Flipnic: Ultimate Pinball – PS2 – Review

Bouncing balls and rubber
bumps,

Waterfalls and snowy clumps.

Power-ups that multiply,

What the heck, did I just
die?

Thankfully I have a spare,

I found it deep within the
lair.

It was secret, oh what a
find,

Don’t look now – I’m falling
behind!

Hidden areas to uncover,

Lots of extras to discover.

The thought of victory,
anticipation!

The puzzle worlds only bring
frustration.

Can’t figure out what all
this means,

Weird designs and quirky
scenes.

Boss battles, animals too?

I’m out of balls, now I am
through.

Flipnic
attempts to be the ultimate virtual pinball experience by going where no
pinball game has gone before. I love many of the places visited and look
forward to returning. To get there I have to suffer through the game’s less
appealing moments where the development team took bold risks – a commendable
choice if there ever was one. But, as with investors in the stock market, not
all risks turn out to be rewarding.

This is very
much a Japanese game. It’s got weird, extremely quirky, unexplained moments
that’ll cause everyone but a Japanese gamers to scratch their heads. When a
new area is unlocked the game pauses to show a soldier walk by the screen.
He’s not your typical soldier though – he looks like one of those light Santa
Claus decorations you see on everyone’s front lawn during the holidays. As the
soldier appears the game tells you to move onto to the next area (assuming you
have the skills to do it. This game isn’t easy, so you might not).

Not strange
enough for you? How about this one: when you score an extra credit, a poor
quality FMV plays, showing a chest full of gold coins. That still doesn’t
sound very weird now does it? You really have to see it and hear it yourself
to believe the quirkiness. Whether it’s the full-motion videos or a wacky
sound effect, you won’t get through this game without raising an eyebrow or
two.

Flipnic is
the first pinball game I’ve played that made me feel like I was in an arcade,
standing in front of a large machine, spending fifty cents for my retro gaming
fix. Pinball is, after all, the original arcade machine. It was there long
before videogames arrived.

Left and
right paddles are delegated to the proper hands: the left directional button
triggers the left paddle, while the circle button triggers the right paddle.
Within minutes you forget about this unusual but appropriate setup and become
immersed in the game.

Flipnic’s
best feature: the environments are huge! Large and in charge, these stages
were designed with the utmost care. Each stage has multiple sections, and each
section feels like a different pinball machine! Some are short and simple,
having only a few key bumpers to hit. These are the virtual equivalent to the
table top pinball machines that started popping up in the early 90s.

The majority
of the sections are much more intricate than that. They’ll have tunnels,
overpasses, multiple paddles, destructible objects, hidden pathways, among
other special features. My favorite feature is how the developers took
elements from action/adventure games and added them to the pinball world. I
don’t want to spoil these, so I’ll only talk about the first encounter: a
giant slot machine waterfall that, when the secret has been found, will become
completely frozen. Break through frozen waterfall to find a new area, which
leads you to another new area, and so on.

On the flip
side, Flipnic has a few sections that are too small for their own good. It
makes it really hard to direct the ball in the direction you wish to send it
in. I also have a bone to pick with the tilt features: it’s completely
useless. I’m not sure why they bothered including it, since the only
acceptable tilt is so light that it barely influences the ball (it doesn’t
usually influence it at all). If you tilt harder than an acceptable level, the
game take away one of your balls. This is a videogame, not an actual pinball
machine. Besides, if I had a pinball machine in my own home I could tilt it as
much as I wanted to. Shouldn’t videogames be the same?

Furthermore,
as great as many of the sections are, there are several puzzle sections that
aren’t much fun at all. The ball become suspended in the air. There are no
paddles here. To navigate, you must transfer the ball from pillar to pillar.
Some pillars are constantly moving back and forth between sections, making
them tough to reach. Others are out of reach because of the location of the
pillar where your ball is currently located.

This portion
of the game is not like a pinball machine at all. It reminds me of Marble
Madness – not because the ball is rolling down a continuous, semi-3D
dimensional path, but because getting through the maze is pure madness.

First comes
the annoyance of repetition (the visuals take a nosedive here, as does the
gameplay). Then comes the frustration when you can’t find the exit, which you
want so desperately. It’s impossible to relax, think it through and get to the
end when you don’t even want to bother finishing what you started. This may
sound harsh for a game that I was previously praising, but at times Flipnic
feels like two entirely different games. One is good, the other is pure evil.

Review Scoring Details for Flipnic

Gameplay: 7.0
Fun and exciting
and all too often the complete opposite, Flipnic is a game that has to be
endured to be enjoyed. The large, wildly expansive courses make for an
incredible pinball experience. I smirk at the thought of some of the levels
and the joy the designers must’ve had putting them together. I cringe,
however, at the thought of having to play through the puzzle portions again.

Graphics: 7.0
Most impressive
(for a pinball game). You can’t compliment the animation too much for a game
like this (think about it), but the static backgrounds are extremely solid.
Fully rendered details, attractive course layouts, and quirky imagery round
out the visual experience.

Sound: 5.0
Nothing special
here, keep going, move along.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
By all accounts
this is not the longest game in the universe. But I guarantee you won’t beat
this one in a day. It’s doubtful you’ll be able to conquer it in a week, let
alone 24 hours.

Concept: 8.0
Brilliant
introduction of the most massive pinball environments a game console has ever
seen. Corkscrews that never end. Bumpers that rise and fall every time the
player hits the paddles. Secret areas that are hidden under frozen waterfalls.
It’s a pinball fan’s dream come true … until you encounter the puzzles.

Multiplayer: 7.0

Overall: 7.0
Worth renting,
and at $20 it’s not a bad bargain by any means. It’s a great game and a
frustrating game. A classic and a disappointment rolled into one. You’ll love
it, you’ll hate it. But you won’t be disinterested.