Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space
Minimum 286 VGA 545K 2.5 MB
Max/Rec. 386SX/20+
Control: Keyboard
Sound: Sound Blaster, SBPro, Gravis Ultra Sound, SB 16
Reviewed version 2.0 on: 386DX/40, 4MB RAM, SB Pro
Reviewer recommends: Any 386, Sound Card
This is no high action 3d arcade game, it's more of a game to play in a spare 10 minutes. There's no stress involved in plaing this game, although I have to admit when you're about to go into bonus mode with one ball left and about to get an all time high it gets quite exciting.
Pinball has come a long way from the one screen tables of TRISTAN. The Epic tables are similar to thoses PINBALL FANTASIES, with two screens of wonderfully detailed graphics which scroll smoothly as the ball moves. Some people can't stand the scrolling of the screen they prefer it to be fixed in one position, yet they couldn't have made graphics as detailed as they are with only one screen.
"The real feel of a pinball machine in your own home"- that's the kind of atmosphere that the high quality sound effects and music gives you. The music fits into the tables well. For example in space journey table there is synthesized futurist music. The crash of ball on the bumper targets, the clatter as the ball flies along the lines and the clap of the ball against the side all make the pinball tables sound like a fully functional pinball machine. However the intro leaves alot to be desired, just like the pinball machines it produces the title on an LCD screen. The demos are quite good though, they tell you what all the different holes and lanes do on the pinball tables.
The animation is quite good for a 2-D pinball table. There are various switches that you can turn on which do things like change the color of the Cybergirl as you change tence deck. In the collection of the four modern style pinball tables there are : Pangea, a simple dinosaur table; Cybergirl, a ultra modern table featuring a trip through cyberspace; Toy factory, color, fun, toys in an wacky new table; Space Journey, travel through out the solar system in this futuristic table.
You don't have to jump into these tables in the dark. First you get an overview of the table from the menu where you confirm you want to play. then you can scroll around the table If all else fails you can actually play it to find out what all the lanes and holes do. To control the flippers you can use the left and right shifts like the buttons in the real pinball machines or you can use the two arrow keys, I prefer these because it's much easier. It takes a while to get use to where the ball is going to go. Even when you have been playing for a while there is still a chance that the ball will hit something in the wrong place and fly off where your not expecting it to. On the very odd occasion when the ball gets stuck somewhere, you can use the space bar, which shakes the table. But just like the old pinball machines if you shake it too much it gives you a TILT which disables the flippers.
Epic Pinball isn't only about hitting bumper targets and getting big scores, there is as much story line as they could work in. There are also such variations to the game play as jackpot mode and anti-gravity mode. Here are some of the things you can do in Cybergirl apart from hitting normal targets:
This game is really addictive and it's a nice break from games that require thought. If you keep it on your hard drive you'll keep coming back to it (That is if you like pinball, but if you don't you can always listen to the sound). In the pinball tables you finally go into jackpot mode and you can keep on going until you lose all the balls and get a really big score.
The installation is straight forward and user friendly. I epeserly like the on line help cleverly disguised as the "Read This!" item on the menu. The graphics and sound extend to the "Read This!" file, with screen shots of the pinball tables in the background, with all the information about running the game in the foreground, it turns out quite impressive.
There are a few things that could be improved about this game, the ball does not act like it does in a real pinball machine...I found this out by playing a real pinball machine after playing Epic Pinball for a while...I lost horribly. Also it would be more fulfilling if there was a nice animation when you became top of the scores.
Epic Pinball 3 is the best pinball game I've seen. If you've got a Sound Card, and you like other pinball games go out and buy this. If not you should at least get the shareware version of Epic Pinball.