Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
North American Wii cover art
Developer(s)	FarSight Studios
Publisher(s)	Crave Entertainment
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable Wii PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Nintendo 3DS
Release	PlayStation 2 PSP Wii Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 3DS
Genre(s)	Pinball
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios and published by Crave Entertainment for Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS. Players play on a variety of classic virtual pinball machines from Williams Electronics' history. The Williams Collection follows the previous title, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection.

The game was released by System 3 in PAL territories on June 17, 2011 as Williams Pinball Classics. This title should not to be confused with Williams Pinball Classics (2001) by Encore, Inc. that features four machines (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Black Rose and Lost World) for Windows.

Gameplay

All machines are available at the start of play, but some require players to use credits. The player begins the game with 20 credits and earn more by obtaining specials and accomplishing various goals on each machine. For 100 credits, players can buy any of the locked machines for free-play mode. Completing the five goals for any machines also allows players to unlock a locked machine.

Other unlockable options include the ability to use custom-textured pinballs, play a left-to-right inverted (Mirror Mode) version of the game, and disable tilt detection. Flipper control remains intuitive in Mirror Mode, with the left trigger controlling the left on-screen flipper. Side-specific features of some games, such as Lane Change, move to the opposite side of the machine.

In the Wii version of the game, the player uses the trigger buttons of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to activate the flippers. The machine can be bumped or shifted with the motion sensors in either the Remote or Nunchuck. The resulting motion is proportional in magnitude and identical in direction to the controller's motion. This allows skilled players to use just enough motion to perform advanced ball saves without triggering the tilt mechanism, just as can be done on a physical machine.

Machines

The following pinball machines are included in all versions of the game:

• Black Knight (1980)
• FunHouse (1990)
• Gorgar (1979)
• PIN•BOT (1986)
• Space Shuttle (1984)
• Taxi (1988)
• Whirlwind (1990)

The one pinball machine is in the PSP, Wii, PS3, PS2 and X360 version only:

• Firepower (1980)

The following are in the PSP, Wii, PS3 and X360 versions only:

• Jive Time (1970) (Unlockable for PS3 and X360 versions)
• Sorcerer (1985)

The following are in the PS3 and X360 versions only:

• Tales of the Arabian Nights (1996)
• Medieval Madness (1997)
• No Good Gofers (1997)

Reception

The Wii version was nominated for Best Graphics Technology for the Wii by IGN in its 2008 video game awards, while the PSP version was nominated for best PSP game of 2008 by GameSpot. Gamasutra named The Williams Collection the third most overlooked game of 2008.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of this game features the following songs:

• "Full Throttle" By Eric Barnett
• "Premonition" By Chris Kline
• "Let Go" By Brett Rakestraw
• "Flipper Frenzy" By Jeremy Fannon
• "Maelstrom" By Don Madison
• "Depeche" By Nelson Everhart
• "Blast Off" By Damien Harrison
• "The Weezered" By Jim Watson
• "Arcade Jam" By Chris Kline
• "Oracle" By Chris Kline
• "Pinball Dreams" By Chris Kline
• "In the Groove" By Chris Kline

See also

• Pinball Hall of Fame
• Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection
• The Pinball Arcade

External links

• IGN Game Profile