“Chalk and cheese” is a phrase usually used when comparing two objects of juxtaposing qualities. Such a phrase could be applied to the titles “Metroid Prime” and “Pinball”. Therefore it would be an amazing compliment to developers “Fuse Games” that they merged these two contrasting entities into a wonderful DS game. And it is.

Metroid Prime Pinball is a neat little game that takes many of the comprehensive landscapes from the original Metroid Prime game on the GameCube and shapes them into manageable and attractive pinball tables with none of the original character lost. As pinball tables these levels play alarmingly well - mainly due to some excellent physics programming. The ball responds exactly as you would expect it to as it bounces between various objects on the table. You’ll never feel cheated by the game – meaning every time you encounter an error you will know it was entirely your fault for switching off for a few seconds.

Being a Metroid game the main object of play is Samus Aran being in her Morph Ball mode, a touch similar to Sonic Spinball whereby you played as Sonic in his spindash form. You control the flippers with the L and R triggers and the action takes place over the two screens. It can be a little nauseating at first watching the action pass from between the top and bottom screen but it becomes easier the longer you spend with the game.

Included in the title are several main playing modes: multimission, single mission and multiplayer. The multiplayer mode is a simple high-score battle between 8-players which is fairly fun and can be enjoyed with just one cartridge thanks to the DS’ Download Play functionality.

Multi-mission is the main mode of play where you will come across various challenges as you rack up scores and will eventually be able to travel to new environments. These can then be used in the Single Mission which is essentially a high-score challenge on a single table.

Graphically Metroid Prime Pinball is nothing short of sensational, which is surprising considering the obvious limitations of a Pinball title. It’s the little touches that make this game so appealing, such as the rainstorm that randomly occurs on the Tallon Overworld table, reminiscent of the original Metroid game. It has a certain nostalgic charm that probably makes this game a lot more essential for the fans of the series but it is accessible for everyone none the less.

Being a Metroid game it would be a bit of a let down without some huge bosses to take on – but don’t worry – Fuse Games have packed in most of your favourites including the awesome Meta Ridley. Beating these enemies is a pretty simple case of hitting them hard and consistently with the ball but in Multimission mode there are times when Samus will stand up and fire at her enemies with her plasma rifle. In these sections Samus stands still and you turn with the L and R triggers. It adds an extra dimension to the game and some much needed variation to a genre that could be considered monotonous.

The only real annoying niggle I have with Metroid Prime Pinball is that there is no real tilt button. Instead you can bump the table by dragging your thumb across the touch screen. While this works and can relieve you of moments when your ball is going to head down the gutter it’s really tricky to get used to and quite a considerable distance for your thumb to have to reach. You do become accustomed to it but use of the D-Pad for tilt would have perhaps been a better option instead of forcing in needless touch screen controls.

Packaged with Metroid Prime Pinball is a neat little rumble pack which fits in the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot. Unfortunately it pokes out a little of the DS Lite which doesn’t look entirely neat but it gives a pretty decent feedback considering its size. While it’s not an entirely noticeable rumble – more a subtle vibration – it works perfectly for the type of game in question and adds a little something to the experience.

Metroid Prime Pinball was never going to be a groundbreaking game due to the confinements of its genre. It can get repetitive with essentially not much to offer but hitting a ball with a couple of flippers – however if you are of the “old-school” gaming mentality whereby beating your personal best scores is the main factor of replay value, you will get more than your moneys worth out of this game.

If you’re more into your long Zelda quests then I doubt you’ll enjoy this game as much as you should, which is a shame because the title is well presented and carefully put together.