Xbox Pure Pinball: A Review

[goatdan]

The second in my series of Xbox games that I feel like reviewing is here. If you missed TMNT, you can find that here: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44678

Also, Joe if you want to stick any of these up on DP.com, by all means be my guest.

So, here goes review number 2...

Pure Pinball pretty much defines what it sets out to do in the title. Pur pinball is supposed to be a game of pinball that is as realistic as possible. I decided that I would be purchasing the game shortly after its release when I saw that they were trying to make the game as realistic as possible and that it would have four distinct tables. Being a huge pinball fan in a small apartment, I don't have room for four pins of my own right now (although I do own two at my parents house...) and I figured this would be a nice game... especially for $20.00 new. When I saw a used copy a few weeks after release for $16, and $1.60 off with my GameStop card, I figured that it was great. For four tables, I was paying less than $4.00 per pinball table.

Looking at the game's box and seeing some of the loading screens gives me my first gripe about this game -- while I have no problem with games that use sexuality as part of the game, such as a love story or even the prositution that goes on in GTA, I do take issue with games that seem to use scantilly clad women or offensive material for no reason. Pure Pinball features a picture of four women in various sexual positions. Why? Apparently, so that my wife can ask me what sort of game this is with these women on it and I can answer that I don't know why they're there. Then, I can get one of those "yeah, right" stares. I mean, check out the Web site for what I mean about this:

http://www.purepinball.com/

"Check out one of the girls above to check out the awesome table designs!" What the heck? Why do we have to make the game that sexual? It isn't a huge detraction, but it is wholly unnecessary.

Well, lets talk about the game itself. The game itself is very solid and the tables are quite awesome. The designers seem to have taken the route of "lets put everything cool into a pinball that they couldn't do in real life because of how expensive it would be." Because of that, you get tables with huge ramps, tons of pop bumpers and more flippers than you can shake a pinball at. The tables are very diverse, and have tons of different things you can do.

The problem is that there simply isn't a clear enough bunch of things to do on the tables. On great pinball tables like Midevil Madness, Addams Family or Jurassic Park, you were told that you had to shoot a ramp three times to get multiball, or three times to start a new mode, or five times to score 1 million points or whatever. On pure pinball, there is nothing like that. You shoot ramps over and over, and sometimes you'll get a combo and sometimes you won't. I still haven't figured out how to start multiball on two of the tables. Pinball tables should be simple enough for new players to jump in and understand right away, while still offering a challenge to older players. In this area, Pure Pinball falls flat. You have to figure out exactly what is going on to get the things to happen.

Another flaw is that somehow, none of the tables have skill shots. What the heck? Even games that fire the ball in like Jurassic Park have a video mode that awards you with extra points for doing something at the exact right time. Without a skill shot, the games don't quite feel right.

Something odd that I discovered while playing yesterday -- the rumble feature of the tables is very strange. It isn't in the fact that it goes off for just about everything (which, in itself is really strange) but it is the fact that all controllers that are hooked up to your Xbox shake. I had one on our entertainment center, and I fired up the game and all of a sudden I hear this loud "gggaaarrrrank" noise and see my second controller shaking one of our vases to the edge. Luckily, I paused the game and grabbed the vase before it fell off.

Other than it doing both controllers, the shaker is weird just because it goes off for everything. It's kind of like they wired it to EVERYTHING in the table, and there isn't another pin in the world like this. Thank god. It gets rather annoying, but if you turn it off it isn't that great either.

Here's where perhaps the biggest gripe about the game comes in -- the options, or lack thereof. You can turn on or off the rumble feature, but you can't adjust it. Not that big a deal, but you can NOT select how many balls you want to play with. Now, that wouldn't be too big of a deal if the tables didn't always run with 5 balls, but they do. My real pin game from 1983 has an option to run with five balls, but it wasn't the default option. In fact, I can't remember any game that I have played that wasn't an electro-mechanical game that gave out five balls. So why does this game?

Then, you have the option to turn on stuff in the room that the game is "in." Apparently, the only stuff that you can surround your game with is a wall and something that looks like a walker. If they were going to include this option, they should've put something better in there -- maybe an ad for the game on the wall or something. And seriously, what in the world is that walker thing doing here? It would have been extra cool if you could select your environment to put the game in -- bar, arcade, home, restaurant, etc. It wouldn't have been that hard, and it would've made it a lot cooler.

There seems to be no personal high score table, or if there is it isn't easy to find. I seem to remember that there was one, but I couldn't find it when I went looking for it yesterday. Without this, what's the point?

Some other smaller gripes:
- A few places on the tables, the physics are odd. You slowly hit a ball up a ramp, and it sits for too long before deciding to return.
- Music? I've played this game for a few hours since getting it, and if it has music I can't remember it at all. On the other hand, I can think of the music from Medeval Madness, even though I've only played it a handful of times. Either it isn't there, or it is completely forgetable.
- Goals. I have yet to find one that is clearly drawn out.
- Video modes. Most newer games have at least one. Not these.

Now, for a few things that the game does right:

- The control is dead on, and the accuracy is just about perfect too. You can figure out what the sweet spot is on the flipper and it works probably 90% of the time for hitting your shots -- about what it is in real life. I would actually suggest the original Xbox controller for controlling this game, as the size of it reminds me of an actual pinball machine.
- The sound of the ball and the stuff going on in the game is perfect. Never before have the thumps, flips and hits sounded so dead on.
- The tables themselves are beautiful to look at, and they are in full 3D. You have something like eight different ways to look at them, and while it seems that only a few are actually useful, they are nice to look at all the details on the table with.
- The game gives you little pinball facts as it is loading screens. These are actually very informative and interesting.

Overall, with all of this games shortcomings and everything else, I'm not totally disappointed by it. I have pulled it out from time to time to play it for short periods of time, but I know that I'm never going to want to sit down and play it for hours. For short bursts, the game is pretty decent though.

Overall Ratings:
Graphics - 9
Sound - 5
Control - 10
Gameplay - 4
Overall - 6

Again, gameplay is the most important factor in this one, and the lack of options and the lack of a clear set of shots definitely cuts it down. At the same time, I give it one overall point just for the fact that it only costs $20.00 new. If I had paid more than $20.00 for the game, I can guarantee I wouldn't have ranked it above a five, but for that price it's worth it to the huge pinball fan.

As an aside, Microsoft has a new Xbox pinball game coming out that will feature a bunch of real-world tables. Considering that I think that Microsoft's Pinball Arcade was actually the best pinball simulator to date and that it is supposed to be released for only $20.00 too, it may be that Pure Pinball has a HUGE competitor that will completely dominate it very, very soon.

[norkusa]

Great review, goatdan. I purchased the game on it's release date and pretty much agree with everything you stated. The graphics and controls are excellent but game options are weak and the tables are very generic. This game is also *screaming* for a custom soundtrack feature too, yet none was included.

One of my biggest problems with the game that you didn't address though is the Live Scoreboards. They don't work. Well, they work if you try uploading a score under 2,160,000,000. Anything higher that that simply won't post to the scoreboards. Most people might not have a problem with this, but it takes allot of the fun away from me since I'm always comparing my stats/scores with others on Xbox Live an trying to compete with them.

Gripes aside, PP really isn't a bad pinball game. Any fan of the genre would definitely get their moneys worth of enjoyment out of it. I'm really looking forward to Pinball Hall Of Fame though. Hopefully that'll have the great control and graphics of PP but include better tables.

[digitalpress]

Nice review, Dan! I'll certainly add this to the DP review section.

Have you ordered Pinball Hall of Fame? I believe it's coming out in a few days - similar concept but I'm pretty sure it replicates REAL machines - so your analogy to great old tables like Addams Family and Jurassic Park may be recognized by this next release.

[DaBargainHunta]

I will comment on the review later when I have more time to properly read and appreciate it. In the meantime, I have a quick question about something you mentioned:


As an aside, Microsoft has a new Xbox pinball game coming out that will feature a bunch of real-world tables. Considering that I think that Microsoft's Pinball Arcade was actually the best pinball simulator to date and that it is supposed to be released for only $20.00 too, it may be that Pure Pinball has a HUGE competitor that will completely dominate it very, very soon.
What game are you referring to exactly? I know about Pinball Hall of Fame, but I'm pretty positive that isn't a Microsoft product, as it's also coming to PS2. I'm a huge pinball fan, so I'm always interested in hearing about the latest pinball games.

[DaBargainHunta]

Have you ordered Pinball Hall of Fame? I believe it's coming out in a few days - similar concept but I'm pretty sure it replicates REAL machines - so your analogy to great old tables like Addams Family and Jurassic Park may be recognized by this next release.
I found some info on IGN. Instead of just C&Ping their article, I cleaned it up and put the tables in list format.

All of the tables in the game are Gottlieb tables.

The tables included are:

- Aces High
- Central Park
- Big Shot
- Genie
- Black Hole
- Victory
- Tee'd Off
- Additional secret bonus table

Plus: "In addition to single and multiplayer gameplay (consecutive, of course), players can also discover historical art and fun facts."

[goatdan]

As an aside, Microsoft has a new Xbox pinball game coming out that will feature a bunch of real-world tables. Considering that I think that Microsoft's Pinball Arcade was actually the best pinball simulator to date and that it is supposed to be released for only $20.00 too, it may be that Pure Pinball has a HUGE competitor that will completely dominate it very, very soon.

What game are you referring to exactly? I know about Pinball Hall of Fame, but I'm pretty positive that isn't a Microsoft product, as it's also coming to PS2. I'm a huge pinball fan, so I'm always interested in hearing about the latest pinball games.

Aw crap, I *was* referriing to Pinball Hall of Fame. I was under the impression that it had been a Microsoft development since Pinball Arcade had been from them, and that also featured Gottlieb tables.

And if I can find it, I will be getting Pinball Hall of Fame tomorrow. Look for that review in the December issue of GameRoom Magazine (http://www.gameroommagazine.com/) if I can find it tomorrow :D

Next review up -- Either NFL 2K5, Outlaw Volleyball or Star Wars: KOTOR. Thanks for being so positive everyone, I find this fun :D

[SoulBlazer]

If you're going to do KOTOR, you should do the PC version to be fair. I've owned and played both, and the PC version is hands down MUCH better, due to new content, easier controlers, and better graphics. It's kinda unfair considering the inferior console port of a game to another much better console (or PC) version that comes later -- look at GTA Double Pack, MGS 2, Halo, and Morrowind.

[goatdan]

If you're going to do KOTOR, you should do the PC version to be fair. I've owned and played both, and the PC version is hands down MUCH better, due to new content, easier controlers, and better graphics. It's kinda unfair considering the inferior console port of a game to another much better console (or PC) version that comes later -- look at GTA Double Pack, MGS 2, Halo, and Morrowind.

Well, I've only got the Xbox game, and I'm only going to review it as the Xbox game as a standalone. I don't read too many reviews before I get games, and I don't get much for my PC at all, so I think it will be fair :)

[SoulBlazer]

Oh, I'm sure that the review will be very fair, and both reviews you have done so far have been great. I just don't think the XBox version is the best one out there. It makes me even more eager to read your reviews. ;)

I'd suggest Outlaw Volleyball next -- not many reviews on that.

[norkusa]

I'd suggest Outlaw Volleyball next -- not many reviews on that.

Here's a review for Outlaw Volleyball....IT STINKS!

[DaBargainHunta]

Okay, gonna comment on parts of your review... :)


Looking at the game's box and seeing some of the loading screens gives me my first gripe about this game -- while I have no problem with games that use sexuality as part of the game, such as a love story or even the prositution that goes on in GTA, I do take issue with games that seem to use scantilly clad women or offensive material for no reason. Pure Pinball features a picture of four women in various sexual positions. Why? Apparently, so that my wife can ask me what sort of game this is with these women on it and I can answer that I don't know why they're there. Then, I can get one of those "yeah, right" stares. I mean, check out the Web site for what I mean about this:

http://www.purepinball.com/

"Check out one of the girls above to check out the awesome table designs!" What the heck? Why do we have to make the game that sexual? It isn't a huge detraction, but it is wholly unnecessary.
L O L !!! XS Games did the same exact thing with another one of its releases, Mobile Light Force 2 for the PS2. Do they really think cheesy cartoon women are going to sell more copies of their games?


Well, lets talk about the game itself. The game itself is very solid and the tables are quite awesome. The designers seem to have taken the route of "lets put everything cool into a pinball that they couldn't do in real life because of how expensive it would be." Because of that, you get tables with huge ramps, tons of pop bumpers and more flippers than you can shake a pinball at. The tables are very diverse, and have tons of different things you can do.

The problem is that there simply isn't a clear enough bunch of things to do on the tables. On great pinball tables like Midevil Madness, Addams Family or Jurassic Park, you were told that you had to shoot a ramp three times to get multiball, or three times to start a new mode, or five times to score 1 million points or whatever. On pure pinball, there is nothing like that. You shoot ramps over and over, and sometimes you'll get a combo and sometimes you won't. I still haven't figured out how to start multiball on two of the tables. Pinball tables should be simple enough for new players to jump in and understand right away, while still offering a challenge to older players. In this area, Pure Pinball falls flat. You have to figure out exactly what is going on to get the things to happen.
Agreed. It's impossible to figure out exactly what you have to do to get bonuses, multiballs, etc.


Something odd that I discovered while playing yesterday -- the rumble feature of the tables is very strange. It isn't in the fact that it goes off for just about everything (which, in itself is really strange) but it is the fact that all controllers that are hooked up to your Xbox shake. I had one on our entertainment center, and I fired up the game and all of a sudden I hear this loud "gggaaarrrrank" noise and see my second controller shaking one of our vases to the edge. Luckily, I paused the game and grabbed the vase before it fell off.
LMAO!!!


Other than it doing both controllers, the shaker is weird just because it goes off for everything. It's kind of like they wired it to EVERYTHING in the table, and there isn't another pin in the world like this. Thank god. It gets rather annoying, but if you turn it off it isn't that great either.
I honestly haven't noticed the vibration much. Of course. now that I've read your review, it'll probably irritate me to no end. Thanks a lot! LOL


Here's where perhaps the biggest gripe about the game comes in -- the options, or lack thereof. You can turn on or off the rumble feature, but you can't adjust it. Not that big a deal, but you can NOT select how many balls you want to play with. Now, that wouldn't be too big of a deal if the tables didn't always run with 5 balls, but they do. My real pin game from 1983 has an option to run with five balls, but it wasn't the default option. In fact, I can't remember any game that I have played that wasn't an electro-mechanical game that gave out five balls. So why does this game?
Hmmm, don't you think this is a bit nitpicky? ;) Then again, I'm not enough of an expert on pinball for stuff like this to bother me. I started getting into pinball when the trend was dying, so I unfortunately didn't have as much exposure to some of the great tables. What a shame. :( From my perspective, yeah, it'd be nice to choose the number of balls, but to be honest, I think most people would just jack it up to the highest number (I certainly would).


Then, you have the option to turn on stuff in the room that the game is "in." Apparently, the only stuff that you can surround your game with is a wall and something that looks like a walker. If they were going to include this option, they should've put something better in there -- maybe an ad for the game on the wall or something. And seriously, what in the world is that walker thing doing here? It would have been extra cool if you could select your environment to put the game in -- bar, arcade, home, restaurant, etc. It wouldn't have been that hard, and it would've made it a lot cooler.
While I do think you're being nitpicky with this (I'm happy that we got anything at all to begin with because it certainly wasn't necessary for them to include any of this), I must say that I LOVE your ideas!


There seems to be no personal high score table, or if there is it isn't easy to find. I seem to remember that there was one, but I couldn't find it when I went looking for it yesterday. Without this, what's the point?
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean, there's definitely a personal high score list. It's been a while since I fired up the game, so I might be mistaken, but I think you can see it in the table selection menu.


- The control is dead on, and the accuracy is just about perfect too. You can figure out what the sweet spot is on the flipper and it works probably 90% of the time for hitting your shots -- about what it is in real life. I would actually suggest the original Xbox controller for controlling this game, as the size of it reminds me of an actual pinball machine.
- The sound of the ball and the stuff going on in the game is perfect. Never before have the thumps, flips and hits sounded so dead on.
- The tables themselves are beautiful to look at, and they are in full 3D. You have something like eight different ways to look at them, and while it seems that only a few are actually useful, they are nice to look at all the details on the table with.
- The game gives you little pinball facts as it is loading screens. These are actually very informative and interesting.
Agreed on all counts. These graphics are the best I've ever seen for video game pinball.


Overall, with all of this games shortcomings and everything else, I'm not totally disappointed by it. I have pulled it out from time to time to play it for short periods of time, but I know that I'm never going to want to sit down and play it for hours. For short bursts, the game is pretty decent though.
I don't think I've ever played a pinball video game for hours. I bought this to have something to play around with for short bursts, so in that respect, I'm not at all disappointed.


Overall - 6
Ouch. :) I would've given it a 7 or an 8 at least, but that's just me.

Overall, VERY NICE REVIEW! It pointed out some things that I didn't even consider before. For example, I never thought about the lack of clearly-defined goals until I read your view. It's very valid criticism.

I know you're reviewing Pinball Hall of Fame for Gameroom Magazine, but can you at least post some basic thoughts here when you get it?

BTW, have you ever played Last Gladiators Digital Pinball for Sega Saturn? It's one of the finest pinball games ever IMO (I keep telling myself that I gotta track down a copy).

[norkusa]

Here's where perhaps the biggest gripe about the game comes in -- the options, or lack thereof. You can turn on or off the rumble feature, but you can't adjust it. Not that big a deal, but you can NOT select how many balls you want to play with. Now, that wouldn't be too big of a deal if the tables didn't always run with 5 balls, but they do. My real pin game from 1983 has an option to run with five balls, but it wasn't the default option. In fact, I can't remember any game that I have played that wasn't an electro-mechanical game that gave out five balls. So why does this game?
Hmmm, don't you think this is a bit nitpicky? ;) Then again, I'm not enough of an expert on pinball for stuff like this to bother me. I started getting into pinball when the trend was dying, so I unfortunately didn't have as much exposure to some of the great tables. What a shame. :( From my perspective, yeah, it'd be nice to choose the number of balls, but to be honest, I think most people would just jack it up to the highest number (I certainly would).


I believe goatdan has a valid point here. I've played allot of pinball, and I've *never* played a machine that gave me more than 3 balls. 5 balls just seems unnatural. And 5 is way too many balls for the Excessive Speed table which is soooooo easy, you can literally play on a single ball for an hour. It just seems stupid not to have included that option in the game.

Am I the only one that thinks this games tagline "American Pinball Reborn" is ironic? This game was made by a British company, wasn't it?

[goatdan]

Here's where perhaps the biggest gripe about the game comes in -- the options, or lack thereof. You can turn on or off the rumble feature, but you can't adjust it. Not that big a deal, but you can NOT select how many balls you want to play with. Now, that wouldn't be too big of a deal if the tables didn't always run with 5 balls, but they do. My real pin game from 1983 has an option to run with five balls, but it wasn't the default option. In fact, I can't remember any game that I have played that wasn't an electro-mechanical game that gave out five balls. So why does this game?
Hmmm, don't you think this is a bit nitpicky? ;) Then again, I'm not enough of an expert on pinball for stuff like this to bother me. I started getting into pinball when the trend was dying, so I unfortunately didn't have as much exposure to some of the great tables. What a shame. :( From my perspective, yeah, it'd be nice to choose the number of balls, but to be honest, I think most people would just jack it up to the highest number (I certainly would).


I believe goatdan has a valid point here. I've played allot of pinball, and I've *never* played a machine that gave me more than 3 balls. 5 balls just seems unnatural. And 5 is way too many balls for the Excessive Speed table which is soooooo easy, you can literally play on a single ball for an hour. It just seems stupid not to have included that option in the game.

Am I the only one that thinks this games tagline "American Pinball Reborn" is ironic? This game was made by a British company, wasn't it?

The pinball games that are generally considered the best in the world have goals that are clearly defined, and you need to get them a certain amount of times before you can get special modes in the game. Perhaps the best example of this is the recent Austin Powers pinball from Stern -- you had awesome things to shoot by doing each shot five (?) times. While some of the shots were easy, it was hard to get all of the shots with only three balls. If I had five balls, I definitely think that I could've "beat" the game each time.

The newer Stern Playboy is the same way for me. With three balls I find it hard to get the mansion bonus thing every time. With five, it would be a cakewalk. It keeps me playing.

Between the lack of defined goals and the lack of options (some other "standard" options would be easy / medium / hard settings for the drains, length before shooting the ball back in and so on. I mean, the two games that I own have something like 10 different settings that you can change the way things work. You can change what things stay active. On one of my games (Cybernaut) I changed it to make it a little more difficult when I was playing, as I felt that I was playing for too long. I love that.

DaBargainHunta, for your last comments (I won't quote them here...)

I will definitely post a little bit about PB:HOF here after I get it, but I won't give away too much. I have played Last Gladiators Digital Pinball for the Saturn, and it is one fo the best pinball games ever. I was holding onto my Saturn for a long time just because of it. I also very much enjoy in the way of pinball games High Speed and Pinbot for the NES (perhaps the best two digitized console pinball games in the world) and Pinball Fantasies for the Jaguar. I can't say that I feel the same way about most pinball games -- the sign of a good pinball game is how they hold up with multiball, and most of them just don't. I remember happily purchasing Pinball Dreams for the SNES after it came out for $50.00, and the stupid game's balls just passed right through each other during multiball. I was so disappointed and angry about that.

And who knows... This has been fun and I might just do some other review tomorrow. SoulBlazer, I think I'll take your advice, and whether I get to it or not, Outlaw Volleyball will be the next in the series. And as a preview, no.. it definitely doesn't suck.

[DaBargainHunta]

The pinball games that are generally considered the best in the world have goals that are clearly defined, and you need to get them a certain amount of times before you can get special modes in the game. Perhaps the best example of this is the recent Austin Powers pinball from Stern -- you had awesome things to shoot by doing each shot five (?) times. While some of the shots were easy, it was hard to get all of the shots with only three balls. If I had five balls, I definitely think that I could've "beat" the game each time.
Are you referring to the PSX or PC version? I have very little interest in PC gaming (I'm a console man and always have been), but if you can vouch for the PSX version, I'll pick it up. Do you need to be a fan of Austin Powers to really appreciate it? I've never seen the movies.


I will definitely post a little bit about PB:HOF here after I get it, but I won't give away too much.
Thanks, I can't wait to read your thoughts.


I have played Last Gladiators Digital Pinball for the Saturn, and it is one fo the best pinball games ever. I was holding onto my Saturn for a long time just because of it.
I still have my Saturn, but I no longer have the game for some reason. Man, I really need to track down another copy. I just hope it's not too expensive.


I also very much enjoy in the way of pinball games High Speed and Pinbot for the NES (perhaps the best two digitized console pinball games in the world) and Pinball Fantasies for the Jaguar. I can't say that I feel the same way about most pinball games -- the sign of a good pinball game is how they hold up with multiball, and most of them just don't.
I've never even heard of either of these, but I'll definitely check them out now. Thanks for the tip.


And who knows... This has been fun and I might just do some other review tomorrow. SoulBlazer, I think I'll take your advice, and whether I get to it or not, Outlaw Volleyball will be the next in the series. And as a preview, no.. it definitely doesn't suck.
Everyone tells me it's pretty good. I gotta borrow my brother's copy and check it out for myself.

Goatdan, you seem to have played quite a few pinball video games in your day. Which ones do you recommend?

[SoulBlazer]

I was just about to ask the same question. LOL

What are your favorite pinball games and why? I enjoy the 'modern' pinball games (the two Star Trek's, Jurrasic Park, etc.) but never played any for a computer or console.

Thanks for the kind words. I just thought about OV cause the other two games have been reviewed to death. ;)

[DigitalSpace]

Nice review. If I had an Xbox and saw this for 10 bucks or so somewhere I'd probably pick it up.



What game are you referring to exactly? I know about Pinball Hall of Fame, but I'm pretty positive that isn't a Microsoft product, as it's also coming to PS2.

Pinball Hall Of Fame is published by Crave Entertainment and it's also coming out the for Gamecube as well.

[goatdan]

The pinball games that are generally considered the best in the world have goals that are clearly defined, and you need to get them a certain amount of times before you can get special modes in the game. Perhaps the best example of this is the recent Austin Powers pinball from Stern -- you had awesome things to shoot by doing each shot five (?) times. While some of the shots were easy, it was hard to get all of the shots with only three balls. If I had five balls, I definitely think that I could've "beat" the game each time.

Are you referring to the PSX or PC version? I have very little interest in PC gaming (I'm a console man and always have been), but if you can vouch for the PSX version, I'll pick it up. Do you need to be a fan of Austin Powers to really appreciate it? I've never seen the movies.

Neither -- I meant real world pin:

http://www.sternpinball.com/AustinPowers.htm

It is a great game, although the portal never seemed to work on it. Stern makes some incredible games. If you ever see one, play it a few times. They are all extremely good.



I also very much enjoy in the way of pinball games High Speed and Pinbot for the NES (perhaps the best two digitized console pinball games in the world) and Pinball Fantasies for the Jaguar. I can't say that I feel the same way about most pinball games -- the sign of a good pinball game is how they hold up with multiball, and most of them just don't.
I've never even heard of either of these, but I'll definitely check them out now. Thanks for the tip.

I'd suggest stating with Pinbot, as it is the better of the two. My store has it in stock with a poor label right now for $2.00. It's totally worth that :)

http://www.goatstore.com/info.php?id=214331

I've had a copy of this game in my collection for years. And I will still play it sometimes.


Goatdan, you seem to have played quite a few pinball video games in your day. Which ones do you recommend?

For the video variety, like I said the two NES Rare pins, Last Gladiators for the Saturn, Williams Pinball Classics and Microsoft Pinball Arcade for the PC and Pinball Fantasies for the Jaguar, most of which I've mentioned before.

For the real world variety, my personal favorite two machines are Space Shuttle pinball and Jurassic Park pinball. Personally, I like games that are relatively simply and that (believe it or not) don't have too many insane multiball modes. I hate games that the entire goal is to get multiball and then just flip like crazy. I fell in love with Cybernaut, which I own, because it is really simple. There is one ball only, and the goals are really obvious -- but one wrong shot and your ball is going straight down the center. It makes the game really skill based to me, and I love that.

All of the new Stern pinball games have really blown me away too. They are quite possibly the best "modern" games around. Especially seek out Lord of the Rings and Simpsons if you can.

I don't like much of anything that Gottlieb did that was a modern pin, with the exception of Tee'd Off. Other than that one game, I thought their games looked the greatest but played the worst. Just about anything from Data East / Sega, Williams or Bally are decent.

Honestly, when it all comes down to it, I will play just about any pin for a long time. The games are definitely varied enough to keep me happy for a long time. I just wish I had more space in my house (err... apartment, for now) to fit in more real games! One day...