Pinball of the Dead
Score: 80% ESRB: Teen Publisher: THQ Developer: Sega Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 Genre: Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: Once again the Game Boy Advance shows us just how big a leap it truly takes in the area of portable graphics. THQ/Sega's Pinball of the Dead is absolutely gorgeous. From an eerily breathtaking opening movie to the brilliantly detailed zombies wandering around the different stages, this latest entry of the House of the Dead series is a real treat to look at. The bosses are especially a treat; each is previewed by short movie clip of them from House of the Dead 2. The only real issue would have to be the paddles in the third stage, 'Cemetery'. They are designed to blend smoothly in with the stage itself, which can make them a little hard to see at times. Pinball of the Dead continues in the series' tradition of rich sound and music that will succeed in making your skin crawl. Being a pinball game, it is very important that the sound effects be fairly informative as well as interesting to listen too. Sega does a good job of making sure that every clank, spin, ding, and buzz gives you a clear idea of exactly what's going on as your ball rockets around the playing field. Pinball doesn't get away scott-free however. While the music is well composed and appropriate, a little more variety would have been nice (the boss music is a little old by the time to get to the fifth or sixth boss).
Gameplay: It's absolutely amazing! The most revolutionary gameplay experience ever! Nah, not really, this is still just pinball. If you enjoy pinball however, that's a very good thing. Aside from the zombie killing and bosses, Pinball of the Dead is still your classic pinball game. It's got the ramps, flippers, and bumpers you love. The only real twist is the multitude of zombies wandering around the stages that you can kill with your ball for extra points. Every stage also has a trio of creatures in it somewhere that you can manipulate. Match up all three of the same creatures and the field multiplier will increase. For those of you that don't speak pinball lingo, this means that everything in the stage will give you more points. In another brilliant twist, you can tilt the machine as much as you'd like and it won't cause you to lose a ball! It would have been nice to see a little more creativity with the boss fights though. As it stands, you simply keep smacking the boss with your ball until it dies. Surely Sega, of all people, could have come up with some slightly more interesting ways to damage the bosses.
Difficulty: If you suck at pinball like me Pinball of the Dead can be hard, very hard. The only way I was able to actually stick around long enough to see all of the bosses was to utilize the in-game save feature. The key to any good round of pinball is masterful manipulation of the paddles, and a genius use of machine tilting. For those new to pinball, the manual gives you some of the basics. There's really no special twist that makes the game any harder or easier than usual. It's really just the same as any average pinball machine you'd find in the arcade.
Game Mechanics: Pinball of the Dead does nothing to revolutionize pinball games; your average rules apply. The L and R buttons flip your left and right paddles and you can also use the left digital pad and the A button. The start and select buttons are used for pausing and opening the in-game menu. The rest of your buttons are utilized for tilting the machine, up, down, right, and B for tilting up, down, left, and right, respectively. Pinball boasts 2 different play modes, Classic and Challenge. Classic allows you to choose from one of the three stages, 'Wondering', 'Movement', or 'Cemetery', and is your normal pinball experience. Challenge is a little more interesting. You play through the three stages in order, advancing whenever you defeat all six bosses. After you finish all three, you've completed the game. Pinball of the Dead is your average pinball game spiced up a bit with elements from the House of the Dead games. If you like either, you should be able to have some fun with this one.
-Alucard, GameVortex Communications AKA Stephen Triche
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