Odama

Overview

Odama is a real-time strategy game from the mind of Yoot Saito, published by Nintendo. The goal of the game is to bring a giant bell back to the castle gates by ordering soldiers through the Gamecube microphone.

Plot

Feudal Japan, 1539. Japan is divided by war and its leader, Yamanouchi Nobutada, is surrounded by conspiracy. He believes that one of his most loyal followers is about to betray and murder him. Instead of waiting for the betrayal, he decides to commit suicide. Extremely enraged by the death of his father, Yamanouchi Kagetora, decides to wage war against all the lords of Japan. He believes that he has an edge over his enemies: he thinks the Gods are on his side and summons the Gods who give him the Odama, a giant rolling ball and prized possession of the Kagetora family brought back from China during the Tang dynasty. However, the ball can only be activated by ringing the Ninten bell, a mystical bell that symbolizes God's voice. Yamanouchi wishes to bring the bell back to his castle and become the only ruler of Japan.

Gameplay

Odama is a real-time strategy game disguised as a pinball game. Each match starts with a set amount of troops that are sent on to the pinball table. The player controls the flippers and tries to destroy the enemy's defenses by knocking the Odama into things. Each table has different mechanisms that can be triggered such as bridges that must be activated so the soldiers can carry the Ninten Bell over a river or trigger a trap for enemies.

Your troops are weak. Their strength depends on their morale and their morale can only be boosted with a steady stream of rice. When two different troops face each other, numbers appear to indicate who will win, this number depends on morals. There must be enough troops to transport the bell in order to complete the level and game over is when all troops are dead or you run out of continues with the Odama ball. Furthermore, you can kill your own troops with the Odama ball (if the ball is moving slowly, the troops will dodge it). The only way to prevent this from happening is by getting a power up which will surround the ball with a green aura, preventing it from killing your own troops while capturing enemy troops and converting them to allies.Your troops are controlled via the GameCube microphone. Troops can understand simple commands such as advance, retreat, execute and other words. If morale is low, the troops will not listen to your orders.