Review of “Sabrina: The Animated Series – Zapped!”

Was gonna dive into this whole spiel about Sabrina: The Animated Series – Zapped! but got sidetracked thinking about mixtapes from the 90s—remember those? Anyway, Wayforward, right? They’re the masterminds behind some of the sweetest 2D games. Shantae? River City Girls? Classics. But hang on, they’ve got a bunch of licensed games too. Who knew?

So, Sabrina Zapped? It’s this Game Boy Color trip down memory lane wrapped in a neat platformer. Picture this: you’re Sabrina, teenage witch extraordinaire, but you’ve accidentally poofed your pals into a zoo. Oops. Got to bop them on the head (gently, I assume?) to zap ’em back. Notice how real it gets? Like when you’ve had micro-sleeps on your skin? Bizarre.

Here’s the twist – Sabrina collects spells on the way, like snagging a double jump or controlling Salem, her cat. Salem’s a slinky dude, can wiggle through tight spots. Also, there’s this bubble spell, really crucial in high-up stages. Vertical floating action? Yeah, oddly liberating. Basically, level design’s got a tight vibe, even though it’s a small screen.

Them stages, though! They use the spells in kinda quirky ways, like getting the bubble to reach sky-high places or having Salem unlock stuff. These elements remind me of random doodles on my high school paper margins. Seems chaotic but makes perfect sense when you think about it.

But here’s the thorn in the rose: the Game Boy Color’s button setup is like trying to text on a flip phone. Spell-casting and running both on B? Total chaos. Found myself zigging when I meant to zag more often than I’d like to admit. Anyway, I digress.

Look, it’s not gonna change your life or anything. It’s charming in this TV spin-off kinda way—not pretending to be Shakespeare—as addictively flawed as crumbly cookies. It’s like a precursor to Shantae’s glory days. A bit of a hidden gem maybe? Play it through once, and it might feel like a spell that fades, but the nostalgia spark’s worth it, if you ask me. Now, where was I… oh yeah, mixtapes. Those were something.