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Pinball and
Game Boy have a long history together - not much of a surprise
when you think about how old both these gaming staples are. We
previewed the Japanese version of this Pokemon-themed
balls-and-flippers extravaganza a short while back, and now
the English version is here for people to love, enjoy, and
raise as one of their own. Well, that may sound a little
far-fetched, but this is a very cool game.
Not much
differs between this and the Japanese version, except for the
obvious name changes. As the title suggests, the worlds of
Pokemon and pinball have collided into one Game Boy cartridge.
The objectives are still the same - catch all 150 Pokemon and
keep the ball rolling around the table, racking up as big a
score as possible. Multipliers, bonus targets, and extra
stages adorn both tables - red and blue, of course - with the
storyline following the cartoon pretty closely. You venture
off from your hometown and move around the world of Pokemon,
looking for new creatures to capture and coming across Team
Rocket's minions. Although you need to collect all 150 Pokemon
to complete the game, you don't need to do this in one game
thanks to the battery backup system. This makes us happy.
All the
Pokemon goodness, including the gratuitous Pikachu
appearances, seems to be at the expense of the pinball
experience - incorrect physics and the lack of multiball and
end-of-game "match" features being the primary
examples. Not that these things really matter in a game that's
meant to be fun rather than a complex simulation of ball
physics, but being able to use the tilt an unlimited number of
times to rescue virtually any ball doesn't feel right. It
could have been a lot worse, and all things considered, it
still plays solidly. On the positive side of this equation,
the bonus levels and point scoring challenges are more
numerous than in a regular table. Every session unlocks new
goodies for you to increase your score with, and there are
plenty of new targets - both on the board and on the
high-score table - to aim for.
Graphically,
this makes fine use of the color machine. Little touches, like
how the ball changes color depending on how high the
multiplier is set and classic Atari-style color cycling on
menus, rank pretty high on the cool-ometer. The flick-screen
tables are full of lively sprites that any Pokemon fan will
recognize - Voltorb, Psyduck (any game with Psyduck in it is
A-OK), Diglett, and plenty more make up some of the more
point-laden features on the tables. Just like the original
game, you need to be a master at both Red and Blue to get all
150 Pokemon - a nice touch.
Oh, and
let's not forget that Rumble feature. Actually, maybe we
should, because it's a waste of plastic. What starts off as a
nice novelty becomes an increasingly irritating way of moving
the screen around when you're trying to concentrate - imagine
someone bumping you every time you're trying to get past an
extra hard section of, say, Super Mario DX, and you can see
why we're thankful the vibration can be turned off in the menu
screen.
Overall,
Pokemon Pinball manages the impossible by being more than a
shameless cash-in on the Pokemon phenomenon. In fact, it's one
of the best pinball games on the machine. How can anyone
refuse such a tasty combination?
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