Metroid Prime Pinball review

If arcades were still packed with games like Metroid Prime Pinball, we’d all be spending a lot more time at the mall. The idea of series heroine Samus Aran trapped in morph ball mode, ricocheting across a pinball table seems totally asinine. But somehow it works, and most everything that makes the standout Prime series shine is represented here. The game even comes bundled with a new Rumble Pak to provide a small but crucial sampling of the tactile glee classic pinball machines have.

The presentation may be beautiful, but the guts are always the same: multilayered tables filled with bumpers, flippers, ramps ... nothing you haven’t seen already. What makes these tables special is the successful recreation of the layered, organic feeling the GameCube Metroid adventure games enjoy, complete with sound effects and music that bring back their best moments. As soon as you hit the title screen and hear the familiar opening theme, you'll understand how closely developer Fuse has managed to replicate Samus' more vigorous outings.