JetPin

Genre: Pinball

Players: 1

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Review:

JetPin is a Pinball game released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2020. While most Pinball games feature one or multiple limited tables, JetPin takes a different approach to the genre, making the game one long, rising cavern that players are trying to propel their ball upwards through, outpacing a rising water level that is slowly flooding the cavern.

The presentation here is quite good, featuring 2D visuals that offer a lot of variety as you progress up the cave, from simple rock formations to lava-filled areas to verdant areas filled with plant life. This is all backed by an energetic synthesized score that does a great job of keeping the intensity of the action going, all while a slightly-digitized voice announces various bonuses or concerns as you progress. My one issue with this would be that the digitized voice is a bit quiet and difficult to make out in the midst of the action.

The core gameplay concept here is really interesting, and the game even has a really good sense of the speed of your ball pinging around, especially when it gets trapped between multiple bumpers. This is undoubtedly where the “jet” in the title comes from. However, this speed comes with problems. It’s very tough to gauge the physics of the ball in this game, which means it is also that much harder to properly aim your ball. Needless to say, in a Pinball game where this is your primary agency within the game, this can be very frustrating.

Adding to this frustration is the game’s often poor level design, which can get your ball stuck in areas where it keeps bouncing off of bumpers infinitely, or gets stuck behind an obstruction. In some areas simply getting your ball up to where you need it to go is made nightmarishly difficult by the level design. And infuriatingly, the game occasionally gates your progress by requiring you to have a certain score to progress. When this means you have to deliberately pull back on your hard-fought gains up the corridor, this can be maddening.

All in all, I give JetPin credit for a great idea and solid presentation, but I feel like the gameplay here needed more polish before this was released. While the main concept is excellent, the combination of bad level design and unpredictable physics makes for a terrible combination, especially in a game where you’re constantly racing against the clock.

tl;dr – JetPin is a Pinball game where you’re trying to propel your ball up one massive cavern, trying to outpace a rising water level. It’s a great concept that’s paired with a nice presentation, but unfortunately it’s hard to enjoy this game due to the game’s unpredictable physics and poor level design. If you’re a fan of Pinball games, you may want to give this a look, but most are better off sticking with more polished entries in the genre.

Grade: C

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