Metroid Prime Pinball

Voices of: Jennifer Hale (uncredited), Lorelei King
Developer: Fuse Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Rating: E
Genre: Pinball
System: Nintendo DS
2005

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Samus Aran battles a series of bosses in a pinball game.

Review:
Tim: Metroid Prime Pinball is clearly one of the odder spinoff games from Nintendo. Who knew (or asked for) a pinball game set in the world of Metroid Prime would ever exist? As far as the game, goes, though, it's fairly solid. This is an entertaining pinball game that makes full use of the Metroid IP, while offering a nice level of challenge to players. Of course, this was always going to be a minor game- but it's still a fun one.

The mechanics of the game work as you'd expect from a pinball game- you've got the flippers in the bottom corners, Samus Aran turns into a ball, and you go for the high score. The game does a nice job of using the dual screens of the Nintendo DS to full affect- it's a terrific design, to make you feel like you're playing an actual pinball game across two screens. Now, at times, it's easy to lose track of the balls as they transfer from one screen to the next, and your eyes have to dart up and track the ball. It's not always easy and at times, it took a frantic second to figure out where the ball was- this is especially dangerous when it's falling from the top screen to the bottom. The use of the Metroid world for this game was excellent. The multiple different levels (or boards) keeps the game exciting and it draws a close parallel to Metroid Prime. You start by playing one of two tables, and you can unlock two additional boards, that pits Samus against a boss. This was actually incredibly fun- I didn't expect to have so much joy in battling a boss on a pinball table- you're mostly just firing Samus up at it, but it threw some interesting challenges and was one of the more engaging parts of the game.

The main objective at the start of the game is to collect 12 Artifacts- there's various ways to obtain these- completing mini-games, beating the bosses, etc. It's not that difficult to get them, but it does become more challenging as you go. I got 11 several times before losing my last ball. One aggravating time I actually got all 12, but got a game over before I could advance. Eventually, I got skilled enough to repeat the task and moved onto the fifth board, the Artifact Temple. There, you have to stave off Meta Ridley, while juggling six balls and hitting specific targets. On my first run, I got to that level, wasn't quite sure what to do, but stayed alive and completed it. Finishing that table sends you to the final board, Impact Crater. Here is where you face off against Metroid Prime in a thoroughly engaging final battle. In the first stage, you have to fire the ball into one of two Force Ball fields. Metroid Prime tries to block you. Once you get the Force Ball, you slam into its body. Doing this several times ends the first phase and moves you to the second. In this phase, you have to battle against the core of Metroid Prime, and it doesn't die easily. On this one fortunate playthrough, I managed to get past the Meta Ridley board, defeated the first phase of Metroid Prime, and then (with hands shaking a bit), I defeated the second form and completed the game! I watched the credits and then continued to play until my game ended. I finished with 9,551,070.

I have to say, I had a ton of fun on that last run through the tables. I actually played it on an airplane and finished shortly before landing. It was a weird experience- I certainly built some skill as I played, but I also got lucky in that epic run. The weirdest feeling is that it only took me three days to complete the game. Now, I get that the point of pinball is to maximize the score, but I've never been a big fan of score running. I was more interested in experiencing the game and seeing any of the narrative that there was. So, after just a few days, I'd consider this game complete. Oh sure, great video game players would run the score up much higher. But, I feel like my score is respectable and I defeated Metroid Prime. There's a nearly endless amount of games, so it was time for me to move on.

My time with this game was short, but I had a lot of fun. It's an excellently designed pinball game that feels wonderfully positioned in the larger Metroid universe. For a spinoff game, there's not a whole lot new and it doesn't add much to the larger Samus Aran narrative. However, I loved that there was somewhat of a story here- you have to collect artifacts and defeat several bosses. This wasn't your historical, status pinball board game. That kept it fun and exciting. I'm a big fan of the Metroid series (with this game done, I've completed the first 10 games in the series, up through 2007's Metroid Prime 3. This is an oddity in the franchise, but it's well-designed and a lot of fun. I'm really glad I played it.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Metroid, Metroid Prime, Yoshi: Touch and Go