Metroid Prime Pinball

"Peace, Love, and Metroid Pinball. All we need, man. Peace out. And I'm NOT A HIPPIE!"

Ze Introduction to ze Review of Metroid Prime: Pinball

I'm not tryin to sound like a hippie here. Serious.

We all loved Metroid in spite of the fact that Samus is a girl. And then there were the original lovers who quit playing because they found this woman who beat down thousands of space pirates before their eyes and through their controller.

She was freakin' tight.

I also heard a twisted theory from GamePro insisting that Samus and Master Chief from Halo were one and the same (The FPS Battle issue. Very cool). Sick as that is, Samus is pretty cool and so is the Chief. But we're here for the girl.

So we loved Metroid Prime, in spite of its evil "hold R to aim" issues. So you'll love this Pinball Palace of fun.

Graphics: 10/10

Need I say more? The graphics are amazing even if Samus seems like a orange humanoid instead of an armored bounty hunter. And her morph-ball spins were pulled off with great effect, so it seems like she really was rolling! Very cool.

The enemies look as great as they've ever been, and if there's slowdown, you won't notice, because everything happens fast and it's hard to keep concentrating on the ball because the Elite Pirate is beating the snot out of you. In other words, you're not supposed to think as much as Metroid usually makes you.

Story: N/A

There is no story. None. Nada. ZIP. All it is is Samus doing her thing, zipping around Tallon IV to exterminate the last Phazon horrors. It. Done. Cool. And with no story to worry about, you don't really have to think as much. That helps keep the think meter down. So you don't have any mysteries. It's just grab this, fight boss, get artifact, go to next level. Very nice. You can still take the Prime path through the game, but you don't have to. Very flexible.

One thing really peeves my potatoes, though. Chozo Ruins doesn't exsist. I don't know why or how, but it's not there. If there was a story, it would hurt, big time.

Tables: 49/50 (special category)

Exclusive for pinball games! The table rating can make or break a game, that's why it's so big. When a table sucks, the game in general sucks. The tables are really nice though, I like them. It didn't get the full shabang because guess what? NO CHOZO RUINS. D'oh!

The tables are more complex for multi-mission zones and simple for boss zones. There are four boss zones, so you really don't have real tables, the other two are the standard pinball tables with ramps, gulleys, and tagets.

Sound: 10/10

All the Prime music you've come to know and love is here, except for, oh! CHOZO RUINS! (I'm really burning into Retro now, huh?) My faves are the title theme, which is from MP2E, and the multiball/multiplayer/phazon frenzy theme, also known as Hunters from MP2E.

The pings and dings no longer exist, and have been replaced with more traditional Metroid sounds. Very nice. And the enemies sound just like they do from the GameCube game! Awesome.

Gameplay/Replay: 10/10

Well, duh. It has a cool multiplayer mode, has oodles of tables, and hey, you can put passcodes on the internet you get from bounties for challenges... I think. I've never done it. But hey, there's also lot's of fun!

Total rating: 10/10
Buy/Rent/Borrow/Ignore: Buy!

As we all know, we love Metroid.

Zero_Hero789, signing out ;)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/06