Customer Reviews

Plug and Play Classic Arcade Pinball

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

 

 

I started to get into these Plug N Play/TV Games made by Jakks Pacific and Radica Games, and had to pick up the Pinball one. I love pinball games, and this is a great outlet for me. There are a lot of classic features in these, and the replay value is outstanding. Its always fun, and its just a controller, so I can take it wherever I want without it being a nuisance.

There are only a few minor flaws Ive found. 1) Jakk's Pacific should have gotten liscenses from Midway/Bally to get some real pinball tables like PinBot. 2) The High Score does not save once the controller is off. This is a major drawback when trying to play to beat your previous highscores.

Other than that, this is an amazingly little setup. Ide recommend picking it up if you enjoy Pinball.

If you are/were a borderline "Pinball Wizard" in the arcade like I once was you will get the most enjoyment from this game.

With three levels of play, the "arcade" level plays best.

The "kids" level is a dubed down version if you will. On the "kids" level you press one button and it operates both flippers.

The "arcade" level is just what it says. It plays like an arcade game would play. If you have good control of an arcade game you'll have good control of this video version. The video game plays well if you have the touch to play a real machine well.

The "wizard" level plays very fast and is not all that easy to handle. I was above average in the real arcades, so this level did not play well for me. Perhaps a real Pinball Wizard would find this level entertaining, but I did not.

The graphics were somewhat of a disappointment, but then again for $19.99 it's a great bargain. Better graphics would command a better price. (It looks more like an old Nintendo game than the newer generation of games.)

The build of the controller is solid! The "plunger" to put the ball in play is a neat part of this video game! Best play is achieved by holding it in an upright position. (With the round button facing you.) Use the round buttons for flippers. The top rectangular buttons are best saved to use for a table nudge. (I use only the right top button to nudge, I suppose a left handed person would be best suited to use only the top left to nudge)Flipping the round buttons in quick succession achieve a table nudge as well. So as I stated above if you have excellent control of a real table you'll have better control of this video version of pinball.

Use the menu button to select level of game play. After that it's just like in the arcade, (they never handed out instruction booklets) you play and see what you have to hit to activate bonuses and extra balls. Lack of superior graphics makes this difficult at times. Still 4+ stars overall, with a big 5 stars for fun! fun! fun!

Paleolithic Pete is the easiest to master, but still a very good play.

Super Star Strike is a bit more challenging, but it is soon mastered. I found the layout less desirable than "Pete"

Skate Scene Pinball is the more challenging of the three. Not easily mastered, but then again not too hard so that you want to quit. It keeps you wanting to play more and more.

I was expecting this to be really cheesy like the original pinball on the original Nintendo. But these games react just like a real pinball machine - and there's even multiball and extra mini tables. There are only three tables, so that moves the replay value down a notch, but all three tables are great fun to play. The plunger built into the controller works great and is a great idea.
The only improvement would be to have the high scores be kept even after turning off the game.

The games are great, and the graphics are good. (Basically, i'd say that the graphics are about as good as the pinball game that comes with Windows.) My main complaint is the "nudge" function. You actually tap the side on the unit to nudge the table. However, it can be touchy at times, and I've found myself nudging the table accidentally when I just grip the unit a little more tightly. Fortunately, that's happening less often as I get used to how I need to hold it to prevent that. When I actually WANT to nudge it, it often seems like I almost have to give the unit a pretty good whack to get it to nudge. I wish it'd be consistent! I think it would've been better if, instead of having the second set of flipper buttons near the cord, that those buttons were reserved for left and right nudges, so you'd be much less likely to accidentally nudge the table, and much more likely to be able to nudge it when you want to without fear that you'll break the unit. However, this flaw doesn't detract too much from my enjoyment -- I'm gradually adjusting to its quirks.

Very cool controller and playable by more people than arcade games. Nearly every twit can play pinball. The scrolling screen may bother some people, and there is no "full screen" option. And yes, the nudge factor is cool, but twitchy.

The thing with these games is they are basically made for kids and they have mass grownup appeal. But they are not made for grownups. Therefore graphics and features lack a bit. Don't get me wrong, I love the space pinball table. It is played most often.

A worth while toy to have when you don't know what kind of game you want to play. The physics seem to be done fairly well. I'd like to see a sequel to this unit with shaper graphics, better sound and hotter tables.

I WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE GRAFICS OF THIS GAME IT FELT LIKE I WAS REALLY PLAYING REAL PINBALL. IT HAS EVERYTHING THAT REAL PINBALL HAS FORM MULTI-BALL EXTRA-BALL AND TILT, I PLAYED IT FOR HOURS THE FIRST DAY I GOT IT. I LIKED ALL THREE OF THE DIFFERENT ROOMS TO CHOOSE FORM. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU PURCHASE IT AND YOU WILL ENJOY IT ALSO.

This plug and play game is well done and worth the money when compared to the Atari and Activision plug and plays. I have 3 negatives to report:

1. There is no multi-player capability. Since pinball is an alternating two player game anyway, how hard would this have been?

2. Instructions (for each table)? I threw the packing away, but I don't remember seeing what you need to do to activate what for each table. Youhave to play and by luck figure out what activates what.

3. It looks BETTER on my 20 inch tv than my 56 inch HDTV monitor - why is that?

All in all, worth the money for a portable.

Save your money! 3 tables, all terrible, slow and muddled. I could not make out anything, especially the ball. Put your money towards a PC Pinball game, namely Microsoft and Atari's Pinball Arcade-MUCH more like real pinball than this crap!

The game is a lot of fun. I play it all the time. I would recommend it to anyone that has time to spare during the day or anyone who is dying of boredom. Give this game a try.

Very nicely made, realistic ball movement, quality menu system, nice sound.
Definately worth the money, better than what I expected.