Customer Reviews

Pinball Madness 3

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This set of pinball games is terrible. The flippers are sluggish, the graphics are dark and hard to see. The 3D effect of the tables is poor, and makes play confusing. The box claims 27 tables, but there are not 27 DIFFERENT tables - there seem to be about 15 different tables, and the rest are just duplicate tables on another CD. If you like the graphics and feel and play of the Space Cadet pinball table that comes with Windows, don't buy this. It's not even close.

I was only able to install Absolute Pinball. I could not get any of the other games installed. My computer is a Compaq 166 with 48 MB RAM. I have lots of free disk space to install these games. Here is the error message I got when I clicked on install for each game...

Error extracting support files. Interface not registered.

I can't believe I'm the only one that has had trouble with Pinball Madness 3. I'll never purchase any Encore Software products again, mainly because they don't seem to have any interest in their customers. I wrote numerous messages to Encore Software Support and never got a response.

This is a very low quality collection of pinball games. I have a top-of-the-line computer (1.2 GHz cpu, 256 M ram, etc) and some of these games, each with its own installation program, had trouble installing and running. Some froze up my machine to the point I had to power cycle. The games seem to be a collection of several independently-developed pinball games from different companies, thrown together on a set of 3 or 4 CDs, each with different setup routines and user interfaces. Get one game figured out and you have no assurance that you'll know how to run the next one (assuming it will run!). Only one of the games, "Creep Night" by Sierra, was worth keeping on my machine, but even it isn't up to their usual standard of quality in terms of graphics and game play, and it also has locked up my machine once or twice. If you see this product in the store, don't be fooled by the fancy box! After 30 minutes I wished I had my money back.

I love "The Web" pinball game, That's why I bought this collection, and Creep Nights not to bad. Obviously the other people that bought this collection don't know what they're doing when loading the games. I'm running Windows Vista Home Premium and have had no troubles getting the games to work and play fine. Just use the compatibility wizard and keep your video cards updated with manufacturers updates.

I can only agree with the other negative reviews. This "game" is a complete waste of time and money. Most "games" in this collection either wouldn't install or would freeze my system (and I'm not running junk here). I finally got "Pinball 10" to run but it is very sluggish. The support is a joke. I've expressed my displeasure but Encore has not gotten back with me. Likewise (as Lafayette Gamer), Encore will not have a repeat customer here.

This collection is recommended only for true pinball nuts and people experienced in tweaking their computers to get games running. This collection is from various different makers, and thus each set of games installs differently. Most run okay in Windows, but some seem to prefer DOS. My least favorites of the bunch are from 21st Century. They have 2D scrolling tables, which make for disorienting gameplay.

However, there are som real gems here too. The ten or so tables from Redoubt Software are as good as anything I've seen lately, and are in full 3D. It's well worth the money just to be able to try the tables from Redoubt. Great sound effects and even video clips abound.

Redoubt is also responsible for the excellent "Williams Pinball Classics", which was just recently released.

I am agreeing with the others. I am running Windows XP, and was only able to get The Tomb up and running. And even it was a little buggy and froze my machine. Also, the physics were a bit suspect. If you can still easily run DOS, then this package may be worthwhile. If you are running XP....forget about it.

The other 1-star reviews are right on the mark. I have a top-of-the-line computer (1.2 GHz cpu, 256 M ram, etc) and some of these games, each with its own installation program, had trouble installing and running. Some froze up my machine to the point I had to power cycle. The games seem to be a collection of several independently-developed pinball games from different companies, thrown together on a set of 3 or 4 CDs, each with different setup routines and user interfaces. Get one game figured out and you have no assurance that you'll know how to run the next one (assuming it will run!). Only one of the games, "Creep Night" by Sierra, was worth keeping on my machine, but even it isn't up to their usual standard of quality in terms of graphics and game play, and it also has locked up my machine once or twice. If you see this product in the store, don't be fooled by the fancy box! After 30 minutes I wished I had my money back.

The only reason a star appears with this is because I could not post my review without one! I am so happy I read the reviews below. I already bought the game package, but for a long time, I thought I had to get rid of my nice little Toshiba laptop!!! I thought my computer was to blame for the non-performance of this stupid game package. And yet, Creep Night, Thrillride and the Sims were running fine... I would feel a surge of excitement if the Tomb would work for me for five seconds. I finally realized it was better to NOT continue to force my computer to run these games. I mean, how many times do you have to crash before you know it's not worth it?...

I was only able to install and run two games from this set. I really enjoy The Web, and Creep Night, although has "cartoonish" graphics is highly enjoyable...but I have no idea what the other games included in this set are like because they froze my computer up and wouldn't install. Instead of wasting your money, buy Creep Night and The Web individually...sometimes quality is better than quanity.