Digital Pinball Help and Recommendations

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:28 pm

On a semi-related note, I learned something new today: the title image for Last Gladiators was actually lifted from a nineteenth-century French painting (seen here). I found myself slightly ashamed at not having seen this painting before, being an art student and all...apparently it also served as something of an inspiration for the movie Gladiator, so if I'd been at all interested in that when it came out I might have stumbled across this, heh heh. Anyways, I found that interesting, I wonder if I'm the last to notice it...

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 11:58 pm

That seems oddly familiar for having never seen it before. But if you watch the "Making Of" intro they actually made a helmet for some guy to wear, the pose is definitely based on that picture. Then again I haven't played the game in a year.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 12:50 am

I gave the NES generic Pinball a spin, and it just couldn't compare with Alien Crush, my current obsession. Alien Crush is just sooo good. My first and favorite digital pinball game. I'm still not great at it, so I'm just really happy to get to the extra ball at 10 mil.

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:14 pm

I'm used to games I'm interested in tanking before they come out.

Pinball on the Wii. With Williams tables. I would like that kind of thing.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/e307/hands+on- ... 278670.php

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:54 pm

DJ Incompetent wrote: Pinball on the Wii. With Williams tables. I would like that kind of thing.

No doubt. Sign me up.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:13 pm

I quickly glanced at this thread, and I see no one mentioned Addiction Pinball

IT's available on PC, and I believe also on the Dreamcast. It has only 2 tables, and to be quite honest, 80% of the time I spent playing on the Worms table (The other one being World Rally Fever) .. it's just great, the table design is spot-on, and the physics are flawless

and..

When are they gonna make a digital pinball with tate?

Addiction Pinball DOES HAVE a Tate mode, surpisingly! The game gives you 6 different point of views, and one of them is obviously made to be played with vertical orientation.

And like Icarus, I jhad a blast with the Pinball Dreams/Fantasies on Amiga. Illusions isn't as good, but still solid. The PC versions of those were among the best Amiga-to-PC ports of that era.

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

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:13 pm

Shatterhand wrote:I quickly glanced at this thread, and I see no one mentioned Addiction Pinball

1st page giga post

♫ Vee~Cee, ♫♫♪ Devil's~Crush came~out to-day. ♫ la~la~la~la~laaa♫♫♪ ^_^

♫♫ Rare Kir-by game, came~out~too. Pro-fess-or pro-lly blew~his~looooad ♫♫♪ -_-

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:22 pm

DJ Incompetent wrote:
♫ Vee~Cee, ♫♫♪ Devil's~Crush came~out to-day. ♫ la~la~la~la~laaa♫♫♪ ^_^

♫♫ Rare Kir-by game, came~out~too. Pro-fess-or pro-lly blew~his~looooad ♫♫♪ -_-

Holy crap! Seriously? I assume we're talking about Wii downloads here. I'll be checking these out asap, i.e. tomorrow (:( ).

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:42 pm

well, just to correct what had been said in that megapost.

The name of the table is "WORLD RALLY FEVER" and it's based in another Team17 game, which obviously isn't 10% as famous as Worms. But it's a very fun arcade racer game available for PC.

http://www.csoon.com/issue16/wrf.htm

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:13 pm

Just a few notes:

New Alien Crush coming to Wii. A whole new game from Hudson.

The Wii Williams game is very nice so far, though I've been spending all my time with Devil's Crush lately so I don't have any detailed impressions.

Re: Devil's Crush, I found the VC edition to have problematic controls. The flippers are significantly less responsive than on the TG-16, so if you're playing for a decent score don't bother with the VC. I've got my score up over 28 mil right now, but haven't had a really good game yet. Maybe this coming week I'll get closer to my current goal of 50 mil.

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Sat May 03, 2008 6:22 pm

professor ganson wrote:Just a few notes:

New Alien Crush coming to Wii. A whole new game from Hudson.

"Holy hot damn. Bork, do you know what this means?"
--------
Well, I did find this one game called Full-Tilt Pinball 2, by Maxis. It was quite nice. Especially the @man table.

JUX.Jaggsen · Post by **JUX.Jaggsen** » Sat May 03, 2008 9:04 pm

Nevermind. lol

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sat May 03, 2008 9:37 pm

DJ Incompetent wrote:I'm used to games I'm interested in tanking before they come out.

Pinball on the Wii. With Williams tables. I would like that kind of thing.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/e307/hands+on- ... 278670.php

There's also one for PS2 and PSP. Both are a bit cheaper, $14.99 for PS2 and $19.99 for PSP. The odd thing about the PS2 is that it's missing two tables from other versions, Jive Time and Sorcerer. I heard good things about all three versions and I ordered the PS2 one from Amazon (yeah two missing tables is a bummer, but I heard it's still very good and I don't have Wii or PSP).

For PC Pinball, there's Future Pinball. System reqs seem somewhat hefty, but it works well on my Pentium M 1.7 Ghz laptop with 64 MB Geforce 4 4200 Go card. It's a pinball creator with some nice free tables and recreations of classic tables.

My favorite pinball on DS is Metroid Prime Pinball. Actually, it's one of the only pinballs on DS, but it's well done. Only two main tables, but the physics are good and it intregrates elements from Metroid into the pinball very well.

For GB, I like Kirby's Pinball Land and Revenge of the Gator.

My favorites for GBA are Pinball of the Dead and Sonic Pinball Party. I was surprised that Pinball of the Dead was done by mostly eighting developers, telling from the credits list at MobyGames.

I like the NES Pinball and Pinbot. I noticed some of the same sound effects from Battletoads are used in the NES Pinbot. Same font for score and similar music too.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat May 03, 2008 11:38 pm

The GBA pinball game of Sonic Pinball Party was sold exclusively at USA-based Target stores back in September of 2003 at MSRP $29.99 USD. I picked it up on a whim thinking, another cool GBA pinball game? No other USA big-chain retailer or speciality video game chain retailers were able to get this particular GBA SPP game... ^_~

That's cool to hear that the 8ing dev. team had a hand in developing Pinball of the Dead for the GBA -- the little "House of the Dead" FMV clips interspered through out the pinball stages are great! ^_~

Back in October of 1990, after trying out a prototype NEC Turbo Express handheld with a copy of USA region Devil's Crush Hu-Card at an NEC TurboGrafx-16 promotional event, that cool pinball game convinced me that a TE unit was the one to get in the nearby future. I was able to score a brand new TE unit by early 1995 for a mere $99.99+ USD from G&G Captron video game mail order business (which has long since has gone out of business back in the day). The asking price of $299.99 USD for a brand new TE unit was insane back in January of 1991. Times have changed for such modern-day portable handheld gaming consoles nowdays...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sun May 04, 2008 1:07 am

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:The GBA pinball game of Sonic Pinball Party was sold exclusively at USA-based Target stores back in September of 2003 at MSRP $29.99 USD. I picked it up on a whim thinking, another cool GBA pinball game? No other USA big-chain retailer or speciality video game chain retailers were able to get this particular GBA SPP game... ^_~

That's cool to hear that the 8ing dev. team had a hand in developing Pinball of the Dead for the GBA -- the little "House of the Dead" FMV clips interspered through out the pinball stages are great! ^_~

Back in October of 1990, after trying out a prototype NEC Turbo Express handheld with a copy of USA region Devil's Crush Hu-Card at an NEC TurboGrafx-16 promotional event, that cool pinball game convinced me that a TE unit was the one to get in the nearby future. I was able to score a brand new TE unit by early 1995 for a mere $99.99+ USD from G&G Captron video game mail order business (which has long since has gone out of business back in the day). The asking price of $299.99 USD for a brand new TE unit was insane back in January of 1991. Times have changed for such modern-day portable handheld gaming consoles nowdays...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Oddly enough, Sonic Pinball Party was designed by the same company that designed Pokemon Pinball, Jupiter. I actually prefer it over Pokemon Pinball. Jupiter also made Super Robot Pinball for GBC, which seems to be similar to Pokemon Pinball.

I miss Captron. I remember when they sold primarily Nintendo stuff. They had competitions once in awhile, which were quite a bit of fun. I won a NES game by winning second place in a Tetris tournament from Captron. I wanted SMB3, but it was gone and I ended up getting Kid Kool because I was told it was like Mario. Maybe not the best choice, but I like the game. I think I was 10 at the time.

I wouldn't mind picking up a Turbo Express. I love both Crush games for the TG-16 and I would love to play them on the go.

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:24 am

BrianC wrote:
DJ Incompetent wrote:I'm used to games I'm interested in tanking before they come out.

Pinball on the Wii. With Williams tables. I would like that kind of thing.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/e307/hands+on- ... 278670.php
There's also one for PS2 and PSP. Both are a bit cheaper, $14.99 for PS2 and $19.99 for PSP. The odd thing about the PS2 is that it's missing two tables from other versions, Jive Time and Sorcerer. I heard good things about all three versions and I ordered the PS2 one from Amazon (yeah two missing tables is a bummer, but I heard it's still very good and I don't have Wii or PSP).

I have seen the Wii version at Target for $20. Wii version is excellent with the whole spaced controller simulation flippers thing. And Waggle to tilt is getting closer to the real thing. It is the titties.

Word on the street is Pinball Dreams hit Wii around now. If anybody gets it, I'd like to know if it is not a brick of suck.

And Pinball of the Dead is pretty sweet. So is the Sonic one. It should be in a doublepack with Sonic Advance 3.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:06 pm

Anyone have Dream Pinball 3D for Wii yet?

Just got over 79 mil on Devil's Crush, and I think I need a break from that one.

And yes, Williams on the Wii: so nice.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri May 09, 2008 6:00 pm

Yep, I can confirm that Target is selling the Wii version of "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection" compilation in the self-help video game bargin aisle for $19.99 USD.

I wonder if it supports 480p output with the Wii Component Video cable?

Free free to pick it up if you see it as some Target stores are only getting a few copies and no more... ^_~

Also noticed that at my local Target store, Monster Game, a division of Monster Cable, has released a Monster Game branded PSP Component Video cable for the Slim PSP variant at a respectable $19.99 USD price point. It would work well with the PSP pinball games of Pinball Hall of Fame: Gottlieb Collection and Williams Collection...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu May 15, 2008 2:22 am

I reached my goal on Devil's Crush-- over 126 mil. Time to move on to another pinball game. What is anyone playing?

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Thu May 15, 2008 3:16 am

professor ganson wrote:Anyone have Dream Pinball 3D for Wii yet?

Just got over 79 mil on Devil's Crush, and I think I need a break from that one.

And yes, Williams on the Wii: so nice.

I heard Dream Pinball for the Wii isn't very good. I heard the table designs and the physics aren't the best. I heard Williams is much better. Speaking of that, Williams Pinball PS2 arrived from Amazon. Despite the two missing tables from other versions, I was not disappointed. Physics are excellent and the tables are well rendered. As far as I know, no 480p, but it looks good in component with 480i. If I had Wii or PSP, I probably would have gone for those instead, but the PS2 one is well done and only $14.99, so I didn't feel the need to get those just for that game.

I like both Visual Pinball and Future Pinball for PC pinball. Future Pinball has excellent physics and better graphics, but has much higher system requirements. Both have some very nice original tables. One of my favorites for Future Pinball is a Mega Man pinball that simulates fighting bosses with a life meter. Future Pinball also has a nice Metal Slug themed table.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu May 15, 2008 3:54 am

BrianC wrote:I like both Visual Pinball and Future Pinball for PC pinball. Future Pinball has excellent physics and better graphics, but has much higher system requirements. Both have some very nice original tables. One of my favorites for Future Pinball is a Mega Man pinball that simulates fighting bosses with a life meter. Future Pinball also has a nice Metal Slug themed table.

Are these current titles available in stores?

I wish there were more pinball games in tate format.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:00 am

professor ganson wrote:
BrianC wrote:I like both Visual Pinball and Future Pinball for PC pinball. Future Pinball has excellent physics and better graphics, but has much higher system requirements. Both have some very nice original tables. One of my favorites for Future Pinball is a Mega Man pinball that simulates fighting bosses with a life meter. Future Pinball also has a nice Metal Slug themed table.
Are these current titles available in stores?

No, Future Pinball and Visual Pinball are freeware programs where you can make your own tables or download pre-made tables for them. Future Pinball is available at www.futurepinball.com, which also has links to tables. Unlike Future Pinball, Visual Pinball can play the Romz with VisualPinMame, but it has original tables as well.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri May 16, 2008 3:11 am

BrianC wrote:I heard Dream Pinball for the Wii isn't very good. I heard the table designs and the physics aren't the best. I heard Williams is much better.

I heard the same thing, and today I was told that the title was cancelled.

I tried out the Genesis version of Devil's Crush tonight. Very similiar, of course, and yet so different. Some of the bonus tables are really different. The graphics are more detailed in the Genesis version but not necessarily more attractive. There were a few things that seemed to make the Genesis version a bit more difficult, but perhaps that's just because I'm less familiar.

Emperor Fossil · Post by **Emperor Fossil** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:12 am

GBA/DS owners who are fans of Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies ought to check out Pinball Challenge Deluxe for GBA.

It offers very faithful conversions of both Pinball Dreams and Fantasies on one cart, complete with auto-saved scoretables for each table (3 entries per score table). Good fun, and the clear top-down 2d style of Dreams/Fantasies works better on the small screen than those other prerendered perspective pinball efforts on GBA.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri May 16, 2008 4:53 pm

Emperor Fossil wrote:GBA/DS owners who are fans of Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies ought to check out Pinball Challenge Deluxe for GBA.

It offers very faithful conversions of both Pinball Dreams and Fantasies on one cart, complete with auto-saved scoretables for each table (3 entries per score table). Good fun, and the clear top-down 2d style of Dreams/Fantasies works better on the small screen than those other prerendered perspective pinball efforts on GBA.

I recall that Pinball Fantasies was released on the so-called 64-bit Atari Jaguar console -- not a bad pinball game title... ^_~

And did Pinball Challenge Deluxe get an USA GBA distribution?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Emperor Fossil · Post by **Emperor Fossil** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:38 am

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:And did Pinball Challenge Deluxe get an USA GBA distribution?

hmm, come to think of it, probably not. In fact even the European release seems to be next to non-existent. It's a shame, as it's a great version, with all 8 tables playing just like I remember them in the Amiga version, complete with all the same tunes and samples.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:44 pm

I've never played video pinball before, but this thread inspired me to put the two Pinball Hall of Fame games on my birthday wish list. However, I got sick of waiting for my birthday, so I bought a pinball machine.

Anyway... any news on a Bally collection sometime?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:22 pm

I would stick to the Wii's Williams collection, though the Gottlieb collection is worth $5 or $10 it usually costs.

I've been playing Disney's Little Mermaid Pinball Frenzy (GBC), and I think it's quite solid. The fast mode is plenty fast and fun.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:01 pm

professor ganson wrote:I would stick to the Wii's Williams collection, though the Gottlieb collection is worth $5 or $10 it usually costs.

Does the Gottlieb collection have technical flaws, or do you just not like the tables?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:57 pm

My memory of the Gottlieb collection is pretty foggy, and I can't easily play it right now. But based on foggy memory, I would say that the improved graphics on the Williams collection have improved the gameplay considerably. It's just much more clear what you're doing. The new Wii controls are super, and the table-specific goals give you a nice introduction to each table. It takes me about half of an hour to reach the scoring goal for a given table, but there is an an additional high-score board for each table which gives you yet another goal to strive for. Beating those high scores will take a bit more commitment. Putting all of this together, you get perhaps the most impressive video pinball package available. Yes, it's a sim, so it lacks some of the things that make Devil's Crush or Kirby's Pinball Land so special. But it's the best sim I've played, I think. The one on XBLA isn't too shabby either.