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‘Ever since I was a young boy
I've played the silver ball
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball [...]
[...] He's a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist
A pinball wizard
He's got such a supple wrist...’
(Excerpt of ‘Pinball Wizard’ by The Who...)
There wasn’t any adequate pinball simulation for the Amiga for several years: games like Loriciel’s ‘Pinball Magic’, Kingsoft’s ‘Pinball Wizard’ or Sega’s/Activision’s ‘Time Scanner’ were for the birds. So fans of that computer looked envious beyond their own noses – across the console gamers; to be more precise, to the PC-Engine/Turbo Grafx 16 friends: these were affected by the ‘Devil’s Crush’ fever in the year 1990. Already its precursor ‘Alien Crush’ (1988) has caused a wave of enthusiasm – but the sequel beats the pants off the first part! Here pinball dreams come true! Later the program was ported to the Mega Drive (under the name ‘Dragon’s Fury’) – a conversion for the Amiga (or other computer systems) wasn’t available... it wasn't meant to be...
But then came the spring of 1992...
...it hit the gamers’ scene like a bolt from the blue – and it was called ‘Pinball Dreams’...
As the Name suggests...
...and as a matter of fact, with that game, the guys of Digital Illusions were able to make the above mentioned dreams become reality! This has several reasons: for one thing, the playfield wasn’t overwhelmed with needless gimmicks, like illustrations or an overdone score display – in previous programs of that kind, this was on the agenda. For another thing, ‘Pinball Dreams’ contains scrolling – so far this feature was barely available, too. Furthermore, the silver ball moves very realistically across the several tables – and whose (graphical) design was a dream, too...
Altogether, the game offers four tables – each one features a different subject matter. Let’s take a closer look...
Table 1 – ‘Ignition’:
‘That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind...’
In my opinion, this first table is also the weakest of them all – nevertheless, it represents a good introduction into the world of ‘Pinball Dreams’. It deals with the age of modern space travel - mankind’s advance to the outer reaches of the known universe...
‘Ignition’ contains, among other things, two bumpers, one saucer, two slingshots as well as various score multipliers. One of the main tasks is to light the several letters of the title logo...
For me, that first pinball appears a little uninspired and boring – and the graphics are a little dull; mainly red and blue colour shades set the tone of the playfield...
Table 2 – 'Steel Wheel’:
‘Shoot or die, bastard!’
...but those two flaws were already eliminated by the second table – ‘Steel Wheel’ represents the subject matter of the ‘Wild West’ as well as the establishment of the ‘Transcontinental Railroad’. This pinball is very colourful and was equipped with all the bells and whistles...
The centrepiece are the two ramps, which lead across the whole playfield. Moreover, there are two ball traps, various rollovers, three bumpers as well as the obligatory slingshots and stationary targets...
A significant enhancement compared with the previous ‘Ignition’ table...
Table 3 – ‘Beat Box’:
‘Storm the charts with your hit single and become a part of the international music scene...’
‘Beat Box’ is my personal favourite of this ‘pinball compilation’! That table makes the pinball enthusiast’s heart leap for joy: lots of stationary targets and multipliers, two stylish ramps, bumpers, rollovers, ball traps and even a second level – well, at least a small one...
Table 4 – ‘Nightmare’:
‘You're not scared, are you?’
The last table is nearly on the same level as the precursor – although there’s no second level, all other features are available: bumpers, stationary targets, ramps and rollovers...
‘Nightmare’ is truly a nightmare – but not in terms of its quality! The table is perfectly designed – in every respect! Stunning...
It’s almost gratuitous to mention that all four tables contain a ‘tilt’ mechanism...
All this sounds too good to be true – there must be a fly in the ointment somewhere! To be honest, there isn’t any – with ‘Pinball Dreams’ the guys of Digital Illusions have produced an almost perfect pinball simulation (and besides, one of the best games in 1992)! Merely two weak points temper the fun a little bit: for one thing, there's no multiball option, for another thing, each table contains only two flippers to act – as is well-known, the last mentioned point of criticism has been corrected in the sequel ‘Pinball Fantasies’...
In my opinion even today ‘Pinball Dreams’ (along with ‘Pinball Fantasies’ and ‘Pinball Illusions’) belongs to the very best programs of its kind – truly a milestone in the history of pinball simulations...
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At its release in spring 1992, the graphics of ‘Pinball Dreams’ were the best ever seen in a pinball game - so why only a score of 8? That’s very simple, because the graphics of the two successors are still better than those of the first part! Unfortunately, the game offers no animations (apart from the flippers as well as the plunger) in the proper sense – the reflection on the ball’s surface never changes and neither the bumpers nor the slingshots feature any effects when the marble touches them. But that’s nitpicking and represents no disadvantage. Besides each table is strewn with flashing fields – just like in reality! At last, the scrolling is super smooth and the animated score display looks very stylish...
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Did I say the graphics were the best ever seen in a pinball game? Well, that applies to the sound, too. Both the intro theme and the main menu tune are just great! Each table contains its own background music (by the way, the ‘Nightmare’ theme sounds to me a little like Michael Jackson’s famous number one hit ‘Thriller’) and the various jingles are a feast for the ears...
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Well, after all this program is a pinball game – so it’s very easy to handle: left/right Shift/Alt/Amiga keys to move the flippers, space to push the table and arrow down key/mouse to propel the ball into the playfield – that’s all. Apart from ‘Ignition’, all tables are very exciting and challenging – and better than many a real pinball...
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| In the year of its release, ‘Pinball Dreams’ redefined the term ‘pinball simulation’ and has influenced strongly the whole genre- without doubt one of the best pinball games of all times... |
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Get Amiga Forever with pre-installed Workbench, games, applications, and much more.
It also contains the original Amiga ROM-files, 100% legally!
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