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Developer: Vivarium
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Party
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 10 Apr 06
User Rating
10 (1 vote) -
- This is not pinball as we know it, but once again Nintendo comes up with a quirky take on an old idea. Very novel, but perhaps too complex for newcomers.
More Screens (5 total)
Overview
Pinball is one of those things that has been a part of gaming for the longest time, but it is probably the least likely genre to be brought up when having a discussion on the industry. In this age of technology, where the goal is to continuously improve graphics and gameplay, the pinball genre is one that still fortunately remains the same, until today. Today we are checking out what I consider a hybrid pinball game, because although it is a pinball game, it has a lot of other things going on. Caught your interest? Read our full review of Odama for the Gamecube to find out if it takes the pinball genre to the next level.
Gameplay
Now like I mentioned, Odama is a hybrid Pinball game, and I have a feeling at first glance many people are going to be turned off by this game just by its pure difference from most conventional gaming. So to start out the review we should discuss the storyline, which surprisingly is more than you would ever expect from a pinball game. The game is actually set in Japan, where you take the role of General Tamachiyo Kagetora, who is trying to preserve his way of life. Basically Odama stands for a giant ball that acts as the ball in pinball.
So Odama is a game that requires the use of a microphone, and it is this that the game has its one extremely unique and different feature away from what you find in any other game out on the market. Now some of you may be thinking, wow big deal so you can give a few commands through a microphone, but instead this Is actually a much more expansive feature that actually works well. The objective is to get your troops and your Odama to the top of the map. Now of course there is the opposing side who is trying to give you all sorts of obstructions, and this is where a lot of the game's strategy come into play.
There is a whole lot of work that goes into keeping your troops going, as morale is huge factor in this game. You are also required to get these troops up through the map along with your Odama. So you really have to pick your spots well, and this has a lot to do with the voice commands that are involved in the game. For those who are expecting this to be just a simple party game of pinball with voice commands, I am here to tell you that this is not the case. Odama is a game that really challenges your skills by just being an extremely difficult game to grasp. I had so much trouble a few levels into the game that it just became an overly frustrating experience.
The biggest problem I had with Odama was not so much with the microphone support or even the difficulty. But to me Odama is a game that is too challenging for its own good. I like the idea of having some built-in strategy to the game of Pinball, but Odama kind of takes things to the extreme, and makes for a very challenging and frustrating game. If that sounds appealing to you, then Odama might be enjoyable, but for me I just found the gameplay to be too frustrating.
Graphics
Visually I have to say that Odama has a lot of great attributes, but at the same time it definitely has its room for improvements. The environments themselves are very diverse, but suffer from not having a whole lot of detail and all of the soldiers look extremely plain and bland. I wanted to see more in terms of detail around the edges of the game. In the end, the visual style of Odama is good, but they are nothing overly special.
Fun Factor
I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from Odama, but once I got into the game I realized that this was much more then just an average pinball experience. In fact Odama is a game that has a strategy built inside a pinball game. For those who just want a pinball experience go far away from Odama because this is not a pure and simple pinball game. Odama is a game that has a lot to like, but is so frustrating it hard to truly enjoy.
Overall
It is a really neat idea to start using voice recognition, and I hope to see more games in the future really try and use this technology. However Odama is a game that is too complicated for its own good and suffers from this. Unless you just love challenging and quirky games, you are probably better off staying clear of this game.
- Gameplay
7.0 - Graphics
7.0 - Fun Factor
6.0 - Overall
7.0
