Pinball Dreams

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Pinball Dreams
Developer(s)Digital Illusions CE
Publisher(s)21st Century Entertainment
Producer(s)Barry Simpson
Designer(s)Olof Gustafsson
Programmer(s)Andreas Axelsson
Artist(s)Markus Nyström
Composer(s)Olof Gustafsson
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari Falcon,[1] DOS, Game Boy, GBA, Game Gear, GP32, iOS, OS X, PSN, SNES
Release13 March 1992
Genre(s)Pinball
Mode(s)1-8 players

Pinball Dreams is a pinball simulation video game developed by Digital Illusions CE (DICE) and originally released for the Amiga in 1992. It spawned several sequels, including Pinball Fantasies, Pinball Illusions and Slam Tilt.

Gameplay

The game's four tables each had a theme, as do most real life pinball & Panchinko machines. The version of Pinball Dreams bundled with the Amiga 1200 had a bug which rendered most of Beat Box's advanced features non-functional.

  • "Ignition", themed around a rocket launch, planets, and space exploration. The Expert Software's Pinball 2000 port of the game renamed this table "Rocket".
  • "Steel Wheel", themed around steam trains and the Old West.
  • "Beat Box", themed around the music industry, charts, bands and tours.
  • "Nightmare", themed around a graveyard, ghosts, demons, nightmares and generally evil things. Unlike the other tables in the game, the name of the table in the menu did not reflect the name displayed on the table itself—"Graveyard". Some ports of the game (notably the GameTek port to the Game Boy) name this table "Graveyard" in the menu as well.

Development

The ball moves according to reasonably realistic physics, and the game was restricted to using table elements which would also be possible to build in reality. Sound and music were realized with Module files, with this technology several music tracks could be included on the limited space of floppy disks.[1]

Ports:

Reception

Pinball Dreams was overall received positive by press reviews.[4][5][6] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Game Gear version a 5.8 out of 10, commenting that "Pinball never really worked well on portable systems and Pinball Dreams is no exception. The boards are huge, but the game is a little slow."[7]

In 1993 Computer Gaming World criticized the PC version of Pinball Dreams as having "the worst physical model" of four reviewed games, and disliked the "jerk[y]" scrolling.[8] In 1996, however, the magazine ranked it as the 119th best game of all time, stating, "Smooth scrolling and great ball physics made this Amiga game a wizard's choice."[9] In 2011, Wirtualna Polska ranked it as the fourth best Amiga game.[10]

Pinball Dreams 2

An alternate PC-only sequel, Pinball Dreams 2, was released in 1995 by 21st Century Entertainment (like Pinball Dreams) but was developed by Spidersoft.

It includes four tables:

  • "Neptune", themed to underwater exploration.
  • "Safari", themed to an African safari.
  • "Revenge of the Robot Warriors", themed to a battle against robots.
  • "Stall Turn", themed to aerobatics.

Composer Andrew Barnabas did not have access to the game while writing its music, and was instead given only a list of song titles and a copy of the original Pinball Dreams. He complained that, "I couldn't even see what the game looked like. It was like composing in the dark."[11]

Pinball Mania

Pinball Mania is a 1995 DOS game based on Pinball Dreams. While "Digital Illusions was not involved in the fourth title in 21st Century's pinball series" it was instead developed by Spidersoft. The game featured 4 tables: Kick Off, Jail Break, Tarantula, and Jackpot. PC Games (Germany) gave the game a 69 out of 100, while High Score gave it 3 out of 5.[12] A Gameboy port was published by GameTek UK Ltd. Consoles Plus gave it 80 out of 100, while Total! (Germany) gave it 3 out of 6.[13]

Absolute Pinball

Absolute Pinball is a 1996 DOS game based on Pinball Dreams. It was developed by Unique Development Studios AB and published by 21st Century Entertainment Ltd. on Sep 01, 1996. Joystick (French) gave it 80 out of 100, Coming Soon Magazine gave it 76 out of 100, PC Games (Germany) gave it 75 out of 100, PC Player (Denmark) gave it 70 out of 100, PC Player (Germany) gave it 3 Stars, High Score gave it 3 out of 5, PC Joker gave it 55 out of 100, and Power Play gave it 54 out of 100.[14]

Pinball Builder

Pinball Builder: A Construction Kit for Windows is a Windows 3.x 1996 game developed by Spidersoft Limited and published by 21st Century Entertainment Ltd . Based on the Pinball Dreams/Fantasies series, the game is a "pinball construction kit for Windows". Mobygames explains "This package was included in Encore's "Pinball Madness 2" collection in 1999." PC Player (Denmark) gave it 70 out of 100, Gamezilla gave it 58 out of 100, PC Games (Germany) gave it 53 out of 100, PC Player (Germany) gave it 2 Stars, Power Play gave it 34 out of 100, and High Score gave it 1 out of 5[15]

Total Pinball 3D

Total Pinball 3D is a DOS game released in 1996 by 21st Century Entertainment Ltd. It was developed by Spidersoft Limited. Coming Soon Magazine gave it 81 out of 100, PC Games (Germany) gave it 68 out of 100, GameSpot gave it 5.8 out of 10, Power Play gave it 42 out of 100, and PC Player (Germany) gave it 1 Stars.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Pinball Dreams - Atari Falcon". fatal-design.com. 2001. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  2. ^ Pinball Dreams Preview c64
  3. ^ Pinball Dreams Preview Amstrad CPC
  4. ^ Braun, Peter (1992-03-01). "Pinball Dreams: Flipper ist unser bester Freund!" (in German). Amiga Joker. Retrieved 2011-02-07. Eine der besten Flippersimulationen für den Amiga! {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Rückert, Lars (1992-04-01). "Pinball Mania" (in German). Aktueller Software Markt. p. 104. Retrieved 2011-02-07. Gut.
  6. ^ Gollert, Knut (1992-04-01). "Pinball Dreams: Flipperträume" (in German). PowerPlay. p. 104. Retrieved 2011-02-07. Naja. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Review Crew: Pinball Dreams". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 55. EGM Media, LLC. February 1994. p. 46.
  8. ^ Lombardi, Chris (December 1993). "Bumper Crop". Computer Gaming World. pp. 110–114. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. ^ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. pp. 64–80. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  10. ^ 4. Pinball Dreams - 30 najlepszych gier na Amigę - Imperium gier, WP.PL Template:Pl icon
  11. ^ "Making Tracks: The Noble Art of Game Music". Next Generation (3). Imagine Media: 52. March 1995.
  12. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/pinball-mania
  13. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/pinball-mania_
  14. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/absolute-pinball
  15. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/pinball-builder-a-construction-kit-for-windows
  16. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/total-pinball-3d

External links

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