It's strange how one game blends into the next for some developers. I doubt there are many players that would notice that a game's codebase sharing programming and systems from another game unless the games come stamped with an Unreal Engine logo. Those with a keen eye might be able to spot a texture reused from one game in another. But what can be easiest to spot but hardest to put into words is when a game designer takes experiences from one game and adapts them to into another. Before we can really talk about Odama, we have to remind ourselves of Yoot Saito's previous console effort, Seaman. Sega fans will remember this surreal pet sim where the player feeds and communicates with a human-face amphibian. It was painfully obvious that Saito's dream was to go beyond feed/clean/play-cycle of most pet sims and create something that the player would converse with as a sentient being. But somewhere between design and execution it must have been obvious that his vision couldn't quite be achieved with the voice recognition technologies at the time. For his follow up console game, Saito realized that the technology he created worked best when "looking" for a small list of phrases rather then leaving the door for interpretation wide open.

Published by Nintendo not long ago in the spring of 2006, Odama takes this much more simple approach to voice interactivity and runs with it. Taking the role of the inexperienced general, Yamanouchi Kagetora, players must command armies in an effort to avenge Kagetora's father and take back control of his land from the notorious Karasuma Genshin. Over the course of the game, you take back your land one piece at a time through vicious battles. Sounds like standard stuff so far, no? To command his forces on the battle field the player will call the troops orders through the game's included microphone. The instructions are kept simple: Left, Right, Advance, Attack, Retreat, etc. While it's strange at first, the act of barking your orders over the mic feels, for the lack of a better word, "real." It just made sense, even if the troops didn't always listen to me. While I can remember the last time I had to give directions over the phone, I can't remember the last time I've ever directed people by pointing with an abstract cursor like most RTS games. The fact that the troops work with a slight pack mentality only helped reinforce the chaotic nature of war.

The second "odd" thing about Odama is the game's pinball elements. Yes, pinball. While you're ordering people around on the battlefield, you'll be using the controller to tilt, flip, and fling your greatest weapon around the battlefield, the Odama. This giant ball has the power to wreck all that stands before it, friend or foe. Few things compare to sense of reward when sending the juggernaut through a series of wooden structures and into a cluster of enemies. But there are drawbacks to the weapon. It will not spare your troops from its wrath. Entire battles can be won or lost with a flick from one of the flippers on the "field." Anyone with a passing interest in the history of Pinball might find a few nods to some the most famous tables around.

The goal of each battle is transport your clan's Ninten-Bell to the end of the battlefield. Carried by hand, the heavy bell has the power to clear the entire field of enemies when it reaches the opposite side of the field. The player will be required to use the Odama and their troops effectively to clear the way for the bell. While early fields feature pretty direct routes, some of the more difficult fields will have the player creating pathways and bridges in order to complete the stage. Players are even able to make use of the bells powers mid-battle by ringing it with the Odama. The deep ringing will knock enemies to their feet and allow the Odama to steal the souls of the foes it flattens.

If there is one criticism to be made of the game's otherwise delightfully innovative design it would have to be the difficulty. You will go from an easy tutorial level into what will come off as one of the most difficult second levels ever created. I attribute this to fact that Odama heavily relies on interactions that most players are not accustomed to using and that there is no element on the screen that is directly controlled by the player. The player only influences Troops as well as they direct the Odama. This lack of direct control may be infuriating at first, but as I got used to a stage's rhythm, process and progression, I felt as though I was actually commanding something instead of pointing an AI to go places. It's only after I really thought about this point that I was finally able to connect the seemingly "opposite" genres, where Pinball and RTS intersect. Suddenly the strange didn't seem so strange after all.

Unfortunately, it seems that few reviewers were able to reach the gaming Nirvana that I feel Odama can offer to the open-minded gamer. On initial release, most reviewers complained over difficulty, said the graphics weren't up to par and never looked back. It's a shame that they choose to miss out on one of the most unique experiences the GameCube had to offer. In my eyes, it's equally shameful that fussy Wii owners complain about the lack of "hardcore" games then completely look past Odama as if any game with a mic is "casual." In a time when cookie-cutter remakes and rip-offs fill retail shelves, it's a disgrace that experiments like Odama are ignored while genuinely rethinking genres from the ground up. Quite simply, there is no game that is as bold, unafraid, and brave as Odama. That alone is makes the game worth an adventurous player's attention.