Mario Pinball Land

"Overall an okay game, but no excuse for not giving us an original platformer..."

A pinball game with a story behind it is not a new thing, Sonic Spinball and Kirby's pinball land are two shining examples, and with Super Mario Ball, the story is nothing fresh either, King Bowser has, once again kidnapped the princess (just who hired her bodyguards anyway?) and it's up to everyone's favourite vertically challenged plumber to rescue her, but this time by, er, changing himself into a giant pinball. Not that the plot has ever been the most important point of a Mario game, so I think I'll let that one slide for now…

You must aid Mario by operating the flippers, and have no control over Mario himself. This means you have no after touch allowing you to steer Mario further left or right in slow moving sections, unlike Kirby and Sonic allowed, this gives you less control over the outcome of each move you attempt, so right away, this means the game presents more of a challenge.

However the biggest challenges come in the form of the unpredictable collision detection, and the even less predictable flippers. You frequently find yourself only in control over nothing other than whether to hit the ball or let it fall to the course below, actually directing it anywhere becomes a real challenge.

My only other gripe with the game is how unpopulated a lot of the tables are in comparison to many of the other pinball games on the market. You can often clear the table of all the enemies in seconds with a well-placed or lucky shot.

There are, of course, several good points about the game, such as the graphics, which are brilliantly crisp and bright. The animation is smooth, and some of the scenes are great fun to watch, (although I would love to know how the goombas in the opening sequence manage to alter the cannon's trajectory, due to their lack of arms, they certainly have never shown any signs of telekinesis!)

The gameplay itself is acceptable, despite a few control issues, and can actually begin becoming addictive for a short while. This soon fades however, due to the length of the game itself, as a particularly skilled or lucky player can blast through the entire game in a matter of hours. Replayability is dependant on how much of a pinball fan you are, but some other titles do offer much better value for money in this department.

The sound is, as usual, the finest that Nintendo has to offer, from Mario's voice acting providing the odd bit of comedic relief (along with the sight of knocking the penguins over!) as well as the sound effects being as spot on as usual, you already have a recipe for ambient success. Couple that with the always infectious tunes that Nintendo manages to crank out game after game, and you're onto a winner, definitely worth shelling out for the headphone adapter if you haven't already, or have upgraded to a DS.

Overall this is really a game that you would only want to play once through, then maybe again in a year's time. My recommendation would be to rent it if you can, or borrow it from a friend; bonus points if you convince them into buying it, then borrow it from them. However, if you are looking for a title to add to your collection that you can simply pick up and play once every so often, rather than play all the time, this may be worth considering.

Scores:
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Replayability: 6
Multiplayer mode: N/A

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/05