Developer: Frosty Pop
Publisher: Frosty Pop
Platform: PC, Switch
Tested on: Switch
The Pinball Wizard – Review
If you’re part of our younger audience, you might never have properly played with a pinball machine. They used to be everywhere in bars though their prevalence seems to have dwindled in recent years and now digital games have taken center stage. Developer Frosty Pop isn’t the first to breach this gap by making a virtual pinball game, but they might be one of the first devs who do it in such a fun and inventive way. Because if you combine pinball addictiveness and dungeon-crawler gameplay, you get The Pinball Wizard!
Story
A short opening cutscene sets up what little plot this game contains. In the magical kingdom of The Pinball Wizard, there has always been peace because of an all-seeing eye put on top of a big tower. The eye could look over the land and keep people safe. However, it seems it has since fallen from its perch and allowed the world to return to darkness. Many folks have tried braving the tower to get to the top, in the hopes of putting the eye back and returning peace, but so far nobody has succeeded. The player is the most recent in a long lineup of wizards attempting this challenge.
This is all the story there is to this game, don’t expect to find any more lore or story value during the actual gameplay. In the end, it’s a pinball game, it doesn’t have to have a very deep narrative.
Graphics
The graphics of The Pinball Wizard are a delight, even just for how cute they are. The game has a cartoony style with a lot of exaggeration that’s especially noticeable in the character and enemy designs. The simple user interface allows you to focus completely on the fun gameplay. It’s a bit sad that the tower looks pretty much the same on every floor (aside from the level elements changing). It would be interesting to have some more variety in the environments, but since the game is so short it’s not the end of the world.
Sound
While the game doesn’t take too long to beat, we’re happy to report you’ll have a great soundtrack to keep you company all the way. The music leans into that 80s vibe similar to what can be found on real pinball machines. There are also plenty of sound effects to liven things up. These are especially satisfying when you’re bouncing your little wizard character between barrels. While there’s no voice acting, there’s also close to no dialogue present in the game.
Gameplay
The Pinball Wizard is a dungeon-crawling adventure game with the caveat that you’re actually playing pinball. Mostly this means that instead of controlling your character the traditional way, you’re using two flippers at the bottom to flick them up across the map. This does require some practice and you’ll have to work on your timing to get it just right, as it’s not as easy as you might think. The character also acts similar to how a ball would, always coming down to the bottom of the screen as if pulled by gravity while bouncing off objects. Aside from these flippers, you’ll also be in control of using your special abilities such as a dash move. These will make the level a lot easier to beat.
Each level has a unique map, with items and enemies spawning into them. At the top of the level is a locked door. The goal is always to get the key one of the enemies will drop and go through the door to the next level. As soon as you pick up the key, you have only a minute to make it to the door. If you fail, you’ll automatically proceed to the next level but you miss out on free health and coins. During gameplay, you can also collect extra coins by hitting barrels or just by picking them up where they’re scattered along the map.
Defeating enemies is as simple as bouncing into them. Each time your character hits an enemy, both will lose a little health. So playing your cards right on when to aim for potions is important. If you accidentally let your character fall between your flippers and off the screen, they also lose some health proportional to how high up on the tower you were. The game is very forgiving though, allowing you to continue playing from specific levels so you don’t have to start over each time. Defeating enemies also gives you exp that levels your character up and makes them stronger. Coins can be spent on upgrades, ranging from better abilities to passive buffs. So all in all, this game shouldn’t take you more than an hour or two to beat.
Don’t fear though. Aside from this rather short main story, there are daily challenges to beat if you wish to put yourself to the test. There are also some challenge levels to tackle. This added content is nothing too fancy, but with how the gameplay is the main appeal of this title, any extra content is appreciated.
Conclusion
The Pinball Wizard manages to give us classic pinball fun while also entertaining us with added elements such as special abilities and enemies. While the game is extremely short and its addictive nature means you’ll probably finish it in one or two sittings, the low price makes that justifiable. And you might just find yourself climbing this tower over and over again anyway.
The Pinball Wizard - Review,
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