Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon

Genre: Pinball

Players: 1

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Review:

Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon is a Pinball game released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2009 and then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released. This game presents players with one table, with that table very clearly aiming to capture an ancient Greek mythology theme.

To that end, what Pinball Pulse manages to accomplish with the meager technology of the Nintendo DSi is absolutely stupendous. Everything here is presented using 2D images, but there’s a good use of pre-rendered visuals to give everything a realistic feel, as well as a simulated dot matrix display sometimes superimposed over the top part of the top screen that perfectly captures the look and feel of that same sort of screen on real-life machines. In fact, this game goes to great lengths to make everything smack of authenticity, and this effort is quite impressive.

This sort of authenticity extends to the sound of the game too, which not only has music that’s both fittingly cinematic and also cheesy in a way that seems perfectly befitting a pinball table. There are good sounds for the table, and there are also canned sound clips when certain events happen, with Zeus, Hera, an Oracle, and Medusa all having little one-liners throughout the game, with some wonderfully cheesy voice acting – Zeus himself has a deep, booming voice that sounds a lot like the great Brian Blessed and John Rhys-Davies. All of these sounds are just a bit “off”, as if they’re being fed through an actual pinball table’s speakers. The attention to detail here is absolutely mind-blowing.

It’s not just the presentation here’s that’s great. The gameplay is outstanding, with fairly realistic physics, a great table design, and plenty of variety despite this game just having one table. One of the highlights here is a rotating head that shifts from Zeus to Hera and back as you pop the ball in their mouth, and there’s also a medusa that replaces your normal metallic ball with one made of stone. Hit the ball in “Hades’” area at the right time and you’ll even get a brief, simple minigame using the simulated dot matrix screen that has you dodging fireballs with a pegasus.

I do have a few complaints here, and it mostly comes down to the unfortunate reality of the platform the game finds itself on. Because it’s on a two-screen system, you’ll often find your ball is within the area in between your screens where you can’t see it. Also, the aforementioned simulated dot matrix screen pops up superimposed over the top part of your top screen rather than being in a separate area, but of course this may just be because even with two screens there just wasn’t enough space to have a separate area for this. However, probably the one issue here that this game could have reasonably done better on this platform is the plunger, which cannot be pulled in any particular way – its use is automatic upon pressing the B button.

However, while it’s not perfect, I am honestly stunned that a Pinball game with this high a level of quality was released on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, and not only that, but at the insanely good price of $5. If you’re a Nintendo 3DS owner and you even slightly enjoy pinball games, you should absolutely make it a point to grab Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon before the Nintendo 3DS eShop closes in March 2023 (later this month!). This is one of the best surprises I’ve found on the platform, and finding gems like this are one of the reasons I wanted to review all these Nintendo 3DS games in the first place – I’d hate to have missed out on a game like this. Hopefully you won’t either!

tl;dr – Pinball Pulse is a Pinball game with an ancient Greek mythology theme, and for a mere $5, this is an absolute steal. While the game only has one table, that table is well-designed, immaculately detailed, features superb gameplay, and simulated in a way that perfectly replicates the experience of playing on a real pinball table. If you’re a Nintendo 3DS owner who even remotely likes pinball, you absolutely need to grab this game before the Nintendo 3DS eShop closes in March 2023 (later this month!)

Grade: A-

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