9th September 2011, 5:58 PM
PINBALL QUEST!
I have a it.
Pinball Quest is an old NES game by, wait for it, Jaleco. I remember playing it when I was younger, and wanting to find it since then. It's probably the only good game Jaleco ever made. For example, the title bar on the top has the name of the game instead of Jaleco on it, a rarity!
This is probably the very first "adventure" styled Pinball game (the game box itself claims this title), the beginning of a long line leading to Kirby's Pinball Land, Mario Pinball, and Metroid Prime Pinball, among others. There's 3 regular Pinball boards, and the "RPG Mode". You, as a brave... pinball warrior... have to save the princess... pinball... So, bash your metal buddy into skeletons and wizards in advancing "boards" of neat design. Between stages there's a store run by some sort of demon selling spells that "stop" different parts of the board and upgraded flippers. Further, killing enemies levels up your power so you do more damage as you go along. It's about 6 stages long. Instead of having limited lives, instead losing a board just sends you back to the last one. So, you'll never "game over", but if you lose over and over you can easily send yourself right back to the start. Not too long, but still very fun.
About the biggest downside has to be the physics and the occasional feeling of "how could I have avoided that?". The physics are a bit iffy sometimes. Part of the controls are "tilting" the boards, so you can occasionally "nudge" yourself to safety, but it is an occasional issue. The design of the boards also leaves occasional moments where you feel like you have no control over what's going on. You'll occasionally have your ball bounce in such a random way off score bumpers that it just drops completely through an open gap with no chance of saving it. That's pinball anyway, but it's still one of the more annoying parts of the game. As a result, you may find yourself getting sent back multiple stages for reasons beyond your control.
All in all, the best game to compare it to would be Nintendo's own "Pinball", one of the earliest releases for the NES (which I played years earlier when my family first got the NES). I'd say this one completely outclasses it and deserves credit for inventing a new sub-genre of pinball game. Even the 3 "normal" boards are pretty inspired, with little mini-games of their own. It's a shame this game is so unknown.
Oh, I also (re)obtained the original version of Link's Awakening. It was silly cheap, so I snagged it for less than a $ with the thought "Why not? This change is annoying anyway". It's almost a duplicate since I still have the DX copy, which I think is superior, but still there are a few little details I prefer over the DX version (mainly things like the more cryptic hints).
I have a it.
Pinball Quest is an old NES game by, wait for it, Jaleco. I remember playing it when I was younger, and wanting to find it since then. It's probably the only good game Jaleco ever made. For example, the title bar on the top has the name of the game instead of Jaleco on it, a rarity!
This is probably the very first "adventure" styled Pinball game (the game box itself claims this title), the beginning of a long line leading to Kirby's Pinball Land, Mario Pinball, and Metroid Prime Pinball, among others. There's 3 regular Pinball boards, and the "RPG Mode". You, as a brave... pinball warrior... have to save the princess... pinball... So, bash your metal buddy into skeletons and wizards in advancing "boards" of neat design. Between stages there's a store run by some sort of demon selling spells that "stop" different parts of the board and upgraded flippers. Further, killing enemies levels up your power so you do more damage as you go along. It's about 6 stages long. Instead of having limited lives, instead losing a board just sends you back to the last one. So, you'll never "game over", but if you lose over and over you can easily send yourself right back to the start. Not too long, but still very fun.
About the biggest downside has to be the physics and the occasional feeling of "how could I have avoided that?". The physics are a bit iffy sometimes. Part of the controls are "tilting" the boards, so you can occasionally "nudge" yourself to safety, but it is an occasional issue. The design of the boards also leaves occasional moments where you feel like you have no control over what's going on. You'll occasionally have your ball bounce in such a random way off score bumpers that it just drops completely through an open gap with no chance of saving it. That's pinball anyway, but it's still one of the more annoying parts of the game. As a result, you may find yourself getting sent back multiple stages for reasons beyond your control.
All in all, the best game to compare it to would be Nintendo's own "Pinball", one of the earliest releases for the NES (which I played years earlier when my family first got the NES). I'd say this one completely outclasses it and deserves credit for inventing a new sub-genre of pinball game. Even the 3 "normal" boards are pretty inspired, with little mini-games of their own. It's a shame this game is so unknown.
Oh, I also (re)obtained the original version of Link's Awakening. It was silly cheap, so I snagged it for less than a $ with the thought "Why not? This change is annoying anyway". It's almost a duplicate since I still have the DX copy, which I think is superior, but still there are a few little details I prefer over the DX version (mainly things like the more cryptic hints).
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)