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I'm curious to know what you, as a Pinball aficionado, think of Kirby's Pinball Land for Gameboy and Mario Pinball Land for GBA. And have you played Rollers of the Realm for Vita, or Odama for Gamecube? It's strange, but I'm kind of getting interested in pinball games lately, since getting Kirby's Pinball Land from Club Nintendo. It's fun, but I hate how all of my progress can be lost so quickly with a run of bad luck.
Although I love pinball, I'm not very good about it and not really deserving of the aficionado label. But I'm happy to share my thoughts.
Kirby's Pinball Land is an old favorite. When I was in high school I got the original game for Christmas one year, so my opinion may be colored by nostalgia. The table design is generally solid given the time and limitations when it was made, and mini-games are fun. But I agree with you: the physics aren't great and it's easy for a run of bad luck to end your game. The save mechanic seems intended to mitigate that, and generally works well once you take time to master the timing. One other thing that bugs me are the interludes when you hit different scoring milestones, which can be awkward interruptions and cause you to lose focus. Own this on 3DS Virtual Console and still play now and then.
If you Kirby's Pinball, track down Revenge of the Gator which has a similar feel (but only one table).
Mario Pinball Land is a game that I hadn't played until the last year or so. It seems to have reviewed pretty poorly, but I feel like it's got a bad rap. There are multiple goals to chase on each screen and a handful of different multi-screen levels to explore. Variety isn't an issue, and trying to figure out where each star can be earned will take some effort. Physics still aren't great, and graphics don't really impress, but I've spent a dozen or more hours playing and found that it became more interesting the better I got. One warning: if you dislike how quickly the game can end in Kirby, this might leave you even more frustrated.
Both of these games are a little bit different from what I usually play, because they have a different kind of structure from "normal" pinball.
I haven't tried Odama or Rollers of the Realm, so can't give any comment.
Have you given any of the Zen Pinball games a shot? On 3DS there are three separate released - one for Zen Pinball with some of their original tables, one with Star Wars themed tables, and one with Marvel superhero tables. All three are worth trying, especially if you can wait and get them on sale. The Star Wars set is a little bit disappointing because it's only 3 tables instead of 4 like in other sets, and because the tables are more buggy than the other releases. (The Empire Strikes Back table in particular has an unfortunate bug that makes it nearly impossible to complete one special mode.)
Topic: What is your most recent gaming purchase? (Read 759924 times)
