Reviewed: August 12, 2002
Reviewed by: JoLene Lark
Publisher
THQ
Developer
WOW Entertainment
Released: June 18, 2002
Genre: Action
Players: 4
ESRB: Everyone
8
7
9
8
8.5
Supported Features:
Welcome to a new generation of pinball that is nothing at all like your father’s pinball machine. THQ and SOA have combined to create a winning combination shot with The Pinball of the Dead for GBA. This game presents the GBA gamer with three modes of play, tutorial, normal and challenge mode. Impressive audio and video were also evident from the opening sequences. Pinball games are a very rare entry in the gaming market, and this GBA game is certain to provide many hours of enjoyment.
The basic plot of this game is to defend yourself (flippers) while defeating stages of enemies. Many stages await you in this game, however, even if you decide to just fool around without following the stages this game provides a fresh look into the pinball genre.
As I mentioned previously there are three modes of play in this game. The first mode of play is the tutorial mode. I highly recommend that you complete this mode first. The tutorial helps describe how to play the game, including talking about the boss and gimmick appearance conditions found in each of the stages.
The second mode, normal mode, is what I played the most while reviewing this game. In this mode there are three pinball tables: wondering, movement or cemetery. Your goal in this mode is to get the highest score possible as your would in any normal/other pinball game. By clearing specific conditions you can get the boss to appear, and then defeat the boss to get the high scoring points. It is worth noting that there are only six bosses and if you happen to defeat them all they will reappear, thus it is not a case of déjà vu.
The last mode is called the challenge mode. In this mode you play the three tables found in the normal mode, defeat all the bosses from the wondering table, complete all three tables to defeat the game and then your goal is to then beat the high score.
Each of the game modes follows a certain game flow. These include:
- starting the game
- completing the skill shot
- releasing the ball
- aim for the boss
- defeat the boss to get the major points
- use the gimmicks (most important to help you score the big points)
- Hitting: using the flipper to hit the ball
- Holding: stall the ball on the flipper to help time your next shot
- Control: by using the slapping and rolling technique to assist your aim
- Defense: use your flippers wisely to protect the ball
- Passing: use the flippers to volley the ball so you can hit the ball in the desired direction
- Wedging: this can be your most valuable tool. This technique can lead to a higher level of game play and thus a higher score.
Overall, graphic quality was above what I had expected. Although this game was dark at times the variety of graphics made up for that flaw. Besides following a tradition pinball table look this game provided many special point areas.
Another item that was graphically unique was that there were actual characters that were quite distinguishable. Also worth noting were the gimmicks, which were comprised of things such as special characters. Each stage in this game provided unique pinball tables. These graphics were well constructed and thus add to this game playing powers. The graphic interface was quite easy to understand. You had to complete a certain part of the stage to advance to new parts of the table.
I rather enjoyed this game's sound package. When I saw the title of this game I instantly envisioned what it would sound "spooky". There was a wide variety of sound effects and music lifted right from SEGA's House of the Dead game, and while many effects were high-pitched the GBA speaker did not suffer any distortions.
Also of note is that the sound effects within this game were not annoying at all compared to most other pinball games, as they did not constantly repeat themselves. I highly recommend pumping up the volume on this title.
Game length is rather long with this title. Also since it is a pinball game you can keep coming back to play the many levels this game has to offer over and over. Although this game only has three different tables, each one is divided into different areas, thus adding to the game’s overall length.
The major flaw I found in this game was the lack of multiplayer capability. At times I could only wait for my friends to get done playing this game so that I could further my pinball playing experience. A quick estimate of total game length ranges from an hour to unlimited. If you enjoy this game be prepare to keep coming back to play this game.
Spooky pinball action with a flash of uniqueness awaits everyone with this GBA title. I enjoyed playing this game for many reasons such as graphical quality, sound quality, and diversity of the levels found in each of the three tables. This game is definitely worthy of purchase if you enjoy pinball games, and even if you don’t like pinball games I suggest you give this one a whirl.
