It seems like it should almost be an oxymoron but yes, you read the title right. Developers Phantom Compass are currently putting the final touches on their upcoming (and ingeniously titled) Rollers of the Realm. A game that is said to perfectly blend the two seemingly incompatible game genres of pinball and the traditional RPG. Strange as it may seem, first look reviews are spouting pretty favourable comments. The game works like any old pinball game but makes use of RPG elements such as an in-depth story and upgradeable “characters”. Each character that the player controls in the game is represented by a pinball but one that has specific properties. The usual job attributes are present like warrior, mage and rogue and it is these characteristics that will effect how your pinball works. The game is due for release this year for the PS4, PC and Playstation Vita and you have to admit, it sounds interesting right?
So to celebrate such a unique pairing of elements we’ve decided to look through the vaults and pick out a few other bizarre mash ups that tickled our fancy over the years. Yes Aerosmith did have their own game but in the hope that Rollers of the Realm will be as good as it is individual we’ve decided to stick with the games that were actually decent.
Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
Ok this was obvious considering the content above but the fact is this was inspired combining by Sega. Their mascot, and unit shifting hero, spends at least a third of his life spinning around as a ball… which really makes this kind of inevitable. Released in 1993 for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis this game took all the familiar elements from the previous Sonic games and just gave it a shake up. Placed in-between Sonic 2 which had made its way into homes everywhere and Sonic 3, this was a great filler title that ensured fans had fun and stayed interested in the franchise.
Sonic is able to move just the way he always did, given a chance, but now using each level’s multiple flippers you can throw him all around the carefully crafted levels. It’s about collecting rings and chaos emeralds but the joy of the game was mastering the craft of knocking the little blue hedgehog around. Even the boss fights are pinball based, meaning that there’s real skill needed to master the art of this game. Since then there’s been several ports and it’s has even inspired its own roller coaster. Some things are just meant to go together and even though this seemed bizarre at the time, in hindsight, this was just one of those things.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
There’s a sense that people kind of just took this one on the chin, like, ‘Donkey Kong with bongos… yeah, that’s cool.’ But the fact is it’s one of the strangest moves that Nintendo has ever made, and let’s be honest Nintendo is a pretty strange company. From the start the fact that Nintendo wanted you to play a platforming game with a musical instrument is weird. What else is strange is how well it actually seemed to work out. There are plenty of detractors who label this title gimmicky, but the fact was it worked and at its best it was brilliant.
Looking at a screenshot this game could just be any updated Donkey Kong Country title. Where the bizarre innovation becomes something quite profound is in its practicality. Right bongo to go right and left to go left, both bongos to jump and a side hit making DK do a clap motion. It’s surprising how well these simple motions matched the game. Easy to pick up but hard to master, the title quickly demanded a sense of rhythm as well as natural gaming aptitude to make the most of it. The game was notably short but its most appealing element was the way it made gamers want to get every last little item and max out every high score. It certainly wasn’t a perfect game but it was a match-up that worked, especially when you got to sit back and watch someone else look like an idiot doing it.
Rez
From a rhythm platformer to a musical shooter. Designed to be a video game/music video, developers UGA seemed to go back to the drawing board for what they wanted their latest game to be. The creators, who would go on to make Child of Eden for the Xbox Kinect, made this shooter on rails in an attempt to immerse the gamer. For that reason there’s no dialogue and no traditional musical score. Instead the gamer creates the music by their actions; movement and firing make up the bloops and bleeps, while an exciting electronic soundtrack slowly builds up depending on the players rate of progress.
For example, all player actions have a correlating sound which fit rhythmically into the electronic background music which in turn builds up in intensity when the player is doing well. The same goes for the games impressive graphics which are less concrete items and more psychedelic spindles flying out from all over the screen. These graphics get pared back if the player isn’t doing well; representing a gamers ability while also helping those struggling by giving them less to focus on. The game was released for the Dreamcast and Playstation 2 in 2002 and at its best it was mind blowing. It pushed the player further back into their seat as their mind fell deeper into the game. Intense, slick and engrossing you could still feel the rhythm running through your body for a few hours after putting the controller down.
Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
Though there were several iterations of this game, inspired by the 1988 movie, we’re specifically talking about the 1990 release for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis. This was a strange era for gaming. All sorts of folks were getting their own games. Like Kiss, Hugh Hefner and let us not forget, Shaquille O’Neil in Shaq-Fu. But when you really think about it no one deserved their own game like the king of pop, Michael Jackson. The fact that he got a game so idiosyncratic is a testament to him as a cultural icon and as a brand.
A straight forward platformer on one level it’s also drenched in Jackson style; employing his dance moves, music and even Bubbles the chimpanzee. There’s a power move that makes all on screen enemies do one of Michael’s signature dances, whether they be human, dog or zombie. The game is a mash up in a way that was unique to the nineties. Which involved taking all of a celebrities intellectual property and forcing it into a gaming cartridge whether it really fit or not. The thing about Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker is that it did work. It may seem dated now and even a little controversial but at the time this was a solid, playable game. Whether the Michael Jackson trademarks made it or not are debatable but this was a pairing that had to be made.
Super Smash Bros.
Of course the greatest mash up of them all. Before 1999’s Nintendo 64 release we thought we’d seen Mario and the gang do it all. Jumping, painting and driving in karts but what we hadn’t seen is the Italian plumber bury his fist in Pikachu’s face. It’s something we all wanted to see and Nintendo we’re only too happy to oblige. Since then the series has gone from strength to strength, featuring some of Nintendo’s greatest creations and even a few wild cards just for fun.
Any fan will tell you that there’s little that compares to the big melee brawls that the Smash Bros. games are capable of. Bowser vs. Kirby vs. Link vs. Ness? Excellent, just excellent. Throw a few pokeballs in to the mix, a giant hammer and a laser gun and you’ve got all the ingredients. Here Nintendo brought together their keen instincts for fun and quality gameplay. The same mechanics that make Mario Kart such an important series are likewise transplanted here to make a slick, high intensity fighting game. The trailers for the latest version on the Wii U are just a testimony to how good the series is as a whole. We may take it for granted now but this was an unprecedented mash-up when first announced, but it’s also gone on to be one of the greatest ever. Thanks Nintendo.
The gaming world almost seems to invite weird hybrids and they’ve often proven to be of a high quality. A pinball RPG may sound odd but Rollers of the Realm is only the latest effort by a game developer to push the boundaries. Some mash-ups have become normal, even canonical. But don’t forget all of them started as a quiet ‘what if?’ in the back of someones head.