Developer: Fuse Games

Nintendo

Release Date: Oct. 24, 2005

System: Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web Site

0:00 I used to love whiling away the portable pinball hours with Kirby's Pinball Land and the oft-overlooked Revenge of the 'Gator. But that was over a decade ago. Will this bring the fun times back?

0:01 The game jumps right to a title screen with a logo and some futuristic ephemera in the background. There are high scores from the old owner of this used copy. The gauntlet is thrown!

0:02 I feel bad for not having the Rumble Pak, as the Options screen suggests. The only actual gameplay options are "Single-Mission" and "Multi-Mission." I choose Multi, and then get to choose between the Pirate Frigate or the Tallon Overworld stages. I choose the Frigate because it's an awesome word. FRIGATE!

0:04 And just like that, I'm on the pseudo-3-D rendered pinball stage that goes from the bottom screen all the way to the top. A rolled-up Samus Aran is the ball here. It's a very crisp, clean, high-tech look ... nice animation too.

0:05 Somehow I activate. "Parasite purge" and a bunch of little crawly things fall down onto the table. I hit them for 1,000 points each before my ball inevitably falls between the flippers. That was quick...

0:06 As I fall into a bumper area, a futuristic holo-message tells me that the "Jackpot Grows!" While I'm admiring this awesome stylishness, I die again. Man!

0:07 I can get an extra ball at 2,000,000 points. I currently have 33,000 points. This ... is gonna be tough.

0:08 I somehow activate a "Wall Jump" bonus game, where I have to hit L and R to make Samus jump between walls. I can't figure out the timing and quickly go falling back to the pinball. Sigh.

0:09 Holy crap, a lot of stuff's going on. I got a "Clone Multiball," which means three Samuses bouncing around. Some Metroids also fall onto the playfield. Then I double the jackpot a few times and activate a shooting mini-game in which I use the flippers to aim a constantly shooting Samus at a horde of encroaching bugs. THIS IS ALL IN ONE MINUTE OF GAMEPLAY!

0:10 I just collected an artifact and activated "Metroid Mania" and got the jackpot and OMG I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON BUT I LOVE IT ALL!

0:11 It seems hitting the Metroids from below with a quick flip hurts them, while falling into them from above hurts me Samus. I eventually knock them out and "Mode completed ... artifact collected." I ROCK! As does this remixed Metroid music.

0:12 I lose my last ball during "Space Pirate Panic," which has me shooting Samus at black aliens that routinely jump out of the way of my attacks. "Mission Over" and I'm unceremoniously sent back to the title screen with 300,000-plus points. Well, that was anticlimactic! Here we go again!

0:14 "Lock is Lit." Updates as warranted.

0:15 After doubling the jackpot a few times during an insane multiball, I use the top flipper to knock the ball through a loop a few times, getting JACKPOT, DOUBLE JACKPOT, SUPER JACKPOT! Holy crap!

0:16 One thing I really like about this level design: It's really hard to fall down those annoying side alleys to the left and right of the flippers. You know what I'm talking about! Still, it's not impossible, and I lose my first life to one of these alleys. Not before scoring nearly half a million points, though.

0:18 I lost a ball during Metroid Mania, but quickly gain it back when I knock my ball into a bonus area. Whoo!

0:19 I finally get the timing down on the "Wall Jump" mini-game. I even figured out how I activated the game this time. BONUS!

0:21 Hitting enemies sends the ball rocketing downwards, often right into the hole between the flippers. Thus, "Parasite Purge" and "Space Pirate Panic" both lead to quick deaths. Oh well ... nothing ventured ... ONE MORE TIME!

0:23 More things I like about the game design: how the R and L buttons are used as flippers, and how the game is relatively generous with purple "force fields" that stop the ball from falling through the middle.

0:28 I got lost in the experience there for a little bit. I'm starting to figure out how this table works. I just unlocked the "Phazon Multiball," which creates a purple Samus ball that can collect only purple point pods. Who doesn't love a game with two different types of multiball? Awful people, that's who!

0:33 So I go to activate a new mission with a ramp shot, but instead I'm told to "Choose Destination." OK ... let's go to the Phazon Mines. There I find space pirates jumping around amber gems on a largely open deep-blue background.

0:35 I break open a glass case and "Missile Acquired." Good thing too, because the boss just appeared. He's a huge blue thing standing defiantly in the middle of the top screen. He has a screen-filling attack that sends the ball away from him and down towards the bottom. Surprisingly, it's not very effective. What is effective is when the ball ricochets directly down into the gap after I hit him. ARGH!

0:37 OK, the game clearly said that the Missile button is X, yet when I press X, nothing happens. Nothing! Also, I lost my last ball. I got nearly a million points this time, though, and six artifacts. I'm really getting into it now.

0:40 For variety, let's start in the Tallon Overworld this time. It's more verdant and a little more open than the FRIGATE, but a lot of the missions seem very similar. Instead of shooting Pirates and Parasites, it's Burrowers and Beetles. There are slight differences, but it's all very, very familiar...

0:41 Whoa ... going into bumper area lets out lightning bolt and opens up a rain cloud. Nice graphic and sound effects here.

0:43 I already got to the max multiplier on this level simply by sending the ball into the bumper area over and over. It also seems easier to hit ramps in this level ... except the one ramp I'm aiming for, of course.

0:46 "Triclops Terror" has me sending balls at little armadillo-like red things. One false move, though, and they grab the ball and spit it DIRECTLY INTO THE GAP BETWEEN THE FLIPPERS! ARGH! On the plus side, you have to love a game with this much alliteration.

0:47 BTW, I'm already at half a million points after one ball, thanks in large part to the multiplier.

0:48 Somehow I unlock Beetle Blast Level 2. They come at the standing, shooting Samus a bit faster now, but I'm better at flicking my eyes between screens to see them coming. I score 50,000 extra for not getting hit. Whoo!

0:50 Off to the snowy Hendrana Drifts. This one has two distinct levels, each with two flippers. "Power Bomb Acquired" from a glass case, which awakens...

0:52 ...a sort of generic rock monster boss. I hit him a few times after wasting my one Power Bomb on a big miss. He rolls into a ball himself and hits me a bit, sending me down to the bottom level where the Triclops get me quickly. With one life left, I'm past a million points for the first time.

0:54 I get up to the top and get another Power Bomb, only this time I use it for big damage!

0:55 Rock guy goes down for 250,000 points! Plus, I get another artifact. I can go back to a new destination. Let's hit those mines again!

0:56 Believe it or not, I JUST discovered that the B button can be used to lay regular Bombs, which can hurt enemies and bounce Samus after a short delay. I also get an extra ball from a lock location.

0:58 I finally figured out how to use Missiles! First I have to get "combat ready," and stand in the center like I did when the Beetles attacked. Then I hit X to inflict massive damage, netting another 250,000 from the boss. I am the MAN! I can go back to the Drifts on "Level 2" now, so let's try that.

1:01 The rock monster is much more aggressive this time ... he rolls up and attacks me without mercy. The rocks he sends eventually kill me dead. I got 1.97 million points ... 30,000 away from an extra ball. At least I made the High Score list. Take that, previous owner TNZ!

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? It manages to combine Metroid and pinball without screwing up either.



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