Pinball Illusions Review

 PRODUCT NAME


 Pinball Illusions AGA


 BRIEF DESCRIPTION


 Pinball simulation, featuring multiball and game modes.


 AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION


 Digital Illusions/21st Century Entertainment
 Westbrook Street, Blewbury, Oxon, OX11 9QB UK


 COPY PROTECTION


 None

 Hard drive installable.


 MACHINE USED FOR TESTING


 Amiga 1200 w/WB 3.0

 2 MB Chip, 4 MB GVP Fast

 Seagate130 MB HD

 Supra 880K external drive



 REVIEW



     Pinball Illusions is the third of Digital Illusions' pinball series 
 (preceded by Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies). One of the features 
 which players have asked for is multiball play, and Illusions is the 
 first of the series to implement it.

     Dreams and Fantasies were played on a scrolling table which followed
 the location of one ball at all times, but multiball might have caused
 problems for some players if this technique had been used again.  The
 programmers decided to use an interlaced screen mode which doubled the
 amount of the table displayed.  The choice of colors for each table
 apparently reduces flicker, which is a problem on other interlaced games.
 Although the balls and targets are smaller, they are still recognizable
 and everything can be seen at once.  But if the new screen mode is too
 hard to play on,  the traditional mode can be selected instead.

     Another new feature is the addition of play modes.  All modern pinball
 games now have several special scoring modes in which huge bonuses can be 
 earned if certain targets are hit in order and within a time limit.  I 
 count 29 special scoring modes, not including random-bonus targets or 
 normal multiball bonuses, spread across 3 tables.  The variety of play 
 options greatly enhances the life of the game, since a player can try to 
 get huge scores many different ways.

     Yet another modern enhancement is the (simulated) addition of a 
 dot-matrix video screen on the table.  This really helps a player during 
 the scoring modes by giving directions concerning the necessary targets. 
 Sometimes it shows humorous animations when certain targets are hit.  It 
 also allows the playing of a "video mode."  In the Shootout video mode, 
 the flipper buttons guide a gunsight across the video screen.  When the 
 gunsight rests on a target, a gun fires and the player gets points.  The 
 video screen adds a little more variety to the game.

     All of the new features are great bells and whistles, but the tables
themselves must be well-designed or they quickly become boring. Thankfully,
they are...

     The first table, Law 'n' Justice, has a large open space in the middle
 so the ball can travel, yet it has several ramps, bumpers, and drop 
 targets along the perimeter so that the ball can travel across the open 
 area to each target and score combination bonuses. 

     The second table, Babewatch, is somewhat crowded at the top of the 
 table, but there are two table levels so there are still many targets to 
 aim for beneath the second level.  This table has the least play modes, 
 but each mode has the potential for the most points. The table is also 
 very humorous, especially during the fifth possible mode called "Babe 
 Hunt" which has hilarious theme music.

     The third table, Extreme Sports, is a good table, but it has its 
 problems. The board is crowded with walls and ramps, and the 
 triangle-shaped bumpers near the flippers have a tendency to bounce the 
 ball straight down the left outhole.  Two walls, one above the flippers 
 and another underneath the left ramp, tend to deflect the ball straight 
 down the middle of the table and between the flippers.  Aside from these 
 problems, the table is exciting because many of the scoring modes have 
 short time limits and a player struggles to make all the large-scoring
 shots.

     There are a couple of bugs in the game which hurt the gameplay. 
 Sometimes the program loses the location of a ball when it goes into a
 drop  target or down the drain.  When this happens, the game can't go on
 because there's no ball on the table.  This means that the current game
 must be aborted, which is really annoying when one has a score of
 1,546,850 and is still on ball 1!

     The bug is more annoying if a TILT is called, because the 'ESC' key 
 doesn't abort a game during a TILT. This means that the player must 
 reboot the computer.

     I also found a bug recently which requires a restart butt has only
 happened once to me.  On Extreme Sports, the ball went down the left
 outhole and got stuck.  I could not move it no matter how much I 'hit' the
 table.  Another minor bug cuts out sound if the ball is relaunched right
 after a TILT.  The sound is usually reactivated after a while, though.

     I'm also a bit disappointed with the graphics.  I've already
 complimented the almost flicker-free interlace mode, but I don't like the
 lifelessness of the table gadgets.  The ball doesn't spin, the mushroom
 bumpers don't visibly 'kick,' rollovers and switches don't look like
 they're triggered.

     Pinball Illusions is a great game.  It looks pretty good, sounds
 great, and contains a variety of different scoring opportunities.  The
 price (in the US) is pretty good, too; it has a MSRP of $39.95 for the
 NTSC version so stores will probably have it for $5-$10 less.  I bought
 the imported PAL version for $44.95.  I think £19.99 is a good price in
 the UK, and Illusions sells for that in several magazine ads.  If a
 pinball fan compares the price of Pinball Illusions to the price of
 playing real pinball games, she/he will realize that a lot of money can be
 saved by playing Pinball Illusions instead.



 Sound: 9
 Graphics: 8
 Gameplay: 8
 Lastability: 10
 Value: 9
 Overall: 9



                                             Carl Chavez