PINBALL DREAMS
Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space
Minimum 286/20 VGA 530K 2.5 MB
Max/Rec. 386SX/20+
Control: Keyboard
Sound: Adlib, Sound Blaster, Roland LAPC-1/MT-32
Notes:
PINBALL FANTASIES
Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space
Minimum 286/16 VGA 560K 3.6 MB
Max/Rec. 386SX/20+
Control: Keyboard
Sound: Internal Speaker, Adlib, Sound Blaster, Roland LAPC-1/MT-32,
SB-Pro, PAS-16, Gravis Ultrasound, SB-16, SB-16 ASP.
Notes: Uses a non-standard VGA screen modes (320x240 and 360x340)
which may not work on unusual hardware (e.g. laptop machines).
Reviewed version 1.02 on: 486/33, 20MB RAM, SB clone.
Reviewer recommends: 386SX/25 or better
Do you find 40-hour expeditions through unknown monster-infested lands too much like hard work? Do you want some simple, addictive, reflex testing fun rather than a 100% accurate simulation of the latest flying machine? Do you hanker after the time you spent hanging around arcades in your mis-spent youth? Are you looking for a game that will run on your old 286 PC? If so, you are almost certainly the kind of person 21st Century are hoping to sell to.
PINBALL DREAMS and PINBALL FANTASIES have about as simple a game idea as you can imagine: they simulate pinball machines, right down to the little plunger you pull back to put the ball into play. Although the two games are sold seperately ('Fantasies is the successor to 'Dreams), they *are* very similar in style and presentation so that it makes sense to review them together. The only major differences between the two games, are the pinball table layouts and the sophistication of the sound and graphics drivers.
Installation of both games is entirely straight-forward. There is no need to set up customised boot files as both games use only modest amounts of conventional memory and make no use of XMS or EMS memory. There is, however, a rather irritating word-lookup copy-protection scheme: before either game will run you have to enter word X on line Y of page Z of the manual. This is annoying at the best of times, but here 21st Century seem to have turned it into a form of torture. The words you need to find are widely scattered so that occasionally you have to find word ten-something on line thirty-something. Needless to say, this makes the whole procedure very error prone. Finally, to add insult to injury, the release notes fail to mention whether or not titles should be counted as lines (they should), thus adding an element of detective work to the word-search problem. Fortunately, Pinball Fantasies leaves out the copy-protection once you have succesfully run it once. Pinball Dreams, alas, insists every time.
Once started, both games present you with some reasonably tasteful background music and a choice of four tables to play. The tables and their artwork, although very much in the spirit of real tables, are not actually based on any real arcade machines. Pinball Dreams offers `Ignition', `Graveyard', `Beat Box' and `Steel Wheels' whilst Pinball Fantasies implements `Partyland', `Speed Devils', `Billion Dollar Game Show' and `Stones-n-Bones'.
The pinball simulation itself presents a flat 2D top-down view. Since pinballs are tall and thin and screens are short and wide this means only about half the table is visible at any one time. The game automatically scrolls in the vertical direction to ensure the area around the ball is always in view. A rather clever scrolling algorithm is used to minimise disturbance to the display. After a few plays I found I no longer noticed the scrolling except, perhaps, when aiming for targets at the top of the table. Certainly, the extra width gained by scrolling seems to more than compensate for the slightly less natural presentation.
In both games the actual simulation of ball and `furniture' (bumpers, targets, ramps, ball-locks and so on) is thoroughly well executed. The ball moves as it would on a real table, and all the various moves you can make on a real table work also work on the simulated tables. For example, there is a key to `nudge' the table so that it is possible to perform `back-shots' and flipper exchanges by flipping after nudging the ball off a flipper. Of course, as in a real game, over-enthusiastic use of this facility results in a Tilt and the loss of a ball. The design of the simulated tables has obviously also been taken quite seriously. Even testing by serious pinball enthusiasts (I live in a house with two real pin-tables - one in the kitchen, one upstairs!) revealed no no serious errors or imbalances in gameplay. There are plenty of interesting/difficult shots to test skill but few if any silly `death-traps' where a ball can be lost even without an error on the players part.
A nice touch in Pinball Fantasies is the provision of an option for selecting high or low table slope (high table slope makes for a faster game).
Both games decorate their simulated tables with backing artwork that makes the tables look the part. The quality isn't really the same as you'd expect to see on a real table from one of the major manufacturers but it is certainly more than adequate. Pinball Fantasies is noticeably the better of the two games in this regard, with artwork that is probably about as good as can be achieved given the limitations of VGA 256 colour graphics. Pinball Fantasies also has somewhat more sophisticated table layouts that its predecessor Pinball Dreams. The tables in Pinball Dreams have fairly simple, open, layouts with (relatively) little furniture, rather like the pin-tables of the late seventies and early eighties. The Pinball Fantasies tables are, by contrast, rather more like the current fashion in pinball design with complex ramps and lock features. It must be said, however, even the Pinball Fantasies tables are still rather simpler than the latest pinball machines in the arcades. Neither game has tables with split-level layouts or moveable / active table components, and there is no attempt to simulate game-sensitive lighting effects or more unusual features like spinning disks or magnetic traps. Presumably, players who want this kind of thing on their PC will have to wait until the 3rd game in the series `Pinball Illusions' finishes development.
As might be expected, the implementation quality of Pinball Fantasies is much higher than of Pinball Dreams. Wheras Pinball Dreams uses only a standard 320x200 display, Pinball Fantasies uses two custom modes: 320x240 and a high-resolution mode of 360x350. The latter mode is particularly useful as it enables almost 2/3's of the table to be shown at once. Unfortunately, the use of custom modes also means that the game may not work on machines whose hardware deviates significantly from standard VGA. An experimental installation on a lap-top, for example, failed dismally producing only flickering garbage on the display. This was particularly frustrating as Pinball Fantasies has an option for grey-scale displays, which really only makes sense as a means of supporting monochrome LCD's on laptops.
Pinball Fantasies also significantly improves on the sound capabilities of its predecessor. On my Orchid Soundproducer (a Soundblaster V.2 clone) Pinball Dream's music and sound-effects sounded distinctly `fuzzy'. I suspect this may be because they have been been digitised from the original Amiga version of the game rather than reprogrammed from scratch. Pinball Fantasies' music and sound effects, by contrast, exploit the hardware fully and actually sound rather good. The quality of composition also seems to be a lot higher in Pinball Fantasies: subjectively, the music sounded much more professional. Allowing for the modest hardware, just as good something I might expect to hear when playing a real table.
Potential buyers without a sound card might be interested to note that Pinball Fantasies also provides a remarkably good sound driver for the PC's internal speaker. On faster CPU's (386/33 and upwards) the game can generate music and sound effects through the PC speaker that are easily good enough to significantly enhance gameplay.
Pinball really is a very visceral game. Much of the fun comes from the impact of the machine itself: loud, driving, music; `tastefully tasteless' over-the-top artwork; bright flashing lights; the pressure to play well enough to earn replays rather than have to insert more money. How well does the game work when you simulate it on the small screen of a PC? Personally, I was pleasantly surprised! Playing the simulated tables of Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies certainly wasn't the same thing as playing real pinball, but it certainly *was* fun. The games I usually buy are RPG's and flight-simulators: things that require a good deal of concentration and thought. The Pinball games couldn't have been more different. They are simple reflex orientated fun set to music and sound-effects. In short, great for just playing around with to unwind between more serious tasks. I certainly won't be playing the two Pinball games in the hour-long stints I reserve for the Ultima's and flight simulation. However, at the same time, I certainly won't be deleting them, and I suspect they could still be earning their place on my hard-disc in idle moments long after I've finished my latest RPG.
In summary: Pinball Fantasies is a slick well-presented game that does a serious job of doing Pinball simulation. The fact that it doesn't *quite* simulate the all the latest gimmicks won't be of concern unless you are looking for a substitute for time in the arcades. What matters is that the game simulates well-designed tables that play well, testing the players skill without frustrating pitfalls or traps. Music and graphics are more than up to job of backing up the underlying simulation engine.
Pinball Dreams, sadly, looks really rather dated by comparison with its younger, punchier, stable-mate. Probably something you should expect to find in the `budget' rather than full-price racks. However, it is certainly worth a look if you don't fancy paying too much money, or are worried that Pinball Fantasies' custom display modes might not work on your machine.
This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Andrew Stevens for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.