Play consists of helping Ooga (and sometimes his sister) traverse the island across the nine tables. Being a pinball game, this is all done by accomplishing tasks such as ramps, target hits and successive mini-games. There's an inherent problem in this structure in that, as a pinball game, the tables are too barren and as an action/platform-like game, the pinball control is out of place. Additonally, everything seems to be based on points rather than skill, but the points are reset between each successive table.

The mini-games are varied and usually fun, if only for a short time. A few mini-games, especially those involving regenerating shards of glass, are just frustrating. Again, it boils down to mashing the flipper buttons rather than taking a strategic shot. The tilt controls work fairly well, and mastering them means that it's nearly impossible to lose a ball. The ball can usually only be lost on the main table as well -- messing up a mini-game just returns the ball to the main table.

As a pinball game, it lacks multi-ball, consistent table multipliers and strategic bumper/lane action. By that, we mean that in a real pinball game, there's usually three or four lanes across the top of a table that light up. These lights are controlled by the flippers and there's a bonus given for getting them all lit. That's completely absent. Additionally, while the tables are designed fairly well in a surreal sort of way, they're often void of strategy. There's a few ramps and a few targets and that's it. Most of the targets and ramps are quite easy to hit as well.

As an action game, there's really no action beyond hitting the ball with the flippers. After that, there's no control (save for a few tilts) and that can lead to frustrating moments. For example, some of the targets are timed and if the player can't get control of the ball because it's bouncing around somewhere, that time can run out and the whole sequence has to be restarted. Other times, the ball can be pushed around by lizards, snakes and caterpillars, adding a sense of randomness to the game that just shouldn't be there, especially since the player has no control over these events.

The game does include an unsupported table editor called PBEd, and anyone familiar with UnrealEd will learn their way around it fairly quickly. It's important to note, though, that since it's not supported, the documentation is thin at best and any problems will either have to be solved through trial-and-error or by searching fan Websites.

The Unreal makes everything look nice and it adds a certain sense of depth to an otherwise flat pinball table, and the sound effects and voice work are for the most part done quite well. However, pinball fans will be disappointed by the lack of standard pinball features and action game fans will probably not like the natural dynamics of a pinball game.

The Bottom Line: It's an interesting attempt at mixing two unexpected genres and there are some fun moments, but Adventure Pinball as a whole falls short on both the pinball and action/platform fronts.