Rebound!

.: By: Corn Bread :: Device used: iPAQ H3630 :: February 7, 2002 :.

Update (February 19, 2002):

Since this review was written, the game has been updated, with improvements including a fix to the problem with sounds being disabled upon suspend and support for left-handed players on the iPAQ version.

Original review:

Platform/action game fans, rejoice! A game has made its way to the Pocket PC that takes action to a whole new level, a pinball-platform game hybrid... let me introduce you to the game of Rebound!.

In Rebound! you are cast in the role of a mechanical gorilla named Geeza, a cyber athlete, and your sport is Pinball. Your arena is a life-sized pinball machine filled with various obstacles, pitfalls and a bucketload of “meanies” (mechanical robots who like nothing more than to beat you to a pulp). Your weapon is a pinball which you can hurl at your enemies to obliterate them, or bounce it off walls and other hot spots to score points.

The race levels, on the other hand, are smaller and less confusing versions of the maze levels. The big difference is that there is a allotted time given to you to reach the exit and, if you fail to reach the exit before the time expires, it's game over for you.

The pinball arena has various bumpers, spinners, stars and bouncers onto which you can throw the ball for added points. There’s even a few Hot-Ball power-up stations you can use to turn your ordinary pinball into a Hot-Ball. A Hot-Ball is a powered up version of the pinball which you can use to destroy any obstacles with just one shot. There are also a few Switches (pillars with the words “Hit me” on them) which can deactivate laser barriers or open doors upon connection with your pinball.

In addition, there are also a few ball ports to be found in the arena. Once you insert a pinball into a ball port, you are immediately taken into a pinball zone where you play a hectic game of pinball. Inside the pinball zone, you will find a few switches. It is imperative that you hit these switches while playing pinball.

In addition to the race and maze levels, there are a few more different type of bonus levels that add spice to the game. There’s the Jump, Geeza Jump! level where you have to jump across floating platform to reach the exit within a certain time limit. The faster you reach the exit, the more points you score. There’s also the Run, Geeza Run! level where you have to run as fast as you can to the exit. My personal favorite bonus level, however, is the Monkey MiteMash, in which you control a monkey on a large ball with which you must use to squash as many mechanical Mites as you can within the allotted time.

The game is played on landscape mode, with controls made possible through a combined use of the stylus and hardware buttons. In the upper right corner of the screen is a circle that acts as a virtual directional pad to be used as movement control while one hardware button is assigned as the “jump” command and the other button is used as the pinball throw/retrieve command. The controls seem awkward at first and take some time to get used to but, once you get the hang of it, control of your on screen alter ego will seem like second nature.

Rebound! has great graphics, with the setting looking very futuristic and fitting the mood of the game nicely. Everything from your alter ego to the enemies have a unique look all of their own. The downside is that all of the stages have pretty much the same motif and you may well find yourself getting tired of the way the game looks after a few hours of play.

The animation is very well done - the pinball is one fast mover, and bounces realistically off the walls; generally, character movement is fast and wild, no slowdowns whatsoever. Unfortunately, as much as Rebound! excels in the eye candy department, it disappoints in the sound department. The sound effects are average at best and they simply don’t deliver enough “oomph” to give justice to the action that is taking place in the game. What's more, there is also no in-game music. This was a major disappointment for me since I feel that a good sound track and sound effect can greatly complement an action game such as Rebound!.

The game has 3 difficulty levels: normal, hard and crazy. The high score chart is segregated in a way that each of the difficulty setting has its own "high score" and "best time" chart. Rebound! also has a nifty “suspend” command where you can leave the game at any time and continue it at a later date starting at the most recent save point you have marked. Sadly, this “suspend” feature has a major bug whereby, once you activate it, all the system sounds on your Pocket PC (including alarms) will be shut off. You’ll be able to bring back the system sounds once you exit the game without using the “suspend” feature. Once you have finished a level, it will become selectable so you can immediately choose to play that level again.

Rebound! is basically a platform game with loads of action. What differentiates this game from the other action game is that the pinball theme and mechanics is seamlessly and creatively integrated into the game. Any action gamer should give this one a try as it's challenging, fun, and has enough attitude to make you want to keep playing it till the very last level.

The price tag of this game is $24.95 and it is currently available for ARM (iPAQ) and MIPS (Casio) devices; it doesn’t run on Pocket PC 2002 devices but may be updated in the future. It can be installed either in the main RAM or onto a storage card, and requires 2.3 MB of storage memory.

Pros:

• Good graphics.

• Smooth animation, no slowdowns.

• Fast and unique game play.

• Challenging levels.

• Includes a desktop PC version.

Cons:

• No Music.

• Sound effects aren’t that good.

• Using the “suspend” feature disables all the system sounds.

• Only one type of scenery available throughout the game.

• Expensive.