Right after I posted about Last Bible II, I decided to try and figure out Kirby’s Pinball Land. Even though it has more boards, I think it doesn’t quite surpass Revenge of the Gator. Most of the boards feel extremely similar and they’re all nearly symmetrical. This is the first non-platforming Kirby game, so it sets an important precedent.
Kirby can’t absorb abilities, so together with the monotonous board design, it all feels a bit flat. Also, this is a pinball game that has a pseudo-ending, a final boss fight against Dedede. I’m kind of charmed by that sort of structure, but at the same time, it’s really frustrating in practice. In order to complete a level, I have to climb up a series of boards. They all have the same size and pit placement. They also follow similar patterns for progression. There are about five boards that I must push Kirby up to in order to face the boss of that stage. Problem is, it’s quite easy to fall down one pit, then another, and another. Once I fall down a pit, progress resets on whatever upper boards I was working on. It’s a war of attrition. Eventually, I just started to use save states so I could see everything else.
The coolest part of this for me are the bonus games. They aren’t easy to get to, but they bring variety that the rest of the boards are missing. One bonus game has me kicking Kirby’s into a soccer goal, another has me sending food up to another Kirby, the third let’s me play pinball Breakout. These bonus games also give huge multipliers. If I was score chasing with anybody, I would definitely make this the sole focus of my energy.
I actually went and played a real pinball game, Fireball, yesterday so that might be coloring my opinion. It had a spinning rubber mat in the middle of the board that would swing my boys around in wild directions. There was a Galaga-esque capture and rescue mechanic as well. Now that’s good pinball.