Home > Reviews > GBA > #787

Screenshots (9) | Reviews Archive

Mario Pinball Land Review - GBA

You know, Fuse Games have copped a lot of slack for Mario Pinball Land. Critics worldwide panned it, and unfortunately I have to come right out and say that, yes, this isn't the best Mario, pinball or GBA game out there. However, it does have it's moments, and if you've got $15 to spare, you won't find it too affronting a purchase from the bottom of the bargain bin.

After finishing the game, I - like many others, I presume - was confused. There are so many contradictory factors in the game. For starters, the graphics engine is brilliant - it's one of the best looking games on the system and there was undoubtedly lots of time and effort put into it's construction. On the other hand, some of the fundamental mechanics of the title are flawed, and it baffles as to why the developers didn't change them.

The sound is great - memorable tunes that complement the worlds nicely, and all the expected gibberish from Mario is in place. On the other hand, you can blow through the game in just a few short hours - fully completed, that is. 100% done. And at the end of it all, you just wonder how (and for that matter, why) the Mushroom Kingdom developed a device for squashing people into balls.

Gameplay

Once you get past the whole Mario-is-now-a-pinball thing, you'll actually find a decent physics engine and a reasonable selection of tables. There are 5 themed levels, and a total of about 6 tables in each. This is where things start to falter. Pinball is typically played on a long vertical table, but the GBA screen is horizontally oriented. The boards in Mario Pinball Land don't scroll like those in Pokemon Pinball, so what you see is what you get. It's somewhat disappointing how confined the arenas are.

Fuse have done a good job injecting Mario-flavoured goodness into all the boards, but at the sacrifice of what traditionally makes for a cool pinball game. There are no rails or bumpers, and instead of the often convoluted by undeniably cool tables you play at the arcade, instead there are wide open spaces. This makes it tough to actually accomplish the task you're attempting, or get in the right gateway.

Progression in the game revolves around collecting stars, which are accumulated by accomplishing tasks (both obvious and hidden) in the tables. You'll hit at goombas, collect red coins and use items to shrink Mario down for accessing smaller holes. Once you have enough stars, you can pass through a gate (at the top of the board) by hitting it once to remove it, and then hit Mario a second time to hit him up.

Unfortunately, this is where the most serious and irritating flaw comes in. If you, say, had to hit five Goombas to get a star, and after eliminating four you accidentally hit it onto another table or lose it down the bottom, (continued next page)