A rather unexpected announcement from Nokia came in the form of the Mile High Pinball press release earlier this year. I had never envisioned a pinball game as a fully-fledged N-Gage mobile title, but now I am surprised that they didn't think of it sooner. My initial thoughts were that this was a pinball game with a twist - I'd possibly get a few days' play out of it and then pop it on the shelf. Boy was I wrong - this game grips you like a badger waiting to hear a bone break! The game's release has been slightly overshadowed by titles like ONE and Pathway to Glory 2, but seriously, check out the demo at least; it is sure to surprise you.

Nokia have completely nailed the mobile game concept on the head with Mile High Pinball, and this is what has come from two years of developing mobile games for the N-Gage. I would go as far as to say that this is the perfect mobile title; it's available and suitable for anytime. You can play this for ten minutes, or for hours on end - I have. I've been late for work because of this thing! There are zero loading times, so you are on the pinball boards within twenty seconds of booting the game, or less. Little or no loading times is vital for mobile gaming, as you are most likely to play mobile games to kill a few moments here and there, and you certainly don't want to wait for levels to load. You can save anywhere; even if your ball is in mid air, you will resume exactly where you left off. Instant play, no matter how much or how little free time you have, is the order of the day.

What an amazing concept - an almost never ending pinball table, constantly changing and surprising the player with different challenges and hidden areas on almost every table. Ten times better than any of the run-of-the-mill pinball simulators out there, these guys went a massive step further. The goal is to climb the Mile High tower, with only a pair of flippers and your balls. On the way you can pick up tons of power ups, some good, some not so good. The power ups include bonus multipliers, cash multipliers, damage multipliers or a combination of all three in one. Maybe a little bit of overkill on the multipliers, but this is pinball after all. Some other erratic inclusions are invisible ball power ups, which make your pinball disappear, so you find yourself frantically hitting the flipper keys to make sure your ball does not fall down to the level below! If that happens, you must make your way back up the table, or use a power up to warp you back to the previous table, provided you've picked up that particular item. This is by all means not a relaxing game; it is fast paced and you must always be thinking one step ahead, watching your pinball and trying to work out the puzzles. Most of the puzzles involve striking a number of items on the table to unlock a gateway to the next table. They do become more intricate as you go along, but the same premise is recurring; beat the puzzle, beat the enemies and level up.

Enemies appear on every third table or so and sometimes they are accompanied by a sort of 'table boss'. These never prove overly difficult; all you really need to do is hit them with your pinball and knock their energy gauge to zero. Equip a double or triple damage power up and you should make light work of your alien foes. Cash points appear in place of defeated enemies, so collect them if you can. This currency can be used to buy power ups in the Mile High store, which appears from time to time on the board. Power ups can be activated easily; press and hold the 9 key to bring up the items menu, which pauses the gameplay and allows you to cycle the available power ups. Releasing the 9 key activates a power up. In keeping with simple menu controls, the only buttons you need to control the game are the D-pad left and 5 keys, for the left and right flippers respectively. This control scheme works well and is comfortable, even after long periods of play. As with most N-Gage games, the controls are fully customisable.

I do not know who composed the soundtrack to this game, but whoever it was is a musical genius! From the world sounds of the jungle themes, to the Castlevania-esque cathedral, to the funkatropolis and beyond, it's one hell of a soundtrack. Throw in some genuine pinball sounds, along with original enemy and power up sounds, and you have a very unique audio experience - only slightly hindered by the less than great sounding N-Gage QD's audio hardware - which in the past has been known to sound fuzzy and broken in places.

How do the balls look? They look smooth, colourful and most of all, round. There are quite a number of balls available from the start, but more are available to unlock. The tables are also very pleasing to the eye; you start on the jungle floor, looking at a gushing waterfall, and the further up you go, the more you see; planes, birds flying by, volcanoes, the works. Objects on the tables glow and glisten, crystals and orbs to name but a few. As a sort of 'easter egg', Nokia has thrown a few extra tables into the game, which have been decked out in the style of previous N-Gage game titles, like Ashen, Glimmerati and Pathway to Glory.

The replay value is totally there. You can upload your final score and balls for everyone to see on the arena. The temptation of playing through again and experimenting with varying power ups is also heavily present. The multiplayer mode allows two players to face off wirelessly over the N-Gage's local Bluetooth connection. The game of pinball has been around for decades, you have played it and most likely, so have your parents, so Mile High Pinball's gameplay won't expire anytime soon.

Mile High Pinball shows that Nokia's in-house games are proving to be the best on the system, especially the instant play titles that follow the Snakes ideal. Is it illegal to be this addicted to a video game? If it is, then lock me up, because I'm guilty - I cannot for the life of me put this thing down! If you are only buying one game this year for N-Gage, let it be this one; you will get 110% of your money's worth with a game that is almost guaranteed to go down (or up, in this case) well with any type of gamer.

Reviewed by Dan Whelan for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).