Customer Reviews

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have revised my review of this product because the xBox360 version of this title includes more tables including the classic "Medieval Madness" machine, which is one of the most expensive pinball machines ever made. It's really a shame that the producers have chosen to release multiple configurations of a game under the same title, yet have different features and functionality, and for this reason, I would advise against buying this product. Want the new tables including MM? Well you're out of luck on all other platforms except xBox. Booooooo!

This review is for the PSP version.

Being a huge pinball fan and having played all the tables featured in this game in real life, I can attest to how close they've managed to capture the gameplay and the feel. The only thing missing is a change machine that won't take my 1$ bill.

There are a few minor issues I have though... The documentation is kind of minimal. There are many dynamics of the games you simply have to figure out - not all the game logic is outlined and what is, is very shallow. The PSP display is very small and you cannot always make out the minute details of the game board. For example, if extra ball is lit, it may be very difficult to tell where the extra ball target is - you surely can't read a little "extra ball when lit" tag in the playfield. Also some of the physics are predictable. For example, when a ball is kicked out of a hole, there isn't any randomizing of its nature. If you know a ball will kick out of a hole and you can trap it on an up-turned flipper, you will always be able to do that. The velocity or angle of the ball coming out of the drop will always be the same. This would normally be a very bad thing, but since the playfield is so small on the PSP, it probably evens things out and gives you time to make more accurate shots so I don't mind it that much. There's also a bug with the plunger... sometimes if you pull the plunger so that it's not all the way back, it will still rocket forward as if it is pulled all the way back. Another annoyance is if you meet the table goal in the middle of a game, a big message is plastered across the playfield, obscuring your view, which usually results in the ball draining just as you've been told you're doing well. But the worst thing about the game is if you accidentally hit the start button during gameplay, the "do you want to quit this game" menu pops up, but the game is not suspended so if you happen to accidentally hit that button, you've probably lost your ball. It should suspend the game at least.

All in all though, this is a very good game and recommended for pinball fans. The main reason why I'm being critical is because this game does come very close to being the perfect pinball game for the PSP.

If you enjoy pinball, you really cannot beat this game for value and enjoyment. Some of the best tables of the past 30 years are on here. The sounds, the gameplay. This brought back some powerful memories of arcades during high school and college. Especially rare tables like Whirlwind and Funhouse. It was a treat to play those after not seeing those anywhere in more than 15 years. I hope Crave continues this series. I'll be first in line to buy any other pinball releases they come up with.

I get hooked on pinball every now and again. Lately, I've been playing the very good "Zen Pinball" from the Playstation Network. So I wanted more, and I wanted something I could take on the go with me. After seeing many positive reviews of this title, I took the plunge.

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, promises realistic simulations of real pinball tables from the past catalog of Williams, probably the leading pinball company in the game's history (and a Chicago company, too).

The menu system of the game is an "arcade," presented in 3-d graphics, in which you can move from one machine to another. You have a set number of "credits," and some tables require a credit to play, some are set up for "free play." You earn additional credits by meeting various goals for each table. Then, you can purchase "free play" on other tables, as well as unlock various options for play (special balls, mirror tables, etc.)

The following ten tables are included:

Jive Time (1970) - A very simple table with few extraneous features. Probably the most "old-timey" of the group. This table is a real "drain monster" though, and has been set to 5-ball mode by default to compensate.

Gorgar (1979) - A relatively simple table with a few extras, such as a magnetic "snake pit." Well balanced and fun, but not overly complex.

Firepower (1980) - a simple but compelling table with a ball lock and a ramp. Well balanced, cool sound effects.

Black Knight (1980) - A fun, 4-flipper multilevel playfield with several ramps and two ball locks for multi-ball. Lots of fun.

Space Shuttle (1984)- A fun table with an adjustable word slot array, two ball catches, two ramps, a space shuttle model, and a bonus readout on the table. Midway between the very complex tables and the more simple ones.

Sorcerer (1985) - some cool ramps and an fun adjustable drop target make this a pretty fun table. The arrangement of targets is quite a bit of fun to hit.

Pin*Bot (1987) - This table is a lot of fun. A Robotic "visor" lifts up during the game, allowing you to lock balls into the eye sockets for later multiball use. Several ramps and a skillshot mechanic off the plunger make this one a keeper.

Taxi (1988)- This talking table strikes a nice balance between simplicity and gimmicks. A skillshot spiral is off the plunger, a two way ramp goes around the top, and two ballcatchers are on the sides. This one is good simple fun.

Funhouse (1990)- a VERY fun table with loads of features. You work to advance a clock on the game field by hitting bumpers. A talking ventriloquist dummy gets whacked by the pinball and complains - if you advance the clock far enough, you can get the ball into his snoring mouth. Lots of ramps and special features, and a third flipper for multi-level play. Probably the best table in the game.

Whirlwind (1990) - Incredibly fun, up there with Funhouse. This talking table gives you warnings of hurricanes/tornadoes. A third flipper makes this a multi-level game. A lot of cool ramps litter this one, and the middle of the playfield features "storm" pinwheels that alter the path of the ball.

Check out the Internet Pinball Database (a great website!) for pictures and specs on each table. For nostalgia fans, the original sales flyer is viewable with each table. This is great - except you can't zoom in on them. Sigh. Good luck squinting to try and read the text.

High scores are kept for each table, but only 5 slots each. I kind of wish the more robust scoring of a PSN-style game were available. But I guess it's authentic.

****

Graphically, this game is a mixed bag. The table playfields look generally nice, though there are some jaggies to content with. The PSP's smaller screen is a bit too small in the normal orientation, but thankfully there is the option to turn the system 90 degrees and play in a better vertical orientation. The "arcade" itself is pretty rudimentary, almost PS1 level graphics.

Load times are very tolerable for a disc-based PSP game.

****

Music and sound effects are great. All the original voices and sound effects from the various tables are well represented. Cheesy metal (an authentic arcade touch) plays in the background of the arcade, but thankfully not during gameplay.

****

Controls are adequate, but not terrific. This is more a fault of the PSP system than the developers. table bumping and plungers are mapped to the analog nub, and it isn't always responsive. In Horizontal gameplay, the bumpers are mapped to the shoulders, pretty standard. In vertical, they are mapped to X and Triangle - which is fine, except that now the analog nub is way on the top of the system. I wish that user-mappable controls had been included so that we could all figure out our own best layout.

****

Overall, I love this game. I wish it had some more tables (something from before 1970 perhaps), and some more customizing options for controls. Due to these factors, I can't give it a perfect score. But you can't beat pinball for just the sort of gameplay that portables are made for - short, addicitive, pick up and play gaming.

In one word, WOW! Having just got a PSP for Christmas and while on the hunt for games I came across this one just by chance. I read raving reviews and was hyped to play, though I still had my doubts. My doubt was that I had a sneaking suspicion that pinball on the PSP would be pretty much the same as every other video pinball game I've ever played. Great fun though horribly inacurate. Let me tell you now this is not like all the others I've played.

Graphics, sound, and physics are all melted together to the verge of perfection. Yes, the PSP's screen is limited here and at times it is difficult to track where your ball is, however this is not the fault of the game. The game dose a decent job of zooming in on bumpers and rails while paning out in time to focus on the flippers. The camera movements feel natural and dont throw you off at all. The physics are on as well with no unnatural floating or bumping. Sound effects accompany perfectly with the sound of a metal pinball rolling down the board while picking up speed is dead on. Seriously, it's that good.

Now The Games!

Those same chills I used to get as a kid from making a pinball board flash multicolored lights and making that reverberating rumble sound have been brought back. Load screens feature the original back glass graphics that bring back memories for me. The games span from 1970 to the early 1990's and offer a good variaty of boards from simple bumper and fliper to elaborate rails and chutes with a whole gag bag of lights and sounds.
The main screen is also set in an arcade which is a nice touch.

To put it blunt, if you like pinball, get this. Yes, it can take a toll on your eyes after a while. So what, put on a pair of glasses. Where else can you relive the glory days of pinball while driving to Florida.

I am a huge fan of pinball games on all platforms and this is the best of the best! I also own The Gottlieb Collection and was excited about the new tables and they are great, but the I think the graphics are even better! This is as close as you can get without having the actual pinball machine in your house! Realistic play, sounds, physics, everything is 5 stars! Great value too, if you like pinball get this game!!!!

As a lifelong player of pinball, collector, restorer and technician, I consider myself to be a pinball aficionado and an avid collector of all things Williams. That being said, this collection of Williams games is a pretty good variety of titles. It's a shame that they decided to deprive PSP owners and not include some of the other titles that are found on the Xbox version (like Medieval Madness). Regardless, this review will only refer to the PSP version.

The good:

The graphics are very good. I really have no complaints about the graphics or even the moving POV camera. Pinball machines are full of artwork and these "simulations" are very good representations of that art. Even most of the physics of the game play itself is very good - predictable and not very random, but good. I can say that the real games play almost identically to these sims.

The bad:

The original tables sound effects are nearly perfectly reproduced here. The real problem is the annoying added sound of the ball rolling on wood. Every game has this sound and on many of the tables, this sound is louder than the sound effects of the game. The only game where this makes any sense at all is on the Electro Mechanical game "Jive Time." In real life, you generally would never hear this sound unless you were playing with the playfield glass off. On some of the titles, like Firepower and Gorgar this sound almost completely drowns out the ultra cool digitized sound effects of the game. The speech volume is also horribly low. You can't hear the voices very good over this annoying ball rolling sound effect. Playing Firepower is really no fun if you can't hear Steve Ritchie's voice calling out "FIRE." Gorgar is really no fun if you can't hear his heart beating faster and faster as you play longer.

If only you could control the volume of speech, sound effects and "ball rolling on wood" independently it would really help with this small but annoying issue. I think you should have control over all of the different adjustable features of the original games. You do not. You can't even adjust the number of balls per game. That is unacceptable.

Otherwise, I would recommend this game for the PSP. Being able to play the table in "portrait" or "landscaped" orientation is a nice touch. This game will be moderately entertaining for any pinball fan.

I brought this game because i'm a huge fan of Williams pinball machines , and i must say it's the most played game i own , the game mechanics are as close to the original machines as you can get , and with a huge line up of tables on offer you wont be getting bored quickly .
My favorite table would have to be fun house , and it looks and plays as close to the real life table , .
This being my first ever review , i hope it helps others make their choice , i highly recommend it for any pinball fan out there .

What a great game! Crave has done a masterful job of assembling these vintage tables in one game. The game play is fun and furious, the sound effects dead-on and this game has great replayability. Being able to rotate the game view 90 deg. to take advantage of the PSP's 16:9 aspect ratio is genius - tables display perfectly (I use table view #3) without the annoying "follow the ball" camera actions of other pinball sims. The only drawback to this is that the plunger / nudge functions are controlled from the analog stick, requiring the user to make a somewhat awkward reach...

Did you know that you can beam tables to other PSP owners in ad-hoc mode?

I've recently discovered this title for the PSP, impulse purchased on a whim.

The gameplay has a great feel to it, which at least seems realistic to the tables presented (which are actual pinball machines). The gameplay is easy to dive into, perfect for a handheld, but it's also good enough to continue playing for protracted periods. I think the number of tables gives plenty of variety, too.

Every now and then, it's obvious the physics are not simulated accurately, but rather are predictable. That's not a big deal to me. Gameplay skill matters in these games.

There are a couple of non-pinball games, such as the Xoltan fortune teller, which are worth a few minutes of amusement.

For the dollar, even as a new game it's a great value for PSP gamers. It never feels like a cheap game, which is how I've felt about 90% of video games in this genre.

What I find amazing is the changing state of video games. Back in the day on GameBoy, you had to deal with limited graphics, no color, and basically an overall dumbed-down game compared to the console version. But here, we get the EXACT same quality as the PS2 version (which I own originally) PLUS two more tables!

I had originally gotten this game because I've played most of the real tables featured in it over the years and love taking trips down memory lane. As with the console version, the tables are beautifully rendered and the physics engine is second to none. Maybe even better, because I'm sure I play these tables MUCH better than I ever have the larger ones (I regularly score 10 million or better on Space Shuttle). The two additional tables I've never heard of before this game, but they're equally as enjoyable. My only complaint is on the small screen it's sometimes hard to measure where your plunger has to go to achieve a desired shot (certain games require specific plunger movements for certain rewards).

If you're a pinball enthusiast or just grew up in the arcades like I did, this is a great game to have. Especially since it's portable!