Pinobee: Wings of Adventure

"Robots and insects don't make a proper pair..."

A few weeks after the release of the Gameboy Advance, Pinobee: Wings of Adventure was released in many stores where electronic junk is sold. The game didn't get much publicity (The only commercials were sad one-pager ads that you find in magazines.) Feeling curious, I rented this game at a local Blockbuster and rated it with unbiased opinion. Here's my results.

Story: 7/10

One day in the micro world of insects, a grandfather bee wants to have a son of his own, so he creates a robot bee named Pinobee. Before the old geezer could add a heart in the robot's hardware, someone evil kidnaps the grandfather bee and leaves the robot unfinished. Luckily, a passing fairy takes pity on the heartless robot and activates him. Bad move. Pinobee, without a heart, is a rude, fast-talking little punk who could care less about his grandfather. However, despite all this, the fairy and her cricket friend try to leave Pinobee onward to the right path.

Pinochio gone wrong.

Graphics:10/10

For a game that was released near the launch of the GBA, this game is beautifully detailed and wonderfully colored. The backgrounds lack no detail, and the enemies have tons of originality. The cutscenes have amazing 3D scenes and animations that are very pleasing to the eye. No color is overused. (Unless you ignore the golden enemies and they multiply. More on them later.)

Controls:8/10

Imagine Sonic the Hedgehog's simple one button control. You only use the A button throughout the game. You have to upgrade the jet boost to use its full potential, and you can climb on the walls very Knuckles-like.

Gameplay: 7/10

The game mixes and matches many different game elements. Since they are so many different twists, I'll only mention the more important ones. First of all, you have to search for more than the exit in the level. There are switches to press, robots to destroy, and insects to save in each level. The more you do in each level, the better the rating you'll get in the end level journal. The ratings contribute to the ending you receive. (Multiple endings. Huzzah!) If you get bad ratings, then you'll get a bad ending. Simple as that.

There are littler things to remember. There is an element in the game called robot evolution. If you destroy the golden enemy in the level, then the enemy's evolution will be hampered. Ignore these golden enemies completely, and the later levels will be filled with golden suckers. There's also some unimportant little gizmos that, if you match them, something unimportant happens. These gizmos don't have a name I can relate to, and they're few and far in between. It's better to just ignore them.

Sound: 6/10

You basic bops, bleeps, and bloops in this game. The music is recycled and easily forgettable. There's only a few different tracks in the game, and most levels have the same music playing.

Replayability: 5/10

Once you play this and get all the worthwhile endings, this game just seems lackluster. It's only worth a rental, and nothing more.

Buy or Rent?

It makes one heck of a rental, but this game isn't worth your $39.99, even if you adore multiple endings. The $5 rental is worth it to see some of the endings. (like the bad ending. ^_^)

In conclusion, Pinobee makes a wonderful rental, but isn't even close to being a wonderful game like Castlevania or Rayman.

And now, a quote!

''Hey, life sucks kid! I got problems of my own!''-Pinobee

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/02, Updated 12/02/02