Metroid Prime Pinball. (DS)

Pinball, to you it is either the most addictive form of arcade entertainment available, or a waste of money just to see pretty colours light up, so when you think of paying in excess of twenty pounds for a pinball game then it’s going to have to get a lot of things right. It’s fortunate then, that Metroid Prime Pinball does a lot of things very well.

Fuse games previous attempt at breaching the pinball market was Super Mario Ball, an under whelming adventure title set over singular pinball challenges. The game lacked difficulty and lifespan because it was devoid of traditional pinball tables or charm, and after the brilliant Pokémon Pinball titles (developed in house by Nintendo) the mediocrity of Mario Ball was painful to swallow. Luckily, Metroid Prime Pinball not only pushes this bad memory from your mind, it works as a spin off title.

Why Samus’ morph ball form had not been seen on a pinball table before now seems ignorant of Nintendo, Samus can be a ball without having her bones crushed or her body malformed, and her fast paced enemy infested worlds fit the bill for creating interesting table designs. The two score tables take their respective themes (Tallon IV and Space Pirate frigate) and manage to craft fast paced action while retaining the same core features, such as multi ball activation, scanning slots and combat activation, meaning the tables are different enough to warrant both existing. There is a third score table (Magmoor Caves) but this is purely for use in the single cart multiplayer, which is amusing in short bursts.

Metroid Prime Pinball uses the video game media to present pinball in a fashion not possible in real life; this comes in the form of challenges and certain features, to collect artefacts in multi mission, and score boosts in single mission, the player is asked to take part in various challenges. These range from the simple, crush all enemies by hitting your ball into them, to the more unique, Samus is rooted to the spot and shoots with her arm cannon, you aim the arm cannon to stop the mass of enemies trying to kill you. Apart from these challenges the game allows Samus to use her trademark bombs to eliminate enemies, and there are also challenges such as the phazon ball, which can cause Samus to be pushed away at stupid speeds that would potentially break a real pinball table.

On top of the two score tables, the game features four individual challenge tables (playable in time attack from the single mission menu). These tables allow you to take part in boss battles from the Gamecube classic, but with a pinball spin. The early tables are easy but the final two can prove taxing and put an end to a potentially successful multi mission, however, in time attack these tables counteract the time consuming potential of the score tables by offering bite-sized snippets that can be experienced repetitively and remain fun.

Because of the dual screens the table is represented in full at all times, there is a suitable dead zone between the screens, which means following the ball is never confusing. The touch screen is used to tilt the table, an obvious feature it may be but it’s nice to be able to move the table how you want, rather than have a default tilt assigned to a button.

Included in the package is a rather strange looking rumble pack that is inserted into the GBA slot and attempts to supply force feedback during gameplay. This is ultimately more effective at causing an annoying noise while sending mild tremors down you fingertips, while a good idea it is no where near powerful enough to be effective. The rumble that was built into GBC and GBA games worked better than this; luckily you are not forced to have it in to play.

The single confusing thing about the game is that scanning is about bonuses rather than actual enemy scanning, a logbook (ala the GameCube title) would have given the game a feature to rival the Pokémon catching element from Pokémon Pinball. Instead, Metroid Prime Pinball is content with simple high scores, and because it plays such a good game of pinball, it’s not worth complaining about. As a companion to the Gamecube game this works perfectly, opinions of the game may be bias because of the Metroid styling but this is a worthy addition to a DS gamer’s library if they are looking for some pinball action.

7/10

Dead or Alive 4. (Xbox 360)

What do we expect from a sequel? How much does the number 2 (or 3, or 4) affect how we look at a game? It seems to be the effect of various factors including genre, format and franchise, which change our perception. If you start to play this game without a sense of déjà vu, then you probably haven’t played a Dead Or Alive game since the first.

A good fighting sequel needs an improved selection of fighters. This isn’t a problem for Dead Or Alive 4, carrying over the previous line-up, adding in a few surprises and introducing four new entrants. However, these new characters don’t have any dramatic impact on the game due to one playing remarkably similar to the heavyweights, and another two that feel identical; only one character actually seems fresh. In truth, the roster in DOA has always felt superficial because of the powerful counter system; all the characters can be played in the same manner, with few exceptions (Tina’s more effective grabs or Brad Wong’s slippery movements being two examples). Those returning feel no different, rarely having any new moves applied to them, so DOA veterans will have no trouble rediscovering their lost skills with old favourites.

There is actually very little that sets the gameplay mechanics apart from DOA: Ultimate. However several minor alterations are in place, which help to create a more believable game that flows a lot better. Primarily, the ground game has changed; whereas you were relatively safe if knocked down in Ultimate, you are now as vulnerable as if you are being juggled. Another small addition is that levels feature small walls that characters can be knocked over, after which an attacker can dive over to assault them. While hardly groundbreaking, it does add to the strategies behind combat. Overall the levels are far more interesting, with more diversity and various interesting features (such as cars that can hit you in one level). Perhaps the biggest alteration to the traditional DOA formula is the reduction in counter time, the game follows the same inputs as Ultimate but reduces the time in which the enemy must make contact to about half of what it was before. This is enough to throw some players off if they were countering experts in previous iterations in the franchise, but a change that means hammering mid punch/kick counter and hoping is a far less effective tactic than it was in the other titles.

The final box that a sequel should tick is the most obvious, and that is the visual aspect of the game. In the fashion of what has come before, the obligatory Ultimate comparison should be made here, and it is as poignant as ever. The character models have not changed a lot. Rather than focus on improving these Tecmo have put their efforts into the overall presentation of the levels. Where once the scenery felt slightly detached, with lions and spectators having a lot less attention paid to them than the lovely ladies, all the creatures and objects that make up the scenery now seem well polished, reacting to players and helping to create a more effective experience. The levels themselves are now far more vibrant, causing the player to admire them as much as the fighters. The minor enhancements that have been made to characters come in the form of veins, enhanced lighting and improved textures, but hair is still an occasional glitchy, blocky mess.

The game’s most effective update is in its LIVE play, and most significantly in its presentation of the lobby. Every player is given a fully customizable avatar, which you can alter the look of by buying accessories at Zack’s shop with the points you earn by playing on LIVE. These lobbies add a lighthearted feel to the online game, and whilst there you can watch the current combatants from cinematic camera angles while activating random emotes with your avatar. The game still suffers from lag, which varies from annoying to game destroying. The lag not only causes games to last far too long, it allows players to use counters with insane accuracy, thus causing the game to lose its fast-paced, twitchy gameplay. When it isn’t under the strain, DOA 4 is a good fighting game that players can get stuck into, trying to raise their online grade and customize their avatar.

So DOA 4 is a sequel by numbers, but one that never tries to break free from the foundations its predecessors have laid before it. If you’ve never tried a DOA game before, this is a fine place to start. But if you have played either of the recent XBox incarnations to death, be wary when considering your purchase of this game.

7/10