Odama
{{Short description|2006 video game}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2008}}
{{Infobox video game
| image = Odama.jpg
| caption = North American box art
| developer = Vivarium
Studiofake
| publisher = Nintendo
| director = Keiji Okayasu
| producer = Yoot Saito
| designer = Yoot Saito
Takuya Jinda
| programmer = Shintarou Kawahara
Kanta Kobayashi
Tsuyoshi Inada
Takuya Oba
| released = {{Video game release|EU|March 31, 2006|NA|April 10, 2006{{Cite web |title=Odama Released - Press Release |url=http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/pr/11278/odama-released |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=Nintendo World Report}}|JP|April 13, 2006}}
| genre = Pinball, real-time tactics
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = GameCube
| title = Odama
}}
Odama{{efn|{{nihongo|Odama|大玉|Ōdama|lit. "Great Ball"}}}} is a video game for the GameCube developed by Vivarium and Studiofake{{Cite web |title=ファンコーポレーション {{!}} FUN Corporation WORKS 主要業務実績 |url=https://www.funco.co.jp/works |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=ファンコーポレーション {{!}} FUN Corporation |language=ja}} and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. The game was produced and designed by Seaman creator Yoot Saito. It is the penultimate GameCube game to be published by Nintendo, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Odama blends tactical wargaming with pinball gameplay. The game takes place in a feudal Japan setting. The main character is a young general named Yamanouchi Kagetora, who is intent on avenging his father's death by reviving the most ingenious weapon ever to hit the medieval battlefield: the Odama. The Odama is a gigantic ball powerful enough to destroy whatever it strikes, friend or foe. Using giant flippers, players aim the Odama to bowl over enemies, shatter their defenses and wreak havoc on the battlefield. With the GameCube Microphone, players direct their soldiers out of the Odama's way and into the fray by charging the enemy, defending positions and seizing the enemy gates.
Plot
The main character in Odama is Yamanouchi Kagetora, a young general struggling to avenge his clan and preserve the Way of Ninten-do, which is a philosophy that means "The way of heavenly duty". With this philosophy to guide him, he finds that his individual soldiers can band together to create a force strong enough to defeat even the most powerful enemy, a general named Karasuma Genshin. Genshin betrayed Lord Yamanouchi Nobutada, Kagetora's father, in a coup, leading Lord Nobutada to take his own life in order to avoid the shame of defeat. Kagetora exacts his revenge, using only limited resources against a vast army. One of these resources is a sacred object protected by his clan: a legendary weapon called the Odama.
Gameplay
The player controls flippers, which operate exactly like those in a pinball game: they strike the Odama back into the battlefield, directing it into targets and away from soldiers. Between the two flippers, the commander stands guard, hacking down any soldiers who attempt to pass. Players can tilt the battlefield, allowing them to alter the course of the Odama. The goal is to shatter the enemy gates with the Odama and direct a crew of men carrying a giant bell to pass through the opened gates. Players' soldiers will defend their crew and seize enemy positions to protect their men on the mission.
The GameCube Microphone was included with the game. Using the Microphone, players direct soldiers by giving voice commands. There are 11 commands, ranging from generic (moving left and right, advancing and retreating) to map-specific and special moves.
Development
Odama was developed by Vivarium and chiefly designed by Yoot Saito, the creator of Seaman for the Dreamcast.{{cite web | first=Ellie | last=Gibson | date=January 6, 2006 | title=Miyamoto talks Odama | url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news060106miyamoto | website=Eurogamer | access-date=May 1, 2011 | archive-date=October 9, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009011424/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news060106miyamoto | url-status=live }}{{cite web | first=Dan | last=Dormer | date=January 13, 2006 | title=Odama Gets Release Date | url=http://www.1up.com/news/odama-release-date | website=1UP.com | access-date=January 16, 2016 | archive-date=March 10, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310142253/http://www.1up.com/news/odama-release-date | url-status=live }} The actual development was outsourced to Studiofake, a company that is uncredited for its work save for director Keiji Okayasu. According to Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto, the publisher was initially taken aback by the game's curious mix of pinball and real-time tactics and Saito's initial pitch, "I want to make a pinball game set in feudal Japan." However, Saito eventually convinced them after creating a demo of the game.
Odama debuted at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2004. This version of the game showcased the use of the DK Bongos, which allowed a second player to raise troop morale and distract enemy troops by repeatedly beating the drums.{{cite web | author=IGN Staff | date=May 11, 2004 | title=E3 2004: Odama Unveiled | url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/12/e3-2004-odama-unveiled | website=IGN | access-date=January 16, 2016 | archive-date=March 22, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322071912/http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/12/e3-2004-odama-unveiled | url-status=live }} However, this feature was absent from its E3 showing the next year and dropped prior to the game's release.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| MC = 62 of 100{{cite web | title=Odama for GameCube Reviews | url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/odama/critic-reviews/?platform=gamecube | website=Metacritic | access-date=January 16, 2016 | archive-date=July 19, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719195230/https://www.metacritic.com/game/gamecube/odama | url-status=live }}
| Edge = 4 of 10{{cite magazine | author=Edge staff | title=Odama | magazine=Edge | issue=162 | date=May 2006 | page=90}}
| EGM = 5.83 of 10{{cite magazine | author=EGM staff | title=Odama | magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly | issue=204 | date=June 2006 | page=119}}
| GI = 7 of 10{{cite magazine | first=Matt | last=Miller | title=Odama | url=http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/0D68CE06-1497-454A-9FBD-E9084D5A3B86.htm | magazine=Game Informer | issue=155 | date=March 2006 | page=112 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060408154645/http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/0D68CE06-1497-454A-9FBD-E9084D5A3B86.htm | archive-date=April 8, 2006 | url-status=dead | access-date=January 16, 2016}}
| GamePro = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine | author=Long Haired Offender | date=April 10, 2006 | title=Review: Odama | url=http://gamepro.com/nintendo/gamecube/games/reviews/53240.shtml | magazine = GamePro | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902133858/http://gamepro.com/nintendo/gamecube/games/reviews/53240.shtml | archive-date = September 2, 2006 | url-status=dead | access-date=January 16, 2016}}
| GameRev = C+{{cite web | first=Joe | last=Dodson | date=April 21, 2006 | title=Odama Review | url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/odama | publisher=Game Revolution | access-date=January 16, 2016 | archive-date=September 8, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908035455/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/odama | url-status=live }}
| GSpot = 6.6 of 10{{cite web | first=Ryan | last=Davis | date=April 11, 2006 | title=Odama Review | url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/odama-review/1900-6147488/ | website=GameSpot | access-date=January 16, 2016 | archive-date=January 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124203241/http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/odama-review/1900-6147488/ | url-status=live }}
| GSpy = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web | first=Bryn | last=Williams | date=April 11, 2006 | title=GameSpy: Odama | url=http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/odama/701217p1.html | publisher=GameSpy | access-date=September 26, 2012 | archive-date=December 15, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215031758/http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/odama/701217p1.html | url-status=live }}
| GT = 6.5 of 10{{cite web | title=Yoot Saito's Odama [sic] Review Text | url=http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/ubanqu/yoot-saito-s-odama-review | publisher=GameTrailers | date=April 11, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624134900/http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/ubanqu/yoot-saito-s-odama-review | archive-date=June 24, 2015 | url-status=dead | access-date=January 16, 2016}}
| NP = 8.5 of 10{{cite magazine | title=Odama | magazine=Nintendo Power | volume=203 | date=May 2006 | page=92}}
| rev1 = The A.V. Club
| rev1Score = C−{{cite news | first=Josh | last=Modell | date=May 10, 2006 | title=Odama | url=http://www.avclub.com/article/odama-9026 | newspaper=The A.V. Club | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511195427/http://www.avclub.com/content/node/48306 | archive-date=May 11, 2006 | url-status=live | access-date=January 16, 2016}}
| rev2 = Detroit Free Press
| rev2Score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news | first=Jim | last=Schaefer | date=April 29, 2006 | title=Squash the Samurai | url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060430/ENT06/604300319/1044 | newspaper=Detroit Free Press | access-date=January 16, 2016 | archive-date=October 25, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025014350/http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060430/ENT06/604300319/1044 | url-status=live }}
| award1Pub = IGN
| award1 = 2006 Most Innovative Design
}}
The game received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of three eights and one seven for a total of 31 out of 40.
Odama won IGN's Most Innovative Design for a GameCube game in 2006.{{cite web | title=Best of 2006: Most Innovative Design (GameCube) | url=http://bestof.ign.com/2006/cube/31.html | website=IGN | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110001254/http://bestof.ign.com/2006/cube/31.html | archive-date=January 10, 2007 | url-status=dead | access-date=January 16, 2016}}
{{clear}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
External links
- {{moby game|id=/gamecube/odama}}
- {{official website|http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/gooj/index.html}} {{in lang|ja}}
Category:GameCube microphone games
Category:Microphone-controlled video games
Category:Real-time tactics video games
Category:Video games about samurai
Category:Video games developed in Japan
Category:Video games set in feudal Japan