Review: Flipper Critters for Nintendo DS
Flipper Critters is a pinball style game with storyline, mini-games, puzzles, and quests. Sounds pretty promising, eh? I certainly thought so. I was looking forward to seeing what the game had to offer.
Shininess: I’ll come right out and say it. Flipper Critters is definitely lacking in shininess. It looks like they tried to duplicate the art style in Animal Crossing and failed. It is no where near the same quality. It’s grainy and jagged where it isn’t blurry. As far as the music is concerned, the soundtrack reminds me of the “build mode” music from the Sims: generic, upbeat, elevator, background music.
Funness: The controls for Flipper Critters are relatively simple. The L button or control pad controls the left flipper and the R button or the A, B, X, or Y button controls the right flipper. The stylus is also used to raise ramps, lower fences, remove obstacles, etc. However, there is no mention of using the stylus for this purpose in the instruction booklet. I played for a long time, frustrated that I couldn’t get anywhere, until I figured it out myself. It can be difficult to use the stylus to remove an obstacle while your ball is in motion and then hit the appropriate flipper button. I found myself using my thumbnail most of the time.
Flipper Critters has a storyline, I think. In the beginning there is something about your friend, Bull, being sad and having to save him. But before you can save him, you have to help other friends, and so on. The dialog is dull and doesn’t always make sense. Luckily, you can skip most of the conversations if you wish. As you play the game, characters will say stuff that you either completely miss because you are focused on the game or you read and lose track of your ball. You really shouldn’t have to choose between game content and game progression.
The mini-games are only available after you win them in Story Play mode. This is one thing that really annoys me in games. You can’t just sit down and play for fun. You have to advance through Story Play mode if you want to unlock the mini-games and pinball levels in Fun Play mode. Guess what? I got stuck in Story Play, so I have one level and zero mini-games playable in Fun Play. That makes Fun Play not so fun.
Flipper Critters can be downright frustrating. The “puzzle” aspect is figuring out how to accomplish the next quest objective. Most of the time I could only figure it out through trial and error, whacking the ball around and seeing what happened. Then came the “fun” of trying to place the ball exactly where it had to go in order to advance. I truly feel the accuracy and skill needed to fulfill the quest objectives and progress is beyond the average player and, especially, the target audience of children (based on the cartoon styling, E for Everyone rating, and $14.99 retail price).
Worthiness: Would I recommend Flipper Critters? Only to a die hard pinball fan who must play every game available. Would I recommend it for anyone else? No. It’s too hard for kids and uninteresting, when it’s not frustrating, for everyone else.
Score: 1/5 Run away!
Are you a die hard pinball fan? You can find Flipper Critters in our store!
What say you?!