The pinball and role-playing genres aren't an obvious match, which might explain why

The game also stumbles where production values are concerned, but not consistently. Character portraits feature unevenly drawn eyes and distorted features, which can't entirely be explained away even when you remember that they are elsewhere represented by pinballs. The voice actors for some characters--particularly the heroine and the knight--do a great job, while some others fall flat or come across as caricatures. The music is suitably stirring but never memorable, and sound effects are both generic and unlikely to remind you of any pinball table you may have ever heard.

The aforementioned arena mode might easily have offered some additional depth, but instead, it is content to revisit a few familiar tables once you advance far enough in the campaign. They're no teresting the second time around than they were the first, unless you are especially anxious to show up any of your friends who may have posted a score to the leaderboards. Your secondary prize for playing in an arena is additional gold that you can then spend in the campaign, but you only get to keep a tiny portion of your earnings, which is just irritating.

One final problem is the possibility that you will be left high and dry right near the end of the campaign. Difficulty progression is uneven throughout the experience, but it's still not terribly difficult to advance to a late stage. You can easily backtrack to previously completed areas to gain the experience and gold that will allow you to recruit additional team members and outfit them with the best gear. If nothing else, doing so gives you a few extra chances at a tough table. However, you might be tempted to avoid the hassle until an unexpectedly challenging event or two suddenly comes along, at which point you no longer are allowed to retrace your steps.

Like Pinball Quest before it, Rollers of the Realm is good enough at what it does to prove that a pinball and RPG mashup has potential. This isn't the game to live up to that promise, however. Its flaws are too numerous, and its strengths seldom manage to work in concert. The end result is more disappointing than it is entertaining, which is a real pity if it means another 25-year delay before someone takes the next crack at doing the concept justice.