Pinball Hall of Fame

My first exposure to "arcade fun" mostly consisted of playing pinball. Lots of it. Hours of it. It was the 70s, my name was (seriously) Tommy, and anyone familiar with the movie of that name knew that it carried a lot of pressure to be good at pinball. I had not yet seen the movie, but knew the music and loved pinball. I always had a knack for it, so the "Pinball Wizard" stigma followed me everywhere. I remember the evolution of seeing digital displays, stereo music and ramps develop. Even when the 80s came along and people discovered Pac Man and other legends, I still looked for new pinball games. I remember being hooked on "Flash Gordon" for a while. Then, in the early 90s, I had the high score on Addams Family for a long time. 

So, when I saw the Pinball Hall of Fame from Gottlieb, I expected a fun experience. The problem in making pinball games for other platforms has always been keeping the realism and feel for the table. What is interesting in collections like this is that they are not creating new tables for the platform (ex: Sierra's very cool Creepnight Pinball, et cetera), but they are translating actual, real-life tables into a videogame format. I actually played some of these in the arcade. Especially "Black Hole." It talked and taunted you! There are seven tables to start with, but other tables and games can be unlocked as objectives are met within each table. The extras are not that exciting. One of them is a "Play Boy" table, but has nothing to do with the Heffner version most of us are familiar with. Yes, there IS a Playboy pinball table, and I actually have a friend who owns one. It's a classic!! These tables range in date from the 50s to 1993. The oldest tables has basically two flippers and the "digit counter" rolling numerical display. The newest machines have ramps, digital everything, and multi-ball excitement. 

I found the old tables much harder to play. In real life, those machines can be "coaxed" with a knee or a quick shake with some muscle - to get the ball to roll in your favor. The flippers are far apart, and losing a ball is very easy to do. With digital representation of these tables, you lose the ability to coax the ball. Instead, you use your analog stick to nudge the table, which tilts very easily. Old tables are very forgiving. These are not. So, the older games were not very rewarding. 

The newer tables were much easier to play, as some have built-in ball-saves and methods to keep in play if the ball rolls down the right channel. Shooting a ball up a ramp gives you a moment to relax and just watch, as there's not much to do while it travels the channel(s). I have always been great at a multi-ball scenario, and did well on these. Some people can't accurately juggle all of that simultaneous action, but I thrive on it. The scoring is much higher, and the ability for free games and extra balls is much easier. 

Getting back to the bonus materials, there are some (kind of lame) extras to unlock such as a fortune-telling machine (like in the movie "Big"), the aforementioned Play-Boy game, a Love Meter to test your romance level, and some other bonuses. None of them were that exciting compared to the work it took to unlock the codes to get there. By now, a easy search online can grant you the codes without having to to do the work!

The audio was good. As good as you can make those older machines sound, I guess. They're clunky and the digitations of those analog bumper noises is well done. A nice touch is the whole arcade-feel as you're playing. You can hear (and recognize!) the other games in the arcade you are inhabiting. You can hear Black Hole taunting you as you play a game from 1957. It was eerily familiar to me. It sounded like Gorf - which also taunted me in the arcades with the same (Gottlieb) voice. All that was missing was smoke and the smell of wet, moldy carpet from the boardwalk overflow. 

The graphics are sharp and clear - almost too much so. The games are immaculate and untouched. They have no signs of wear, which just looks odd to me. That's not a complaint or criticism, just a notation. I can still go to places and play pinball machines from the 50s (Beef Burger in Greensboro, NC!!), but those machines have worn out paint inside the table, and cigarette burns all over the casing. So, it's odd to play a machine that old, and have it look like it was just taken off the truck - new. You can even see the reflection from the scoreboard in the "glass" over your playfield. It's very sharp in such detail. You have several choices of perspective, which is helpful in pinball games. I played mostly with the "overall" look, which gives you the whole table in a non-scrolling view. Or, you can select one that follows the ball in a close-up. That is nice, except you have to be quicker with the flipper, which can cost you some "skill." I like to see the ball on it's path, so I know just when to move the flipper. Being up-close to the ball can jeopardize that ability. But, that's why they offer several options for viewing. Everyone has their own preference.

If you like pinball, it's a great collection (for the price). However, I think they still should have included more. The replication of the tables seems to be perfection, and the sounds are exact. I hope more companies release their collections like this. It's never an easy job to replicate "physical" games like this (Video Skeeball, anyone???), but they've done a pretty good job here. A few more extras and it would be more eagerly recommended.

Gameplay: 7.5
The flippers on the old machines seem sluggish and are hard to get used to. It's much easier to lose balls in the classic titles. The spacing between the flippers is huge, but the scores back then were low - for a reason. The learning curve is zero. Your L-R triggers handle the flippers and another control gives the table a (not-so) gentle nudge as needed. Just basic, fun gaming at it's best.

Graphics: 9.0 
The tables are perfectly reproduced. They are almost too clean. It makes them look surreal. Not many of us have played tables this clean! Only when I worked in an arcade have I played pristine tables like these. The ball looks good and they've even made the glass barely visible. It really looks like a real table. 

Sound: 7.5
There isn't much audio to reproduce from the older machines, but the newer ones stand out nicely. The arcade sounds in the background stand out and give the feel of being IN the arcade.  

Difficulty: Easy
Pinball is truly a family game, as it does not require much advantage by age. As long as you're old enough to use the flippers, you can play pinball. Some of these older tables are unforgiving with the ball movement, but once you get used to having low scores, you realize you're not as bad as you might think. It's easy to jump in and start playing any of these tables. Learning to juggle multiple flippers requires some practice on the newer ones, but it's still all quite easy.

Concept: 8.5 
There are not a lot of real pinball machines translated into platform video games. Mostly, it's been a matter of creating pinball from scratch to suit the video game format. That has got to be easier to do. Pinball machines are longer than they are wide. Adjustments and camera issues have to be taken into account. They've done a good job of it, here. 

Overall: 8.0
This is a good game to have. A good collection of machines, but I think they could have squeezed in a couple more. The unlocked extras were under-impressive, but that doesn't mar the actual pinball machines that make you want this game in the first place. The machines are faithfully reproduced down to the smallest details. This certainly won't excite the non-pinball playing crowd, but those of us that miss those days will enjoy playing these tables a great deal. It's a nice break from the usual games played on the XBox. I hope more vendors release their collections for the fans. Aside from a too-sensitive TILT mechanism, there's some good family fun to be had, here.