An unique twist on pinball that ends up falling flat.

Sometimes video games can get a little too repetitive.

Whether it’s the monotony of yet another Call of Duty with unchanging gameplay, or a sequel being a rehash of the original like Dishonored 2, it may seem like developers are taking the lazy way out when it comes to designing their games.

While some releases do happen to screw things up, there are many that take interesting ideas and spin them into gold.

While we could probably spend the better part of the day discussing what games managed to do this – and make a name for the developer – what won’t take long is pointing out that Bounce Arcade, developed by Velan Studios (Knockout City, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit), is absolutely not one of them.

What may seem like an interesting idea – playing pinball from the perspective of the inside of the machine – ends up being a boring and uninspired idea that gets repetitive too quickly.

Now to be fair, pinball played the regular way can get boring pretty fast. There really is only so long you can stand there pushing the paddle buttons, just to have the ball hit the same bumpers over and over. However, Bounce Arcade brings you closer to that “action” as your hands become the paddles that push the ball around.

This means you’re even closer to the boring mechanics that make up pinball.

Launched on the Quest series of headsets Nov. 21, virtual reality (VR) enthusiasts who wish to play pinball from this new perspective can pick up the game for $26.99.

Considering the price and what gameplay includes, you may be more entertained by going to an arcade every once in a while and playing one game of regular pinball, then lighting $25 plus tax on fire.

Or, you could grab a few drinks after that pinball game, dealer’s choice.

Gameplay is pretty simple here: as mentioned you are inside the pinball machine and your hands are the paddles. Upon starting a game – or needing a new ball –  you hold down the trigger to launch the ball. Once the ball is out there, your hands are circular paddles that allow you to hit the ball back towards the cabinet world around you.

Paddles react pretty well, but sometimes it seems as if there is no real power behind your hits. In these instances whether you just let the ball bounce off, or you push forward with intensity, it doesn’t seem as if you need to make an effort with your movements. This is a far cry from playing regular pinball where hitting the ball with force actually launches it forward.

The ball physics here also seem to be pretty pathetic, as oftentimes it will float towards you slower than a fat guy on the “lazy river” ride. Considering the ball can float pretty much anywhere within the VR space, gravity seems non-existent and is definitely something that needs to be fixed.

In Bounce Arcade you are also given the ability to draw the ball in towards you, and then direct it towards a target.

Beyond this, there’s really not much else to playing the game – aside from the mini-games that can pop up in each of the four themed cabinets.

Just so you know, there are currently four themes – pirates, space, western, and haunted mansion – and there is currently no word on whether there will be DLC. However, unless Velan Studios wants Bounce Arcade to become irrelevant like their previous games, they’re going to need to be working on and regularly adding themes.

Jumping back quickly to the mini games, some are more engaging than others – in the western cabinet your paddles turn to guns to shoot the bad guys, while in space you break up asteroids. While some may find this entertaining, many of the games are not; considering this was supposed to be the highlight of the game when it was announced, its failure makes this game more of a disappointment.

Graphics here are alright, but they’re nothing to write home about. The world around you is clearly not supposed to look real, but they don’t stand out like they could on a headset such as the Quest 3. Considering what this headset has proven it can do, it’s not as if there is too much going on that they couldn’t improve the looks beyond Quest 2 standards.

Thing’s aren’t quite to the standard of say a game like Metro Awakening, but it’s certainly not as ugly something like Arashi Castles of Sin: Final Cut. Compared to some other releases of late on the Quest, this is definitely sitting squarely in the middle of the pack, based on looks.

Beyond this, the game does not really have much going for it – unless you’re extremely competitive and enjoy chasing high scores – and it will probably become wasted money that you’ll uninstall in favour of a better game, sooner rather than later.

Bounce Arcade ends up being very much like the failed games that Velan Studios has created in the past – Mario Kart Live was a janky expensive mess that infantile kids enjoyed, while Knockout City ended up shutting down after two years because players didn’t care.

With a minimal selection of themes, which hold only a handful of mini games that are annoying to activate and – some – less than entertaining to play, this game does kinda live up to the name of pinball – boring and eventually becoming a waste of space you pass by on the way to something better.

Unless you absolutely know you’re going to be spending hours on this game going for a high score, pass it by and don’t waste your money on this dud. If anything, Velan Studios has shown that playing inside the pinball machine is about as revolutionary as wiping your ass with sandpaper.

And that’ll probably hurt less than losing money buying this game.

Bounce Arcade, was reviewed after purchasing from the Quest store at full price.