I think the only thing that really matters with Magic and Melee is during the hard battles of the game such as...I don't know, maybe the Final Battle, Sephiroth, Hades Paradox Cup, 1000 Heartless battle, etc. Now Tav or SRL is probably going to give me a list of instances and reasons where I'm wrong, but...oh well.

Magic obviously loses against Sephiroth, except for Reflect/ra/ga which is not even that important, since its purpose isn't to damage him. Also, I somehow doubt that even you were able to beat Sephy without the Square button, Tav, since that would have meant you wouldn't be able to use Guard, Quick Run, or Glide to avoid his attacks like most people do. Unless of course, you used Trinity Limit-Berserk Charge.

Magic is much better in the Hades Paradox Cup though, since the enemies usually don't flinch just by whacking them with Melee Combos. And they'll probably knock you back with high damage before you even finish your combo. Magnega and Thundaga very useful here.

As for the 1000 Heartless battle...it was actually the Reaction Commands that took out most of them, rather than my Physical or Magic attacks. Oh well, tie in this situation I guess.

And I'm also going to argue that the Shield is better than both the Staff and the Sword, since you can learn Once More and Second Chance to beat Sephiroth at lower levels. Though actually do prefer the choosing the sword myself, that doesn't mean the Shield isn't better.