]
Marrok
| “ | What the…. ? No one messes with Marrok. Get ready, kid. | „ |
| ~ Marrok |
Domain: Matter
Marrok is a powerful Morganian sorcerer who focused his magic for enhancing his physical attributes beyond that of regular sorcerer, giving him superhuman strength that allowed him to create shockwave by hammering his fist to the ground. When he sprinted for Dave, magic shield would appear around him for protection, but the shield dissipates when he hammering his fist to the ground for releasing shockwaves, which during that point, he was vulnerable. Upon losing 1/3 of his health, he will summon volatile yellow bolts from the ground that would explodes on the surface, releasing shockwaves that will harm Dave. Once he lost 2/3 of his health, he will temporarily retreat with a golem appears in his place. Dave must defeat the golem to continuing fighting Marrok.
Abigail Williams[]
Abigail Williams
| “ | How dare you manhandle me like that? | „ |
| ~ Abigail Williams |
Domain: Love
Abigail Williams is the evasive opponent throws 3 black volatile bolts called Heartbreaker from the top of a neighboring building. To attack her, Dave had to use Matter spell to attack her whilst she firing her Heartbreaker. Once lose 1/3 of her health, she conjures 3 red mine-like bolts called Unrequited Love and simultaneously summons Mailboxes to her side. Fortunately, the battle will not be difficult as those monsters drops Love Domain fragment to build up Absorption spell both to regain health and attacking Abigail. When she lost 2/3 of her health however, her attacks become more aggressive since she switches between either Heartbreaker or Unrequited Love and summon either Mailboxes or Sewage Pipes to her side. The fastest way to defeat her is by using Absorption spell.
Maxim Horvath[]
Maxim Horvath
| “ | It’s not over yet, Dave. | „ |
| ~ Maxim Horvath to Dave Stutler |
Domain: Space-Time
Maxim Horvath is capable in teleporting and his basic attack is purple bolts. Upon losing 1/3 of his health, Horvath will summon mines in form of white orbs that had Dave get too close with it, the bolt explodes and resulting his movement become slow for brief of time. Once losing 2/3 of his health, Horvath would summon Scorpion Bots, Spinners, to his side.
Morgana le Fay[]
Morgana le Fay
| “ | So Merlinean… you do have some skills after all. | „ |
| ~ Morgana le Fay to Dave Stutler. |
Domain: Love, Matter, Space-Time
Morgana le Fay can be considered as the most powerful adversary considering that she was both founder and leader of Morganians. Because of it, she mastered her fellow Morganians’ special attacks. She can conjure Abigail’s signature spell Unrequited Love to throws 6 red mine-like bolts randomly alongside her basic spell blue energy bolts. Upon losing 1/3 of her health, she will summon Paper Tornadoes, Scorpion Bots, and Trash Bags to her side as well as conjuring Marrok’s volatile yellow bolts from the ground that Dave had to avoid before it explodes. Like Marrok, after summoning her minions, she retreats until her summoned minions destroyed. After losing 2/3 of her health, she conjures purple version of Horvath’s temporal displacing ectoplasm mines and summon a straight piercing blue bolt which shape similar with Dave’s Forbidden spell bolt.
Reception[]
The game received a 66 from GamingXP and a 3\10 for Gamestop user reviews. Critics complained about the game being slightly generic and typical for a game of it's kind.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Video[]
