Topic: Gamescom 2015: Momonga Pinball Adventures is a Devious Little Adventure (Wii U)

[Daan]

Never I have screamed this much in so little time. Well done, Paladin Studios.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/41159/gamescom-2015-momonga-pinball-adventures-is-a-devious-little-adventure-wii-u

When I first heard about Momonga Pinball Adventures, I wasn't really sure what I was expecting. As a big fan of pinball games though, I couldn't say no to an appointment with Paladin Studios. I was greeted with open arms and started a new game from the main menu. This is where my journey began.

The thing that I noticed while playing is how adorable the game looks. The cartoony look of it all really shines and it looks so vivid on the big screen. This is combined with a story about a small momonga (sort of squirrel), who has quite a task ahead of him. An evil gang of owls appeared in the momonga village and started to raid every inch of it. All the animals were taken, but Momo was saved by a panda who took him under his wing. He teaches him the basic principles and helps him to start the long road ahead.

This road is filled with pinball stages and they are very different from what you would expect. While scoring points is certainly an aspect, your main objective to reach the top of a stage. This may sound easy, but the road is littered with enemies and obstacles that want to stop you. There is a life meter and taking too many hits forces you to start the stage over. The game makes making mistakes tempting by throwing collectibles everywhere, which will improve your final score.

In many ways, Momonga Pinball Adventures can better be described as a mixture between pinball and platformer games. It makes for a refreshing title that is uniquely its own. This becomes evident in later levels, where you have to use Panda the panda to break the harder blocks in the environment. You will also get help from Fry, who is a firefly that can distract the evil owl troops. It gives you the chance to defeat the harsher enemies and get ultimately closer to completing a level. The stages had a good length to them, though they quickly ramped up the difficulty, which is something I didn't quite expect.

Next to regular course of action, Momonga Pinball Adventures offers various bonus stages and bosses. In one instance, you are playing a crazy version of pachinko and trying to get the best score possible. At another early point, you are flying to new areas with the squirrel and that really isn't anything easy. You really have to time your gliding and get stars to net yourself some proper points. Bosses require to really hit at the accurate points and they are stage gimmicks in place to make avoiding attacks possible. Just like the gliding, timing is truly the key to get anything done.

What helps in all of this are the controls. The ZL and ZR buttons are the perfect control method and it makes playing Momonga Pinball Adventures really fun. I was planned in 30 minutes but my session ended up taking  50 minutes. Everything in the physics felt on point and this made me feel like every mistake was mine. My only worry here is the length of the game, as I heard that the original version on mobile devices wasn't exactly everlasting.

There was plenty of fun to be had with Momonga Pinball Adventures. While questions remain about its longevity, this is a game that I would play on my Wii U. The controls seem perfect and there is a good length to the levels. Also, how can I say no to the cute characters and environments? I can't, so this is on my wishlist now.