Nowadays when Mario and Nintendo are mentioned, people would ask, “What kind of Mario?” We have Super Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario is Missing, Mario Party, and even Mario RPG’s. Does it finally end there? That’s really what Nintendo gets when you speak of their high-profile mascot. Because the company milks the title so much, Mario is pretty much in every type of gaming genre available. Now the company has done something incredibly awkward; Mario Pinball Land is now in stores for the Game Boy Advance. The cool thing about this game is that it’s not just any other pinball game. As with games like Mario Kart and Mario RPG, Nintendo has broken the rules in traditional pinball to make a full-fledged action game. Of course—you play as Mario, a man who’s practically indestructible. The story, this time around, takes place at the Mushroom Kingdom just in time for the carnival. As Mario, Princess Peach, and her advisor—Toad, enjoy the festivities they notice a unique contraption. The contraption is part of a new carnival game, and Toad anxiously tries it first. When he enters the machine, it then smashes him, but he thankfully isn’t harmed—he’s just in the circular shape of a ball. The operators of the machine then transfer Toad and his new spherical body into a cannon, where they then aim and shoot. Toad hits a target set up where he landed right in the bulls-eye, and with such excitement, he convinces Princess Peach to take a shot. As she enters the human cannonball-maker, the operators aim the cannon somewhere else. They weren’t just any kind of operators—they’re goombas, and even though they’re indifferent, they can’t be trusted. Princess Peach landed in Bowser’s castle, so as usual, Mario is out to save her—this time, in the shape of a ball. As one can easily tell, the game is practically another Mario game with a different way of playing as the hero. One reason why pinball is so popular is because it’s so easy to get into and play. As anybody would know, the game of pinball only involves you keeping the ball in play by using the two flippers on the bottom of the machine. The game only makes use of a few buttons, and it they’re really simple and don’t take any time to get used to. The left shoulder button and the left direction on the directional pad will move your left flipper, and the right shoulder button and A button will move your right flipper. It’s as simple as that. Of course, it’s a Mario game—there must be some crazy things involved. There are all sorts of enemies to fight and goodies you can find in the worlds to increase your score. Mario is practically invincible in the game, so you won’t have to worry about finding mushrooms to increase his energy. At this invulnerable form, Mario can roll all over the levels to attack enemies, hit switches, and even end up in deeper parts of the world to get more points and complete the objectives. Like in older Mario games like the ones on the NES, Mario Pinball Land has levels within worlds. This works by doing certain tasks. In the original Super Mario games, you just had to find the exit to the stage or kill the boss - and in the newer Super Mario games, you have to complete an objective. This time around, once you perform objectives like clearing the field of enemies on the screen, or getting a certain number of points, a Power Star from Super Mario 64 will pop out. These Power Stars open up new paths to explore within the levels, which eventually lead you closer to the area’s boss. A factor players may like or won’t like about the game is that if you fall through the gutter on a secondary area of a world, you don’t lose a life. You only lose a life if you get a gutter ball on the first area of the world. So each world is basically one huge pinball machine. Some paths require a certain number of Power Stars to go through, so you’ll have to keep playing or doing things randomly if you hope to be successful in the game. Once you beat a boss, you’re a step closer to accessing Bowser’s Castle to save Peach, and you can then enter different worlds. Unlike other arcade pinball games, Mario Pinball Land is a lot more forgiving. As stated before, you can only die if you gutter the ball within the first area of a level, but there’s a lot more to it. When you first enter an area, a short plug will cover the gutter for about a minute—making it practically impossible to die unless you allow one of your flippers create an opening for Mario to fall through. This happens each and every time you first enter an area, and it can only happen additionally if you use the item. Items can be bought wherever you see Toad, just shoot the ball at him to enter his shop. Here you can buy things like a 1-up mushroom to earn an extra ball, a plug, or even point-enhancers like a Power Star—which are worth 10,000 points. Of course, you can only buy items with the proper currency—the coins you get all over the field of play. The worlds look pretty good in the game, and the use of sprites and layering really give it a nice feel. The frame rate isn’t perfect, but the game really looks good in the Game Boy Advance. The cinemas also look good, and it looks like the same technology used in the clips on Mario vs. Donkey Kong were used—another nice touch. Players may like to point out that the frame rate’s execution is poor because it’s sometimes hard to hit Mario as far as you’d like, but that’s most likely his weight. To put it all in a few words, the visuals used in Mario Pinball Land are easy on the eyes with the vibrant colors. The sound, however, falls in the same category as Mario vs. Donkey Kong did. If you’re one that gets highly annoyed by Mario’s constant echoes, then this is a game that you wouldn’t want to play with headphones. However, the choice of music in the game is really good, and there are a lot of sound effects that came from games like Super Mario Sunshine, and they really pay a great tribute to the games of Mario’s past. If you can get by the game’s mediocre sound or another poor execution that we call a Mario plot, you should find a very entertaining game of pinball in Mario Pinball Land. Though the game only has four worlds to explore, the only real valid complaint you can make about the game is the ball physics—which were already explained about earlier. Mario Pinball Land is a lot more than anyone can expect, and that’s only one of many reasons why the game is a very enjoyable experience.
I bought this game with high hopes, and mabye that is why I was so disappointed with it. The game itself is great looking, the concept is fun, and even the level designs are great. Unfortuantlly these are all ruined by... Read Full Review
theis mario pinball game isnt worth over 7bucks, it has a colerfulbackground but after thirty minutes its a been there done that kinda deal, thers not much to say about this game but its just a ripoff they just needed ... Read Full Review
