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Iphone: Kaze's Ultraball

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NFG (Administrator) 2010-06-02, 13:25
User title: Top Chaos Wrangler
Member since Sep 2007 · 1755 posts · Location: Brisbane, AU
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One thing that Crono pointed out to me, that I didn't realize earlier, was that this table is identical to the Last Gladiators table, a pinball game by Kaze for the Sega Saturn.  Now that Last Gladiators has been released for iphone, we can compare!

[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/UltraGladiators.gif]

It's true!

My guess is Bexide, who handled the port, used the Ultraball game to test the waters a little bit.  It's slower and a little less enjoyable than the Last Gladiators table.  But it certainly is identical.

Last Gladiators, BTW, has been released as a free app (one free table of four).  Watch for the review RSN!
[Image: http://nfggames.com/system/arcade/special.php/b-d/bp-5/y-kof97/z-10/x-She told me she was 18!/.png]
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NFG (Administrator) 2010-03-07, 16:45
User title: Top Chaos Wrangler
Member since Sep 2007 · 1755 posts · Location: Brisbane, AU
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Subject: Iphone: Kaze's Ultraball
This game kind of struck me out of the blue.  It's a pinball game, which you may remember I have a love/hate relationship with.  Basically, I love Necronomicon Pinball and I hate that no other game is nearly as good.  The developer of Necronomicon, Kaze, has gone on to make a handful of other pinball games, but none have compared.  They spent a lot of time creating really strange not-quite-pinball games for Japanese phones too, but most of them were pinball in name only - knocking guys off a wall with flippers and a ball was interesting, but not worth five bucks, especially on the phones of the time.  Java games on slow handsets, not cool.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when it turned out that Kaze was behind this free pinball game based on some new Ultraman movie.  Kaze!!  They haven't made anything in half a decade, wow!  So I tried it out and...  It's not bad!

[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/iphone-ultraball.gif]

There's only one table, and it's quite easy, but it's very well crafted and fun to play.  There's no questionable physics or moments where a ball just wanders off on its own, and as a whole the table interaction is quite solid.

[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/iphone-ultraball1.png]

Unusually for a pinball game, the table background changes as the game progresses.  The game loves handing out multiballs, and when you get 2, two characters appear in the background.  When you get more, the whole team shows up.

[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/iphone-ultraball2.png]

The sounds are straight out of Kaze's Last Gladiators pinball (A Sega Saturn game).  The effects and music aren't layered deep like the Saturn games, but there's no cause to complain overall.

[Image: http://nfgworld.com/grafx/games/iphone-ultraball3.png]

The game is free to download, but if you want to get the full version, it's a few extra bucks.  The demo doesn't last long.  The game is in Japanese, but it's pinball.  You won't be confused.

It may be more expensive than a lot of other high-quality iphone games, but all things considered you could blow four bucks on a lot less.  If you're a fan of Kaze or Ultraman, get this.  If you love pinball games, get the demo and see how you like it.  It ain't a difficult table, but it's enjoyable.

What's really strange is how this game appears to be basically released and ignored by everyone, including those who made it.  None of the developer sites mention it, the publisher's site is mostly broken and has only one page that works...  That's kind of been Kaze's problem for years, but it's weird to see two other companies collectively not giving a shit.

Kaze's site, which is basically shit.
Bexide site doesn't mention this game at all...
Publisher's half-assed site
itunes site
[Image: http://nfggames.com/system/arcade/special.php/b-d/bp-5/y-kof97/z-10/x-She told me she was 18!/.png]
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Current time: 2010-09-10, 03:24:53 (UTC +10:00)