Mario Pinball Land Critic Reviews

By delightfully melding combat and puzzle solving with solid pinball physics, Mario Pinball is not only the first pinball action/adventure game, but it's also a damn good one at that.

The game is brimming with strategy.

Puts a new "spin" on the genre.

MPL is a fun pinball game, with enough new twists and turns to keep any flipper fanatic happy.

As a pinball-flavored adventure, the game is a little basic for my tastes, but it's still a graphically excellent outing.

Compared to other GBA games out there Super Mario Ball doesn't have the same amount of gameplay hours. Even with all of the stars to find, five worlds isn't much to conquer.

It combines the general concepts behind tabletop pinball with the characters and worlds from the Mario franchise to create a strange sort of adventure game that's fairly fun but a little on the short side.

It may not revolutionize handheld pinball, but Mario Pinball Land is fun while it lasts. Unfortunately, that is not very long.

I think this desire to innovate in the genre comes at the expense of what's ultimately good abuot pinball itself...There's not one individual stage that has that incredibly addictive "I could play this until I die" feeling that you get from a well-made traditional pinball machine.

Its engaging mixture of game types and interesting graphics combine to create a fun ride, but one that is sadly over too soon.

7 / 7 / 7 / 8 - 29

If you can get by the game's mediocre sound or another poor execution that we call a Mario plot, you'll find a really entertaining game of pinball in Mario Pinball Land.

The perfect example of an experiment gone awry. If only the physics were just a little more realistic, it would help a great deal, but as it is, the game just gets to be annoying before you ever start to have fun.

In terms of challenge and entertainment Mario Pinball Land is a good choice for a long flight or a series of shorter periods.

Given that most gamers will be able to plough through the game's challenges in only a couple of day's worth of light play, leaving only the time trial option to keep them amused, you can't help but feel that more should have been made of the concept - especially considering the game's sparkling visuals.

There's a major flaw in actually controlling Mario, as the physics just don't seem to act as they should - aiming at specific targets can be extremely tricky at times, making completing some tasks more infuriating than challenging. It's a shame, because everything else about Super Mario Ball is so impressive.

A great looking and great sounding game, one of the most impressive on the GBA. The frustrating lack of control, screen-resets and small number of levels put a nasty dent in its play value.

A short and slightly limited game....While it lasts, it's a blast.

A very boring game. There is not enough substance on each game board. Trying to take the pinball video game genre in a different direction is a noble step, but at the same time, you cannot remove things that define pinball games and make them fun.

A pretty lacklustre game - in both the pinball and Mario aspects.