- Mario Pinball Land
-
Super Mario Ball
Mario Pinball Land
Developer(s) Fuse Games Publisher(s) Nintendo Platform(s) Game Boy Advance Release date(s) - JP August 26, 2004
- NA October 4, 2004
- PAL November 26, 2004
Genre(s) Pinball Mode(s) Single player Rating(s) ESRB: E
PEGI: 3+
CERO: All ages
OFLC: GSuper Mario Ball (スーパーマリオボール Sūpā Mario Bōru), released as Mario Pinball Land in North America, is a pinball video game that was developed by Fuse Games and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance and released in 2004. It is a spin-off of the Mario series that began on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the ninth Mario game for the Game Boy Advance.
Contents
Plot summary
Mario, a ball, has just been hit by a flipper. Note the counters for stars, coins, and lives on the HUD.
When Mario and Princess Peach visit a funfair, Peach steps into a cannon, but the cannon is operated by Goombas. The Goombas shoot Peach from the cannon into Bowser's castle, and Mario must save her. He does this by using a machine that makes him a spherical ball, allowing for the pinball action of the game.
Gameplay
To proceed, Mario must collect enough stars to open specific doors, a gameplay element borrowed from Super Mario 64. There are 35 stars to collect. In typical Mario fashion, Mario must explore different areas to reach his aim of saving the princess. There are five different worlds, each guarded by a boss.
Reception
Super Mario Ball received average to poor reviews. The review collation site GameRankings gave a score of 63% with a large amount of overall review scores lower than 72%.[1] Most reviews praised the excellent graphics, but criticized the game for being pointlessly difficult and having overall poor gameplay. IGN's review in particular criticized the gameplay for having "bad table layouts with an overwhelmingly annoying 'playfield reset' element". The review concluded that "the gameplay itself is far more flawed and annoying than it is fun to play" and rated it 5/10. [2]
Not all reviews were negative; GameDaily.com said that the game "...may irk you on occasion, but it's definitely worth checking out," giving it 6/10.[3] GameSpot gave the game 7.5 out of 10,[4] saying that the game "combines Mario with pinball to create an interesting kind of adventure game". In one of its highest scoring reviews, The Video Game Critic gave the game an A- and said it's "hard to put down."[5]
References
- ^ Mario Pinball Land Reviews
- ^ IGN: Mario Pinball Land Review
- ^ GameDaily Mario Pinball Land review
- ^ Mario Pinball Land for Game Boy Advance Review - Game Boy Advance Mario Pinball Land Review
- ^ http://videogamecritic.net/gbamr.htm#Mario_Pinball
External links
Mario series Games by year • Games by console • Games by genre • Media Arcade games Donkey Kong • Donkey Kong Junior • Mario Bros.Main series Console Handheld Spin-off games Pinball • Wrecking Crew • Mario Bros. II • Donkey Kong (Game Boy) • Mario's Time Machine • Hotel Mario • Mario's Game Gallery • Mario Clash • Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 • Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island • Luigi's Mansion • Mario Pinball Land • Super Princess Peach • Luigi's Mansion 2Spin-off series Mario Party • Sports games • Role-playing games • Educational games • LCD games • Donkey Kong • Wario • Yoshi • Mario vs. Donkey Kong • Game & Watch GalleryRemakes Super Mario All-Stars • Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 • Super Mario 64 DSOther media Related articles Unofficial media 
Book:Mario titlesCategories:- 2004 video games
- Game Boy Advance games
- Game Boy Advance-only games
- Mario Universe games
- Mario Bros. games
- Pinball video games
- Video games developed in the United Kingdom
- Video games with isometric graphics
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
