Metroid Prime Pinball

"A great (and non-franchise killing) pinball game"

Metroid. One of Nintendo's best franchises that has been living strong in the gaming world for nearly 15 long and exciting years. Metroid is solely adventure. And an amazing adventure series at that. Several years ago, the Metroid Prime series was created as the first 3-D Metroid games. Perfection at its best. Several years later though, Fuse Games decides that since Samus can turn into a (Morph) Ball, and pinball uses a Ball, why not have a Metroid pinball theme game? And that's where it hits you. Metroid. Prime. Pinball. A game for so long in production that was expected the utterly demolish the series. Expected to be horrid. Thought to have story that would make us scream. Pinball physics that were so awful it wanted to made you cry. After the catastrophe that was Mario Pinball Land, little was expected of Metroid Prime Pinball. Fortunately, the game turned out to pretty damn good.

Graphics - 8 - The graphics for this game are very well done. They turned out excellent and anyone who plays the game for just a few minutes will agree quickly. Almost everything, including Samus, is in 2-D but all of the tables are in 3-D. When you quickly whack Samus with one of the flippers, you can see that trail of light that comes from her Morph Ball just like in the real game. The graphics are excellent in the game, and truly show off the DS's capabilities.

Story - X - Thank goodness. I'm only putting this here to re-assure people who are a little weary of this game. There is no story in this game at all. However, there technically is if you really want to. The game follows the exact same structure as Metroid Prime. You go through the Mission Mode and attempt to collect 12 Chozo Artifacts. Then you will ultimately face off against Metroid Prime itself. That's it for the story, but technically there is none in this game at all.

Sound - 9 - Nearly 95% of all of the music in the game is from the Metroid Prime series. Mostly remixes too. That's not a bad thing. Not bad at all. In fact, the music quality on the DS is absolutely perfect. It couldn't have been made much better. Tallon Overworld still has its serene jungle music, Phendrana Drifts has its slow paced calm music, and even the bosses have their respective boss themes made to perfection on the DS! That isn't all though. There are some tunes from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as well. Multiball music has the same music as from the multiplayer in Echoes, and the title screen song shares the title screen theme from Echoes too. Its Metroid Prime music at its peak, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Gameplay - 10 - This is pinball. Its either hit or miss when it comes to gameplay in a pinball game. Luckily, Metroid Prime Pinball gives a grand pinball experience. But the game gives you more than just pinball. Its Metroid themed pinball. Obviously, you can expect some of sort of insane twist to the game. However, it is nothing like what Mario Pinball Land was. You have 3 main modes of gameplay. Multiplayer where you compete against other players to reach 100000 points on the Magmoor Caverns board first, the Single Mission mode where you try to beat your own high scores on point boards and lowest times against bosses, and Multi-Mission where actually play the "story" of the game, collecting the hidden Chozo Artifacts in an attempt to destroy Metroid Prime. Basically, there are many ways to play the game.

Multi-Mission is a long mode and you'll be spending a lot of time here trying to really beat the game. You have several places to go at first like the Space Pirate Frigate and Tallon Overworld. Eventually you can travel to other areas like Phazon Mines or Phendrana Drifts and fight Thardus or the Omega Pirate for their Artifacts. Eventually, you will gain access to the Artifact Temple, and race against time to try and input 12 Chozo Balls into their respective relic totems in the craziest multiball fest ever while Meta-Ridley tries to demolish them. Eventually you will gain access to the Impact Crater where you face off against Metroid Prime. You'll understand everything that's going on and nothing should be a surprise to any Metroid Prime veteran. Its crazy fun trying to rack up millions and millions of points. Along the way you will be able to unlock power-ups such as the Power Bombs and Missiles. Its crazy fun.

Next is the Single Mission mode. Here you choose one of the boards or bosses you've fought already and try either to get as many points as possible before getting a game over, or attempt to beat a boss as fast as you can. Unlike in Multi-Mission, you have all of your power-ups right from the get go. You can unleash Power Bombs to destroy any enemy around you instantly, nab the Force Ball which is like the Boost Ball on steroids where you can bash through anything by touching them for a few seconds, and Missiles. What for Missiles though? If you go around certain loops on the boards, you will light a letter in Samus's name. Once all 5 letters are lit, you can enter Combat Mode and play a little mini game for more points, and Missiles can help you greatly. Beating your own high scores is always a fun challenge, and you will always try again and again until you accomplish it by even the slightest margin.

Finally, multiplayer. Up to 8 players can compete (with or without Metroid Prime Pinball) on the Magmoor Caverns board. The board is set up in a crazy way-its all about points. The first player to reach 100,000 points will be called a "cheater" (by your friends of course) and the winner of the match. Sounds simple, right? However, there are many panels set up on the board where you can send a Metroid or 2 onto your friend's boards. And a Metroid isn't the friendliest of enemies. They can easily knock your ball straight between the flippers and cause you to lose a ton of points. Its a frantic race but only those with calm personalities and quick thumbs will win the day.

Overall, the gameplay is flawless. Nothing more can really be said.

Replay Value - 7 - I find myself coming back to this game now and again to beat my scores and improve. I can't really say much more.

Buy or Rent? - Buy. Its a really fun games and almost anyone who has played Metroid games will for sure love this game. Those who don't like Metroid but love pinball are likely to enjoy the game as well. Its just plain fun and multiplayer is strangely addicting.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/06