The Digest: There’s not much to say about Avatar Pinball, other than, well… it’s Pinball, with Avatars. If you like Pinball, you’re going to like this Indie Game.

THE FACT SHEET

RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2010
DEVELOPER: ladron
PUBLISHER: ladron
GENRE: Sports & Recreation

PRODUCT OVERVIEW: Love pinball? Love Xbox Live Avatars? Then this is the perfect Indie game for you! Take part in a tropical pinball getaway with your own Xbox Live Avatars as they careen around the table, scoring you points and helping your way to getting the highest score possible!

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• Five Game Modes
• Use your own Xbox Live Avatar in “Be The Ball!” Mode

Do you like Pinball? Simple, pure pinball with no special powerups or insanely complex, Licensed tables? Good, because this is as barebones of a Pinball game as you can imagine.

The only real standout from being a generic Pinball game is the usage of Xbox Live Avatars, which, of course, the title of the game comes from. The Avatars share the same purpose as a Pinball, which is to be shot around, slamming into every single wall possible, gaining points for you as you watch your Avatar on the big screen get horribly injured and laugh at his or her demise. The Avatars always seem to have an unsettling smile on their face, staring at you from the TV screen as they break every single bone in their body.

Of course, there’s more than just one single game mode to play. Your first gametype is “”Be The Ball!” mode. As you can probably figure out from it’s name, your own Xbox Live Avatar gets his fifteen minutes of fame by being thrown across the table.  In this gametype, you have the ability to move your Avatar by yourself by moving the left stick, or rotate him by moving the right stick. By utilizing the sticks, it’s pretty easy to never have the ball go down the final hole. Sadly, this is also the only gametype where your personal Xbox Live Avatar can take place in.

If you’d prefer to not have the option to keep the joysticks disabled, like the true Avatar Pinball professional you are, you can try “Avatar Classic” mode. This mode disables the joystick functionality, leaving you with only your flippers, as a realistic Pinball game would let you. Well, as realistic as a Pinball game using Avatars as the ball can be.

The other game modes include “Multi-Ball Mania,”  in which you can probably figure out from the name what happens. You have two Avatars out at once, so you’ll have to manage them both. This game mode is limited to about two minutes, though, so your fun ends short very quickly.

“Sock Puppet Mania” plays like “Avatar Classic” mode, but instead of an Avatar, you have a sock puppet that looks like a monkey. Lastly, “Old Skool” mode has your ball as… an actual ball! Plays just like “Avatar Classic.” If you haven’t noticed yet, besides “Be The Ball!” allowing you to the only real difference with every gametype is the ball being used. A huge letdown, but still, all of the gametypes are for, well… pinball. It’s calm, relaxing and kind of fun, no matter how limited the gametypes. You can’t completely dull out hitting a chrome ball up and down a table.

Conclusion: If you’re looking for a full-fledged Pinball experience, then this is definitely not the Indie game for you. If you’re looking for a quick game of plain ol’ Pinball you can play once in a while, then you might want to look into it. Be sure to check out the Trial, though, because there’s not much here to see. Pinball is always fun, but besides the one table, there’s almost nothing else.

Single Player: 3/5 | Multi-Player: N/A

Special thanks to NoStatic Software for providing us with a copy of the game for review.