Digital Pinball Help and Recommendations

it290 · Post by **it290** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 2:12 am

The Williams collection is a big improvement on the Gottlieb one, and not just because the tables are better. The controls and physics are also considerably improved. There are still some dodgy issues on some tables, though, and one thing I do prefer about the Gottlieb collection is that the tables are actually closer to their real-life difficulty. I'm a bit grumpy that they didn't include any of the newer tables, though. I really want Theater of Magic, Twilight Zone, Medieval Madness, Attack From Mars, and so forth in video game form.

As far as sims go, though, neither collection compares to the Pro Pinball series, which all have better physics and much more in-depth options than the pinball hall of fame collections.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 2:49 am

Fair enough. The Williams collection is a bit easier than the real thing. Easier to get a powerful shot, for example.

Still, I'm super impressed by this collection. Having Wizard goals once you complete the standard ones is a great idea. The scrolling view of the board is so natural on tables like Gorgar that I can't really imagine a better one. Zen (creators of Pinball FX on the 360) could really learn something from Crave when it comes to achievements and scrolling.

So the Pro Pinball series is worth snagging on eBay? Do you have a favorite in the series? I'm going to look for PS versions of these.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:29 am

It is definitely worth snagging. I find Big Race USA to be the most playable of all the titles, but if you can get the Dreamcast Pro Pinball Collection (only released in PAL territories I believe, but perfectly playable on an NTSC monitor and also looks great in VGA), it's well worth it. Timeshock would probably be my second choice.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 11:28 am

professor ganson wrote:Fair enough. The Williams collection is a bit easier than the real thing. Easier to get a powerful shot, for example.

Still, I'm super impressed by this collection. Having Wizard goals once you complete the standard ones is a great idea. The scrolling view of the board is so natural on tables like Gorgar that I can't really imagine a better one. Zen (creators of Pinball FX on the 360) could really learn something from Crave when it comes to acheivements and scrolling.

So the Pro Pinball series is worth snagging on eBay? Do you have a favorite in the series? I'm going to look for PS versions of these.

The Pro Pinball series is definitely worth getting for both the PC and PSX versions alone... ^_~

The release of Time Shock compared to the first Pro Pinball release is miles better, of course...

It's just that the CPU tends to get bogged down if there are two or more balls during multiball session though...

The very last Pro Pinball release of Incredible Journey adds wear 'n' tear to the overall pinball table itself or "artificial aging" handling characteristics to the game if you will...

And if you have two copies of PSX Pro Pinball Big Race USA (the 3rd PRo Pinball pin table in the series) + two PSX consoles and a PSX link-up cable setup, you can play head-to-head together with another pinball player... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:13 pm

It's just that the CPU tends to get bogged down if there are two or more balls during multiball session though...

The DC version handles pretty well until you get to the higher number of multiballs (6 or so). The PC version flies pretty much all of the time on modern hardware.

The best thing about the Pro Pinball series, for me, is that the balls seem to have weight. In every other pinball video game I've played, the balls have always felt a bit floaty, and you don't really feel the connection between flipper and ball.

About the Williams collection: I have noticed that the tables let you tilt WAY too much. I see that there's a 'tilt' option (currently locked for me) -- does this let you adjust the sensitivity or just turn tilt on/off?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:40 pm

it290 wrote:
It's just that the CPU tends to get bogged down if there are two or more balls during multiball session though...
The DC version handles pretty well until you get to the higher number of multiballs (6 or so). The PC version flies pretty much all of the time on modern hardware.

The best thing about the Pro Pinball series, for me, is that the balls seem to have weight. In every other pinball video game I've played, the balls have always felt a bit floaty, and you don't really feel the connection between flipper and ball.

About the Williams collection: I have noticed that the tables let you tilt WAY too much. I see that there's a 'tilt' option (currently locked for me) -- does this let you adjust the sensitivity or just turn tilt on/off?

Damn, I want that DC version, but I don't have a PAL DC. I doubt it would play on my US or Jap DCs.

I agree about the tilt-- it let's you get away with too much. I don't know what the tilt option is for but if I figure it out I'll let you know.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:53 pm

I just found out about Ultimate Pro Pinball on Jap PS2. I'm thinking that it's a compilation like the one on DC. Maybe I'll find a copy of that.

EDIT: Bought a new copy on eBay. It seems to have three boards and lots of customization. No doubt the menus will be in Japanese, so I may not benefit much from the options.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:10 pm

Cool.

I unlocked the Tilt option in the Williams collection -- unfortunately, it just lets you turn tilt on or off, not adjust the sensitivity.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:00 am

professor ganson wrote:I just found out about Ultimate Pro Pinball on Jap PS2. I'm thinking that it's a compilation like the one on DC. Maybe I'll find a copy of that.

EDIT: Bought a new copy on eBay. It seems to have three boards and lots of customization. No doubt the menus will be in Japanese, so I may not benefit much from the options.

Of course I'd hear about this the day after I bought two of the PS1 Pro Pinball from a local shop.

Anyway, I'm very interested in this PS2 game. Please post details when you get it.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:48 pm

Hate to double-post, but two things:

How's the PS2 Pro pinball?

Also, this looks awesome.

nem · Post by **nem** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:13 pm

MR_Soren wrote:Also, this looks awesome.

Wow, talk about coming out of left field.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:38 pm

I'd seen some screen shots, but they didn't prepare me at all for that. Freaking awesome. Thanks, MR Soren.

The PS2 Pro Pinball seems quite nice so far, but I have spent less than an hour with it. I found the boards a bit darkly lit. Not in the nice way that Alien Crush and Devil's Crush are dark in hue. It was also a bit hard for me to make out the goals, but I'm not terribly good at that generally. That's one reason that I love the Williams Collection, with its comprehensive explanations of each board.

I was at this game shop today that I thought had closed. They had one of the PS1 versions, but it was too scratched up for my taste.

Instead I snagged: SNES Super Pinball (boxed with instructions) and an import version of GBC Pokemon Pinball (new). Looking forward to checking these out.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:47 pm

professor ganson wrote:I'd seen some screen shots, but they didn't prepare me at all for that. Freaking awesome. Thanks, MR Soren.

The PS2 Pro Pinball seems quite nice so far, but I have spent less than an hour with it. I found the boards a bit darkly lit. Not in the nice way that Alien Crush and Devil's Crush are dark in hue. It was also a bit hard for me to make out the goals, but I'm not terribly good at that generally. That's one reason that I love the Williams Collection, with its comprehensive explanations of each board.

I was at this game shop today that I thought had closed. They had one of the PS1 versions, but it was too scratched up for my taste.

Instead I snagged: SNES Super Pinball (boxed with instructions) and an import version of GBC Pokemon Pinball (new). Looking forward to checking these out.

Didn't Nintendo/Game Freak come out with a GBA version of Pokemon Pinball as well? I seem to recall that it had a very cool opening attract screen worthy of playing on a bigger CRT monitor setup (via the GBA Player).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:26 pm

Yeah, I've got the GBA version, which has two tables, Ruby & Sapphire, iirc. Not sure if i ever tried it on the GameBoy Player. I'm looking forward to a comparison with the GBC very soon. Maybe I'll try them both on the GameBoy Player.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:12 am

Akira Psycho Ball (PS2 NTCS-J) is outstanding, at least so far (maybe 1 hour). Probably the most fun I've had since Devil's Crush and Kirby's Pinball Land. You advance through various stages, which involve partially new tables. Each table is some sort of interlocking reconfiguration of a previous table-- sorry, I can't think of a better way to say this atm. Everything is surprisingly creative and attractive. This draws me in even more than the Williams Collection on the Wii and PS2. I hope I don't tire of it soon. Perfect blend of sim and fantasy, and don't worry-- nothing like Flipnic.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:19 pm

I've been keeping an eye out for a discounted copy of this (I grumbled after realizing you got the last copy at P-A during that sale, heh heh) - I recall reading someplace that this wasn't supposed to be as good as Last Gladiators or Necronomicon (same developer, right?), but you appear to have a different opinion...how do the ball physics and such hold up to their previous efforts?

silvergunner · Post by **silvergunner** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:45 pm

I found Akira the baddest of the Digital Pinball-Series.The idea of the changeable tables is great indeed.But the Game itself getting boring after playing it more than 20 hours.

Pros&Cons:

+Presentation
+The idea with changeable Tables
+Akira Theme

-not as good as playable as(like?) the predecessors
-bonus rounds very hard to finish
-3D Playfield(in a bonus round)doesn`t fits,looks really bad and doesn`t play good!

All in all:In my opinion the Game feels unfinished and can`t go along with
Last Gladiators(Ver.9.7.)and Necronomicon.
Don`t get me wrong,I LOVE the Kaze Pinballs but Akira was a disappointed to me!

@ Prof.Ganson

Play it longer and you will see what I mean!My first impression was very good...
[sorry for bad-ass-english]

RIG

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:24 pm

Thanks, silvergunner. I was worried that more playing would change my mind. Too bad. Well, I'll keep playing anyway because I really love the presentation.

@BM: The physics seem fine so far-- not at all a distraction.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:13 pm

Just recently, I scored a new copy of the Wii pinball game of Dream Pinball 3D at a Fry's store. Got it home and fired up the ol' Wii expecting some badass pinball action. It turns out that Dream Pinball 3D plays with a 30 frames-per-second framerate. The Williams Collection on the Wii runs at 60fps for that silky smooth arcade spec framerate -- a necessity nowdays.

And it turns out that the development team that did this DP-3D game is the usual Euro shovel-ware piece of shit. No thank you and it still needs to be fine tuned some more and endowed with 60fps framerate to make it playable. I'll stick with the 60fps Williams Pinball Collection...as it's pretty good. I'd like to see more Bally and other Williams pinball games released in future ports. Keep up with stellar classic pinball ports coming in, Crave. Don't forget that Sega, Capcom and Data East tried their hand at designing and manufacturing pinball tables. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:08 pm

PCEFX is exactly right about Dream Pinball. It took me about 1 minute to realize what a piece of crap this is. I will give it another try when I get a chance, but I'm not looking forward to it.

On the other hand, I'm really looking forward to the new Alien Crush on the Wii. I've downloaded it, but work has been too much lately for me to find a spare minute. This weekend, hopefully.

Has anyone checked it out?

JUX.Jaggsen · Post by **JUX.Jaggsen** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:48 am

Icarus wrote:
BulletMagnet wrote:
Icarus wrote:Metroid Prime Pinball. Yum.
I guess that one's on the GC, or GBA, or some such thing? If I ever get myself any of the more recent Nintendo systems I'll keep it in mind...
Nintendo DS.
Probably the best handheld pinball game ever, and a load of fun to play.

It's the best DS pinball title to date and fun to play but whoever thought/approved of the idea to substitute a proper on-button tilt function with that stylus abomination plus all the guilty beta testers should be sterilised.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:21 am

So no one is playing the new Alien Crush? The one time I checked it out the ball physics were very nice. I had a bit of trouble with the responsiveness of one of the flippers, but I think that was something I could adapt to. The look of the game is ok. I didn't have a chance to make sense of the scoring.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:29 pm

How does one go about activating "Multiball" mode in the Sonic pinball game of the GBA Sonic Pinball Party compliation? I don't ever recall playing it in multiball mode at all.

It seems that some of the requirements for some the three various pinball games on SPP game are lofty, indeed. You have to loop tweny times just to earn an extra ball in Sonic pinball portion of SPP -- that is a hard feat to pull off successfully...most likely your ball will go down the drain before scoring an extra ball. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 3:22 pm

professor ganson wrote:So no one is playing the new Alien Crush? The one time I checked it out the ball physics were very nice. I had a bit of trouble with the responsiveness of one of the flippers, but I think that was something I could adapt to. The look of the game is ok. I didn't have a chance to make sense of the scoring.

I am really looking forward to downloading that game as soon as I get a Wii. Comments on other forums were very positive.

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:51 pm

MR_Soren wrote:
professor ganson wrote:So no one is playing the new Alien Crush? The one time I checked it out the ball physics were very nice. I had a bit of trouble with the responsiveness of one of the flippers, but I think that was something I could adapt to. The look of the game is ok. I didn't have a chance to make sense of the scoring.
I am really looking forward to downloading that game as soon as I get a Wii. Comments on other forums were very positive.

Pretty good game. I think I like the old crush games better, but I haven't found all the nuances yet. I do like activating ghetto-multiball whenever I feel like.

what's weird is the forcing you to use nunchuk when the VC ones let you do it just wiimote.

The story mode should just come with a 10 minute FMV of a rotating shoehorn. oi...

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:57 am

Picked up Flipper Critters (DS) for $10 at Walmart. I haven't spent much time with it yet, but the graphics and controls are solid, and the way the various tables are interconnected is fairly clever.

They also had Dream Pinball for the same price. Although I hated it for the Wii, I might pick this up because I hear the DS version is a bit better.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:44 pm

Any opinions on Devilish for the DS? I think it's supposed to be pinball.

Also, I'd love to hear more about Flipper Critters. I've been seeing that in bargain bins and was wondering about it.

Dazzyman · Post by **Dazzyman** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:28 pm

Best ones are the Pro Pinball series from Timeshock onwards (forget the web the 1st one). Id say Timeshock best then Fantastic Journey then Big Race USA.

The williams collection out their is from older series tables and best is Funhouse. If your into this your probably going down the pinball mame route (mame made real pinball tables). If you do get yourself Medieval Madness, Indy Jones and Attack From mars, Twilight Zone and STNG as your starters. I owned a TZ, STNG and beloved Medieval Madness in real life for a few years but had to sell them due to deterioating health (I got into them instead of arcade cab and RF series). Best pinballs where made by Bally/Midway until it shut down in late 90s other pins just dont feel as good from same era (aka Sega and Capcom) and Sterns stuff is very plasticky (I owned a simpsons Party pinball and LOTR trilogy for awhile).

I honestly dont know why they havent released proper compilations of the above they have done a virtual pinball table to buy (£4k in UK!!!) so the tech is their.

The guys what made Pro Pinball series ended up working on some of the NDS ones.

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:44 pm

MR_Soren wrote:Any opinions on Devilish for the DS? I think it's supposed to be pinball.

Nope, more of a breakout style game if I recall correctly.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:49 pm

Obviously, all you need is 3D Pinball for Windows (XP), by Maxis. Hours of enjoys!

I like the 75K skill shot bonus on a new game, anyway.

Also, nothing says "Advanced Operations System" like MIDI music.

Shatterhand wrote:There's also shareware game by the name of "Balls of Steel" which is so obscure, but it was pretty good.

Not so obscure for Duke Nukem 3D players (PC or N64 I believe).