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Mile High Pinball Review
Written by Robert Falcon on Friday, February 17, 2006
Pretty good game of progressive pinball.
What's with the invisible power-up? Gah!
A little while back, I ran into a game on the PlayStation 2 called Flipnic, which was a cute little pinball game from Capcom that actually worked on a progressive scale. That means it played like pinball, but worked through a system where goals had to be completed in order to unlock new levels and stay alive. The game ultimately proved to be fun, although a bit difficult due to some strenuous design. Now comes another pinball game that takes to the strategic front, this one courtesy of Nokia.
Mile High Pinball is yet another attempt by Nokia and the development team at Bonus.com to revitalize the N-Gage as a serious gaming platform, and on most levels, it succeeds. It takes place over quite a few mini-levels and platforms where you have to complete goals in order to proceed to the next area. Where Flipnic ran into frustration with this process, however, Mile High seems to go a slight bit smoother thanks to a more forgiving interface and more lively settings.
The gameplay still works about the same, namely with flipping the ball around to certain points and hitting specific objects in order to proceed. It takes a little bit getting used to, as the game doesn't really have too swift a progressive difficulty scale, but once you do, you'll find yourself hitting the flippers with ease. Only the occasional troubling power-up really gets in the way, including an invisibility icon that makes you ball impossible to see, leaving you blind guessing on its location...and sometimes losing it as a result.
The game does have longevity to burn in the single player, though, as there's always new areas to uncover. If that's not enough, there's also a two-player battle in the N-Gage Arena, where two can battle against each other working their way up the pinball tower. Granted, it's not the most motivational uphill climb you'll experience, but it is fun.
Mile High Pinball is well recommended to those who still have an N-Gage and have a hunkering for a not-so-average pinball game. I wish there had been more done on the creative goals front and less on the unnecessary power-ups, but, as is, it's still a surprise title that you'll want to check out, even on the condensed N-Gage QD. Get to flippin'!
