Thanks to the current retro craze of videogames, we are seeing compilations of Atari 2600 games as well as old stuff from the days of the Commodore 64, but one thing we have been lacking are reproductions of pinball games. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection came out some time ago, but the problem was most Gottlieb pinball games sucked. There was only one company that made awesome pinball games, and that was Williams.
The game starts as you walk into an arcade which looks like it is right out of 1984. It’s a two level arcade but it’s a little short on games. Although there are videogames in there, you can’t play them – you can only play the ten pinball games available. Some games have free play enabled while others will require you to use a token to play. Eventually you’ll be able to unlock the tables for free play by either ‘buying’ free play for 100 tokens or by completing each of the table goals that are similar to achievements.
I headed right over to the Taxi machine as any game that incorporates Gorbachev and Pinbot requires playing immediately. Each table has a tutorial that explains the tables in a much better way than the original pinball instructions did. The tutorial isn’t required to play, but its well worth going through it in order to learn how to score the most points.
The gameplay is perfect. The ball physics are dead on and things like the feel of the bumpers are close to the real thing. The tables are incredibly accurate to the real tables and nudging the table is easily done by shaking the Wiimote. Drop targets and lights on the pinball game are an exact replica of the real thing. The nunchuck is required for the game as it controls the left flipper. It seems odd that you can’t play the game with just the wiimote, but the controls work well. By pressing the 1 button on the wiimote you can adjust the camera view; however the standard “SmartCam” view works fine – if anything you’ll accidently hit the 1 button and change the angle at an inopportune time.
If you have any memories of any of the ten tables included within this compilation, you owe it to yourself to run right out and purchase this game – the reproductions are that good. Every piece of audio is recreated faithfully in this game. The background music of “Black Knight” whisked me back to the Dream Machine in Warwick, RI. Another nice touch of this game is that the background audio tries to put you in an arcade, so you hear ambient noise of other games at while you’re playing your pinball game. It’s not enough to overwhelm you, but it is enough to notice – it’s a very nice touch.
The pinball games themselves are sort of a time capsule – starting in 1970 with Jive Time (easily the worst table of the bunch, but you do get five balls instead of three) and going all the way up to 1990 with Funhouse. If you grew up in the 80s, you may not know the names of these tables but you’ll remember them as soon as you start playing.
