Page 39 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #1

was originally released. Really, it Its features include multiple flip- Microsoft Pinball Arcade
should not have been advertised pers, drop-targets, pop-bumpers
as a regular pinball game as it is and underground lanes (in the form
more like Japanese pinball: Pa- of your ball disappearing and reap-
chinko. You all know what this is, pearing out another hole).
right? For those who don’t, Pa- “Pinball” for the Intellivision also
chinko was a wall-mountable thing features some of the better play
with a lot of mechan-
nails and ics found
marbles. in a video-
You flipped pinball
the “plunger” game, and
to shoot a I am
marble out happy to Got an itch to play a bit more
and hope to report that “realistic” version of pinball on your
hell that it fell even the computer? Microsoft’s Pinball Ar-
in the right interaction cade may be the ticket.
hole. In fact, between
Zero Zap is the flip- Microsoft has licensed seven
Pachinko pers and classic pinball tables from Gottlieb
upside down! Intellivision ‘Pinball’ the ball is and are replicated identically to
You start with the ball realistic (well, more real- their arcade counterparts.
(really it’s an arrow) at the bottom istic than others!). This is some-
of the screen. After pressing thing that many programmers have
“Enter,” the arrow goes upwards had a tough time getting right.
and proceeds to bounce around Another neat feature (and a
the “playfield,” hitting bumpers, first) was the fact that Intellivision’s
walls and large “X’s” for points. “Pinball” has multiple screens!
Real pinball games, even the vido- That’s right, once you have hit cer-
pinball’s of the world are games of tain targets a hole will pop up, and
skill. Zero Zap is pure luck and ut- if you can get the ball in the hole, it
ter garbage. will be taken to a totally different
My final score for Zero Zap is 1 screen! There are a total of three The seven historic tables featured
out of 10. different play- are:
ing fields.
(It would have Even though Baffle Ball. The first pinball proto-
scored a 2, but “Pinball” has type. This machine utilizes no flip-
since you can the typical In- pers.
make your own tellivision
“table,” I de- clunky, lethar- Humpty Dumpty. The first pinball
ducted a point gic feel, this machine to feature flippers.
just because it’s game has it
such a dumb all. It is chal- Knock Out. Features an animated
feature for this lenging, has boxing match on the playfield.
game.) great replay
value, and Slick Chick. Retro 60’s style fea-
Pinball for the sports some of turing pop bumpers.
Intellivision is a Bumper Bash the best, if not
breath of fresh air! Seems the pro- the best ball physics found in a Spirit of 76. A pinball tribute to
grammers had more than just a classic system. American History.
clue about pinball when they made My final score for Intellivision’s
this game. “Pinball” for the Intellivi- Pinball is 9.5 out of 10. Haunted House. First 3-level
sion came out the same year that playfield.
“Video Pinball” came out for the
2600. If I were looking to get one Cue Ball Wizard. Features
of those systems back then and rounds and combo challenges to
only had these two Pinball games keep it interesting.
to compare, I would have never
chosen the Atari. “Pinball” has just For more details go to:
about everything that any real pin- www.microsoft.com/games/pinball
ball lover seeks in a game.

Classic Gamer Magazine Fall 1999 39