Tardy Metroid Pinball Rolls Out in Summer

Nintendo explains why Europeans have had to wait 18 months for the DS game.

A rolling stone gathers no moss, but can a stationary morph ball grow mould?

Almost 18 months to the day after Metroid Prime Pinball rolled onto the DS in the US, Nintendo has announced that the mascot-flavoured pinball game is coming to Europe.

The game brings together the simple pleasures of pinball with the shooter antics of Samus Aran, saucy star of the Metroid series. The game is set over levels that ape those found in the more traditional instalments and there are enemies and bosses to take down too.

In addition to the singleplayer mode, there's also a wireless multiplayer mode that lets up to eight people play off one cartridge.

Nintendo has not confirmed whether the game will come with the rumble pack that accompanied the US and Japanese versions of the game and didn't return calls for clarification.

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Why has it taken so long for the game to make it to Europe? Nintendo told Kikizo that there was no particular reason. "Nintendo of Europe simply chose to release the game at this time," a company spokesperson said.

It could also be that the company was mired in European regulations related to the rumble pack, a culprit also reportedly responsible for the delay of tilt-sensing Game Boy Advance game Wario Ware Twisted. Nintendo has not formally addressed this possibility.

Metroid Prime Pinball will be out for DS on 22 June.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo