Pinball of the Dead ships !!

OK, now it's time to nitpick what is wrong with the game.

*Despite very smooth animation, there are "hitches" in the pre-renders. A sprite walking in a circle will have to switch through different animaion cycles at different points in the circle to show the differnet view points, but when the animation cycle switches over it will not switch to the equivalent point in the animation. This results in arms and legs "telleporting" around in the middle of otherwise smooth movement.

*EVERYTHING that dies or is destroyed uses the same blood sprite. This wouldn't be a problem, except certain bosses throw rocks in your way and it is kind of goofy to see rocks desintigrate into a pool of blood. Would an explosion animation have been that hard?

*Each table only has 1 "sub table" area where you go and fight the boss. I'm spoiled by Devil's Crush where sub tables where scattered everywhere.

*The flippers on the Graveyard board are really gay looking hands. Lame.

Despite these nitpicks, I still feel it is a worthy game, and I am still amazed by its music. However, these flaws hold it back from surpassing Devil's Crush which remains the greatest pinball game out there. The biggest shortcoming is the lack of sub tables and the actual content of those subtables once you get there. Devil's Crush really had some killer subtables with great variety. In PotD you only get boss battles. Devil's Crush's single main board is also a better design than any of the 3 boards in PotD by a small margin.

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Originally posted by Chibi Nappa
OK, now it's time to nitpick what is wrong with the game.

*Despite very smooth animation, there are "hitches" in the pre-renders. A sprite walking in a circle will have to switch through different animaion cycles at different points in the circle to show the differnet view points, but when the animation cycle switches over it will not switch to the equivalent point in the animation. This results in arms and legs "telleporting" around in the middle of otherwise smooth movement.

*EVERYTHING that dies or is destroyed uses the same blood sprite. This wouldn't be a problem, except certain bosses throw rocks in your way and it is kind of goofy to see rocks desintigrate into a pool of blood. Would an explosion animation have been that hard?

*Each table only has 1 "sub table" area where you go and fight the boss. I'm spoiled by Devil's Crush where sub tables where scattered everywhere.

*The flippers on the Graveyard board are really gay looking hands. Lame.

Despite these nitpicks, I still feel it is a worthy game, and I am still amazed by its music. However, these flaws hold it back from surpassing Devil's Crush which remains the greatest pinball game out there. The biggest shortcoming is the lack of sub tables and the actual content of those subtables once you get there. Devil's Crush really had some killer subtables with great variety. In PotD you only get boss battles. Devil's Crush's single main board is also a better design than any of the 3 boards in PotD by a small margin.

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So is it worth it, when on a tight budget, to go right out and buy it?

Well, do you like pinball? It is certainly the best pinball game to come along in quite a while, and overall it looks and sounds fantastic. You get the impression that it could have had another month or so to iron some visual kinks out, but aside from that.... Give it a rent if it will make you feel more comfortable. I'm having fun playing it and I'm happy with my purchase.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Chibi Nappa
Well, do you like pinball? It is certainly the best pinball game to come along in quite a while, and overall it looks and sounds fantastic. You get the impression that it could have had another month or so to iron some visual kinks out, but aside from that.... Give it a rent if it will make you feel more comfortable. I'm having fun playing it and I'm happy with my purchase.

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Sounds great to me, but I have a feeling the price will drop in a few weeks.

Doh! I forgot about it's biggest downfall. If you thought CotM was hard to see, you ain't seen nothing yet! And you're not going to see anything either unless you live 9 feet away from the sun. Yes, it's time for everybody to bust out their afterburners and TV adapters. This game takes over the title of "darkest GBA game".