I don't know what to say here. It's a pinball-adventure Mario game. It was a good idea to have a Mario-themed pinball game, but, as you know I might say: is the game good? Read the Review! 0-4 star scale.

Graphics: ***1/2

The graphics are very detailed, yes. The bosses in the game look excellent, the boards look nice, the game is put into fine detail. Very, very good.

Sound/Music: *

You'll notice, if you play this game, not one classic Mario theme is in this game, and the regular tunes that play for each level aren't the best. The sound effects are alright, but the music I just don't like. It's not catchy. The boss themes are probably the only good music from this game. The rest of the music is plain, plain, plain, and boring!

Difficulty: ***1/2

Mario or not, this game is hard anyway. Just because it's Mario doesn't cut off any difficulty here. You can't aim the ball, and there are many situations where you need to. You'll have to hit an object, then hit it quickly again. But the second shot is so hard most of the time, you'll have to try multiple times before you can get it right. In a round room, sometimes you hit the ball and it goes in a circle, and doesn't hit a thing.  Some times you'll hit an object a bit above the flippers; the ball will bounce off quick and will go down the drain before the pinball flipper even goes back down! Frustrating, yes. The thing that prevents four stars is that you can use items to cheat on getting some of the Stars. Otherwise, the game's difficulty is bad enough that I stopped playing for a while. I came back to it, but I didn't even have half the total amount of Stars before I "ran away" from the game. That affects the game quite a bit.

Controls: ****

They are simple, without a doubt. L and R control the flippers well, and the simple touch of B uses items. Can't get better. Of course, there's no control of the ball whatsoever.

Characters: ***1/2

There are quite a few Mario minions in this game, which is good. Goombas, Boos, Koopas, Koopatrols, Cheep Cheep, Shy Guys, Fly Guys, Lakitus, Pokeys, Cobrats, may I go on? The bosses help the score here too. Great character selection.

Levels: ***1/2

For a pinball game, the boards were good. You go inside a pyramid, underwater, inside a ghost house, inside an igloo... I like it. There are only five worlds, though, so it is a little limited. For boards in a pinball game, this game does well.

Items: ****

I know there are some good scores here, yet the items continue this theme. You wouldn't expect having items in a pinball game anyway. You earn coins and blue coins from defeating enemies and such, and you go into Toad's tents to buy items. Great. The items have real good uses; the Lightning is good against bosses and to get an easy Star for killing enemies. The Pipe prevents you from falling of a section of the board, which is very helpful. The Starman makes you invincible; you go right through enemies without bouncing off. A lot of items have some important uses, helping you get some of the Stars in the game. The items are well-needed, and really make it a Mario pinball.

Replayability: *1/2

The replayability almost hinges off how much you like the game. If you like the game you'll be playing for high scores and good times in the time attack mode. If you don't like the game, you'll simply forget about it. Personally, I think it's easier to not play the game sometimes than play it. That's why its below average.

Fun Factor!: no stars

Woah. This game frustrated me quite a few times. It's annoying, and quite boring. It just makes you mad when the ball can't be saved from falling or you hit an object and the ball bounces quickly to the hole. And it happens too often in this game. Not fun. Plus, I've "run away" from the game twice. At first, some Stars were so hard to get I was sick of trying to get them. Later on, I came back, got all the Stars, but didn't beat Bowser. After getting all the Stars, I was aiming for high points; I made a very good record, I guess (about 18 million points), and, with over 500 coins, I lost my last life and got a game over. Knowing I wouldn't beat the record again, I stopped playing for good.

Situations like those explain the score there. Hard and boring at the same time is a deadly combination for a video game. Not very fun!

Overall: *

Eh. For pinball game stardards, this is ok, but by regular video game standards, it's below average. Think about that. The "pinball" part of the game mostly lowers this rating. I mean, if the game was easier and more fun, the score would shoot up. It's those two things that make this score the way it is. The unique levels, as well as the items and bosses (which you wouldn't expect), are the positive things about this game. I would say it's a rent, unless you really like pinball. That's my thoughts on this game. If you are a Mario fan, should you get it? No, don't, it's not worth it. It's just not.

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