Odama (created by Yoot Saito and the Vivarium team, who were also responsible for creating Seaman on the Dreamcast) is similar to Defender in this context due to the amount of things happening on screen at once and the number of eyes and hands necessary for successful completion of some of its levels. It can switch from meandering along to all out panic in matter of a few seconds, and, like all good strategy games, the tide can turn in an instant.

The basic set-up of Odama is this: you have in front of you a battlefield; at the base of the screen are your troops and a pair of pinball flippers, controlled using the L and R buttons. At the start of each level, you are given a brief overview of the battlefield and a few main objectives are listed. As in pinball, your ball or Odama in this case, is launched onto the field of play, and again like pinball, your main objective is to keep it there for as long as possible without letting it slip between your flippers and seeing the Game Over sign. Then it starts to get complicated…

After your ball has launched, two men in nappies emerge from your base carrying the ‘Ninten-Bell’ and start to ponderously move up the screen to the exit at the top. Once they reach their objective, the level is over, which is easier said than done. The men in nappies are hindered on their way by opposing troops and they cannot be killed, only pushed back towards your flippers. If they are pushed back between them, the game is over.

You also have troops however, and they can be deployed at any time using the Z button. Deciding when and how many to deploy at any one time is crucial if victory is to be achieved. The fact that you can only have a certain number on the field at any one time also adds a further element to your strategy and stops you from swamping the field with men and creating easy victories. Unfortunately, the computer sometimes seems as though it has an endless supply of men, and this can cause frustration. So you have your troops, the computer has theirs, you have a reverse game of tug o' war over the bell and whoever has the most troops must surely win. This is where the Odama comes in to play.

Firing the Odama at either side’s troops results in them being crushed under it and knocked out for a few seconds. Hit them again and they will get a one-way ticket to video game heaven. To prevent yourself from constantly murdering your own troops, you can enchant the Odama with power-ups that are scattered around the level. You get these by knocking down small houses dotted around the playing field and then rolling over the power-up with your Odama. The most important of these is the green orb, which turns your Odama green for a few seconds and allows you to roll over your own troops without causing them any damage. But more importantly than that, any of the opposing troops rolled over become your troops.

You can also use red hearts to turn the NInten-Bell white, which must then be struck by the Odama to achieve the same effect. Using this tactic wisely can turn the tide massively in your favour: especially on levels where your troop numbers are limited. Turning the Odama green can sometimes send you into a bit of blind panic as you frantically try and hit as many of the opposition as possible. Trying to hit too many can sometimes result in you sending the Odama flying around the table without actually hitting any of the opposition. A clear head is needed at all times for victory.

Unfortunately for the player, the computer can also enchant the ball and perform the same trick on you. On certain levels, there are an opposing set of flippers at the top of the screen, which the computer uses to fire the Odama back at you. It can enchant it and turn it black, which means any of your troops hit by it will automatically turn to the dark-side. Fear not, for this is where your final trump-card come into play: the microphone!

Odama comes bundled with a microphone, which can be attached to your control pad and used to bellow orders at your troops. As well as the basic ‘push–forward’ and ‘fall-back’ you can also get your troops to attack certain areas of the map by moving the cursor over them and saying ‘rally’. This can be to knock down a ladder, open or close a gate, block the flow of a river or simply to collect some food. But it is most useful to wrest control of the computer’s flippers and turn them against it. Because the computer's flippers are much higher up the screen, gaining control of them gives you a strategic advantage and helps you to concentrate the Odama‘s power where it is needed.

Every four levels, a boss character appears and makes your life ten times harder. These guys have to be knocked to the ground with your Odama before you can cry ‘rally’ for your troops to attack him. They take several of these attacks to go down and are incredibly difficult to take out in the allotted time. You can pick up power-ups for additional time but these are few and far between on some levels and you still need to get your Ninten-Bell through the exit after taking out the boss.

Time is the main issue in Odama as you frequently run out if it. Obviously this adds to the tension, and sometimes getting your men through the exit gate just as the clock is about to tick its final few seconds is exhilarating. More often than not however it can drive you nuts. Also of concern is the Odama itself, or more specifically, its trajectory around the field. As with regular pinball, the ball’s trajectory is random, coerced only by your ability with the flippers. And as with normal pinball, sometimes the ball disappears between your flippers and there’s nothing you can do about it. However, as Odama is a strategy game, spending ten minutes getting your troops into the perfect position and driving the Ninten-Bell up the field of battle, only for the ball to hit a random bump and go hurtling between your flippers can drive you to the point of insanity. There is a tilt feature, which lets you adjust the angle of the table and on some of the levels you can use this to ‘hold’ the ball in the corner for a few seconds at a time. This can be quite useful, but having the Odama out of play stops the flow of the game and detracts from the game's unique element.

Unfortunately, other elements of the game spoil it to some extent. Speech bubbles pop up from your men to tell you what they want to do, but can often obscure your view of the Odama. The time limit is incredibly harsh on some levels and sometimes the computer seems to have an unlimited supply of men at its disposal. More problematic is the overly complex nature of the controls and the necessity to remember to use the microphone while keeping an eye on three different things at once. The game frequently feels ‘unfair’ and as every gamer knows, this is a cardinal sin. However, it certainly is fun and although crushing men with a giant ball isn’t as satisfying or visceral as you might hope, it’s still enjoyable.