I was saving these game descriptions for a possible video feature on Youtube, but I thought it’d make a fairly interesting first blog post. Who knows, I might still do this as a video in the future, but for now, enjoy my ramblings!
Digital Illusions -- Pinball Dreams Introduction
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Insert disk, and this is the music you hear immediately hear. One of the most epic tracks I’ve ever heard on the Commodore Amiga. From the moment this music starts, diving straight into a dark sting, and emurging glorious and triumphant, the game’s got you gripped and it wont let go. If I were playing an adventure game, I would be totally crapping my pants right now. However, it just so happens this is a Pinball game… so I’m only pissing them.
Pinball Dreams is a straight up pinball simulation, containing 4 varied pinball tables. “Ignition” seemed a bit empty for me really, no rails, so sucked balls. “Steel Wheel” was a bit too mental for me too, often make the ramp, but it’d shoot the ball right back into play. “Beat Box” was my favourite when I played this game on the Commodore Amiga, however now on the iPhone, I always come back to “Graveyard”. That seems to be the most well rounded table out of the lot.
In addition to the kick-ass music throughout the game, the game itself is great fun. Its quick and snappy pick-up-and-play gameplay, that doesn’t let itself become too complex. Theres depth to the game if you choose to focus, building your multipliers, and gaining various bonuses from around the bored. Its also in my opinion, the best classic game conversion on the iPhone. The reason I feel it works is that the touch controls have a kind of context. I find the portrait view awkward, with any iPhone app really, however you turn it on it’s side, and it feels more like playing a pinball table.. Only with thumbs rather than fingers. Still, your hands are on either side of a ‘unit’, and you’re triggering a button push.
In my opinion, the iPhone version of this game kicks the Amiga’s ass. If you’re after a game to pass the time rather than fill it, grab this for iPhone. It suits the ‘portable game’ formula perfectly, whilst retaining the qualities that made the Amiga original great… ok, the ‘quality’, its music!
Grab Pinball Dreaming: Pinball Dreams for iPhone from the iTunes store
Pinball Dreams (C) Digital Illusions / Cowboy Rodeo
QUICK NOTE! (Amiga Music)
Although its not Pinball Dreams, another noteworthy Amiga mention for its surprisingly bad-ass music is Captain Planet and the Planeteers. The game itself isn’t good enough to make it on my top 40, but I keep finding myself rocking the shit when I hear it.
Or, maybe its just that stupid biased nostalgia thing. The game itself was absolutely terrible, with no clear indication of what to do, painfully slow world physics, and bad level design, it was a brain-teaser just trying to play the game. Perhaps thats why it was so addicted… although the fact it was bundled with Amiga’s back in the 90’s doesn’t affect that at all! Oh no!
