By the time I got into videogames, pinball was slowly starting to be phased out. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some I enjoyed or remember fondly to this day. One traditional pinball game was baseball centered, and by doing well and getting a lot of points, it actually rewarded you with baseball cards. On the videogame front, there was a Sega Genesis game I remember with dragons and ever changing themed miniboards and an actual progression from beginning to end – no longer did you play the same board till all your balls were gone, instead you worked toward an actual ending. So when Pinball FX was announced, I was thrilled to get another pinball game in my hands. Now, the only question is was I left singing The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” or was I ultimately forced to realize just why there are no pinball games much nowadays.

Pinball is pinball and it is an easy gameplay to grasp. You start by putting a shiny metallic ball into play, you watch it as it glides across the level, hitting every little bumper and gizmo in its way, and then when it is ultimately about to go to the very bottom of the screen, you try to use your left and right flippers to hit it back upwards and start the whole process again. The only time that formula changes up a bit is when you unlock multiball play, that can see you trying to juggle two or even three balls on the board at one time (in the case of the game, more than one ball is a chore since the boards are so small). You’ll also unlock special ball saving moves, which should your ball go past your flippers, it will load it up and shoot it back into play right away. See, pinball, easy to play, and Pinball FX doesn’t change that up. However, what Pinball FX does change up, ultimately makes the game less than an ideal nostalgia trip for the pinball fanatics out there, or those who are just too poor to be able to afford an actual pinball machine of their own (don’t worry, right there with you on that).

Pinball FX comes with three boards for your use, and though each have their own strengths, in the land of this game not all are created equal. The first board up is Speed, a street racing car enthusiast machine, that has flashing lights and racing themed challenges. Now, don’t go expecting complicated missions on many different boards, because all the action takes place on this one, single board. However, by hitting balls into specific slots, you’ll have goals such as running from the police, doing stunts, and other car related things that you’ll accomplish by sending up specified ramps and other lighted up slots. At the top of the screen is a LED like animation board, which shows gameplay messages, your score, what missions you can select from, and other goodies.

The next board is the Extreme board, and like most things with the Extreme moniker, of course it sucks. The reason the board sucks so much is because the bottom portion of the board is so small, and it’s hard to ever get it to the top, and, even if you do, it won’t stay up there long anyways as there isn’t really any bumpers much to keep things going. The Extreme board is filled with graffiti scralled flashing messages, basketball, skateboarding, and ghetto ravaged hip-hop influences.

The third board is the best, but feels like a total ripoff in many ways. Called Agent, it is frankly a James Bond stolen piece, as it has a James Bond looking guy with his Bond girl positioned right in the middle of the board, plus that isn’t even taking into consideration the James Bond like theme song that plays in the background while your ball is flipping around. The Agent board, however, is the most involving and engaging of the three, featuring missions like sniping and messages about planting bugs and meeting informants. Not a bad board, but not amazingly great either.

The biggest problem with the game is the ball physics, which is the ultimate kiss of death since the metal ball is the key to everything. Frankly, the ball doesn’t behave realistically and instead almost seems to have a mind of its own; I’ve literally seen the ball go up in the air on an arc to the right, and then curve backwards to the left – that just isn’t pinball no matter which way you cut it. The sporadicness of how fast balls will move and travel is also annoying, because once again, it just isn’t real and leads to more frustration than fun.

The graphics of the game are pretty good, as they recreate the look of pinball decently, though there are ugly moments, like the general look and feel of the silly Extreme board to the badly drawn James Bond fake and his girlfriend. As for sound, the music is simply okay depending on which board you are playing on. The sound effects range from the good clinks and clanks of slamming against the bumpers, but when it comes to the flippers and such, it sound like nothing more than dull thuds instead of metal on metal pings and pangs I remember of the real machines.

If you want a pinball game, Pinball FX will get you through your nostalgia cravings. If you want a really good pinball game, however, that is a whole other matter and one Pinball FX certainly won’t be able to satifsfy. With a versus multiplayer mode that has you competing against another player to get as many ponits as you can, plus leaderboards so you can compare yourself to other players around the world, it should help add a little replay value to the game. But as a whole, I’ll have to wait to sing “Pinball Wizard” for another day. Perhaps I’ll go rent Tommy .

Rating:
Our Scoring System