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Odd Idea - But Tons of Fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: April 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

At first glance, Odama seems like a combination of quite disparate ideas. You're playing pinball - but your board is a real time strategy game with infantry, cavalry, towers and rivers. You use a microphone to issue orders, too!

The microphone comes with a clip to attach to your controller, and with it you issue commands to your troops - advance, move left, move right, press forward, rally, and so on. We didn't find any problem at all with the troops understanding what we were saying and responding enthusiasically.

In fact, the troop movement was a great deal of fun! Your troops aren't just mindless automatons. They have unique little personalities. If you keep telling your troops to press into a dangerous situation, they'll start to call out "Are you crazy?!" and "I don't want to die!" If you send them into a raging river, you'll get "glub glub" as they wash downstream, or "tell my kids I love them". On the other hand, if you're directing them to success, they'll cheer with each command and call out encouragements to you. It really is quite involving!

On the pinball side, think of it more like a giant Evil Katamari of Death. You launch the ball at enemies, rolling over them and sometimes having them attach to the ball. You aim at columns of cavalry. You break down towers, open up floodgates, demolish groups of infantry. You have to be careful - your ball can harm your own troops, too. However, if you bash your ball into the bell, the gonging turns your ball green. Suddenly your own troops are safe - and enemies will instantly convert when touched!

The graphics are good - you can easily see which troops are yours and which are enemies. The rolling ball and moving troops are smooth. It's done in a relatively realistic style. It's about as good as the GameCube can offer. The sound fits into the game as well - not over the top, but it helps to add atmosphere to the game.

The game only has 11 levels, which is pretty short. On the other hand, the levels are all sequential. If you get the maximum amount of troops to win level 1, that is what you start with in level 2. It gives you a lot of incentive to replay a level to do extremely well there. Otherwise, you could end up in the later levels with so few troops that you simply can't win.

There is also a free play mode that lets you sandbox a bit, if you just want a quick game of fun.

Well recommended!

A modern cult classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The world of gaming is filled with been-there-done-that RPGs, sports titles that are the same year after year, button-mashing fighters, and racing games where you, um, just race. And it's sad to know that the only games that are still dominating the market are the usual noteworthy franchises. Because new revolutionary elements are sorely lacking nowadays, gaming always relies on the same familiar series to make sure it's up and running, which is fine but sometimes we need something to come along to get away from all that. I was in the store one afternoon and came across Odama for the Nintendo GameCube. If you thought you saw everything you could have possibly have seen in a game, don't make that thought official just yet.

In Odama, you play as a general in feudal Japan commanding troops to escort a bell across battlefields while using the Odama to your aid against opponents. As its description suggests, it's a unique combination of pinball and military wargame, so you can just imagine what type of action you`ll be expecting. You come equipped with a microphone, which you will speak commands to your soldiers, telling them to do various things including rallying to designated points or pressing forward against the enemy. Sounds easy, right? Not quite. While guiding your troops and combating enemy forces, you have to be careful not to kill your own troops or losing the Odama. It's pure hectic mayhem onscreen, and you'll be keeping on your feet most of the time with many things happening at once. It's a relatively short game (with only eleven levels and a free play mode), but the experience from being victorious each time makes up for the lack of length.

What impressed me the most was how the game, despite its simple premise, utilized virtually every button on the GameCube's controller. While this may sound like it's cumbersome, the frustration lends itself to something challenging and makes you want to tackle the level until victory. For a simple concept as this, the application of its control scheme was surprisingly more deep than previously imagined. Those who are looking for a gorgeous-looking game, look elsewhere. The graphics aren't anything to go gaga over, but they are appropriate enough that you won't notice. The sound, however, is top notch. Not only does soundtrack have a sweeping orchestral score, all the dialogue and audio is spoken in the Japanese language (with English subtitles, of course). It's pretty fitting with the game's thematic elements as well its visual flair. A decent overall presentation.

I can make a surefire bet right now that there will be gamers out there who are going to read this glowing review of mine and buy the game, only to spend little time with it and end up returning or selling it afterwards. Well that's their problem, and this is a game that isn`t for everyone. As far as I'm concerned, I've never had a frustratingly quirky yet fun outing like this for a long time, if ever. They took a classic arcade favorite and fused it with a culturally charged theme along with voice recognition. Now you can't get any more satisfyingly original and funky than that. Don't let the awkwardly clunky controls and reflex-oriented action deter you from playing all the way to the end. Despite its flaws, Vivarium and Nintendo managed to take a risk and come out with something new that works. It's fresh, innovative, and doesn't take too much of your time. And shouldn't that be the role of games anyway?

Excellent Potential, with serious flaws

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Odama had the potential to be a brilliant and amazing game. It has a LOT going for it. The Japanese war theme is thoroughly genuine and really "puts" you in the game. The voice commands are sharp and reactive, and your personal narrator is witty. The sense of destruction is entirely satisfying, and crushing buildings and enemies with the Odama is quite realistic (relative to the premise of course).

But here is where Odama takes a SERIOUS blow and fails in a big way. The levels are TIMED - quite short, with almost no opportunity to add time to the clock. Where ANY level could be passed with enough effort, the time limit inhibits corrections of mistakes, and in general inhibits casual playing. Once you make a mistake in this game, there is no going back. You just start over.

Also, because this IS a pinball game, there is a great deal of luck involved. You may struggle through and fail a mission over and over, even though you are doing the right things, all because of the luck of the ball. Or on the same hand, you may win a mission in record time. The flippers do not hit the ball where physics says it should.

As a final note: I recommend this game ONLY to serious players who have a masochistic love of failure, or to those who find the value in experiencing a truly unique idea, however flawed and imperfectly executed.

Finally! Something fresh and fun!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In a world of same old, same old video games, it's a pleasure to play a game that is unique and fun. There is really no other games like this around.

I was suprised to see how effectively the two game types could be combined so effectively. The balance between the them is executed very well, though it is challengeing to get the coordination of the sending the pinball (the odama) into action and guiding your soldiers to victory. At least at first.

I have read other reviews in other places that hack on the "poor" graphics, but I honestly don't think it's poorly executed graphics as much as they went for a look that resembled medievel Japanese art. I personally like the look of the game.

If you are a gamer who actually enjoys fun and innovative games, and is tired of the endless stream of first person shooters, racing games and criminal thug games, give it a try. Kudos to Nintendo for trying to bring true fun and gaming back from the dead!

Quite possibly, the best console game of 2006.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a game owners of expensive Xbox360's will be jealous about. Proving it doesn't take fancy HDTV's and overpriced consoles to have an amazing game.

What we have here is a mix of strategy wargame and pinball that is unlike anything you have ever played before. Toss in an included microphone, and a wide range of voice commands for your troops, and you have a totally unique experiance!

Superb themed graphics, a fantastic asian soundtrack, authentic asian voice all add to the quality of the game. Be advised, Pinball games aren't a cakewalk, and this is no different. Be prepared to play hard to win some levels, but the rewards are amazing.

Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It's a very good, unique new game that is extremely interesting and will be a rush when you play it. i say this because so many things are going on at once, but after playing for 30 minutes it became really easy to handle the tasks. a fun challenging game that doesn't involve hot coffee or the covenant.

A fun starter game for GameCube

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This was a perfect starter game for my boys (7 & 11)--fun and challenging without it being impossible--lots of strategy to learn in the different levels of the game. The one drawback is that you need to buy a memory card separately in order to save the game every time you play.

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