My first thought when I downloaded this app was “Why is there a squirrel in the icon?” I thought I had been tricked by the chief (Tom) into reviewing a animal farm game or something. Thankfully this was not the case and it was just me not reading the press email properly.
Paladin Studios have brought us this adorable pinball game to the iOS platform. The village of momonga (dwarf flying squirrels, which are super cute by the way) was attacked by some evil owls and most of them were captured. Momo, as son of the chieftain Rogo, must go and save your tribe. Oh, and a giant panda is here to help train you.
After the intro sequence you begin your training. This involves learning the basics of the game. We all know pinball is about flippers. I remember playing Pinball Dreams many many years ago on my Amiga, but I was just mindlessly smashing the flippers to keep the ball up. Proper pinball is more skilful than that, reauiring that you attempt to hit the ball at a particular angle and strength in order to hit the bonus parts of the table.
The initial levels take you through hitting specific stationary targets and collecting stars and then making for the exit to the current area in order to progress to the next. You then move on to moving targets, targets that show and hide themselves on a timer, and them targets that just all-out avoid you.
Oh did I mention that you’re not flipping a ball around the levels? No, you are flipping Momo! He curls up into a wee ball and takes quite a good beating. Must be a dizzy little fellow.
The controls are very simple. To start, you just touch and slide Momo downwards and then release him to spring up and into action, and you simply touch the left and right parts of the screen to control your flippers. There will be times, often to move between zones, where you are flying and you need to tilt your iOS device in order to collect stars.
Pinball with a twist they say. Momonga Pinball Adventures plays like an action adventure that you control with flippers. It’s true, often the way to the next zone requires that you hit a switch or repeated hit some blocks in order to break your way through. Sometimes the exit will only be open for a period of time before it closes again. It demands a more thoughtful approach than just spamming the flippers, though if you are lucky that will get you places too.
Each level has a challenge associated with it. Generally every levels first challenge is just to complete the level, however you can replay completed levels to do the next challenge such as finding secret rooms, completing within a time limit etc. This adds a bit of replayability for those who think they are skilled enough to take on these challenges.
Momo can take three drains before he’s too dizzy and you need to restart from the beginning of the level, and scoring on each level can award up to 3 stars depending on how well you perform. Stars collected and time taken are included in this.
With catchy music and adorable graphics (Momo jumping on the Level Complete screen especially) this is a great iOS addition to the app store. Momonga Pinball Adventures is suitable for all ages, and most skill levels. There is a chance it could frustrate you if you aren’t willing to admit how bad you are with the balls and flippers, but if you like pinball and you’re up for something a little different then it’s a worthwhile purchase.
8 Marvelous Mom’s with momentum out of 10