Amiga

Pinball Illusions

Pinball Illusions jää todennäköisesti Digital Illusionsin viimeiseksi Amiga-peliksi. Jos näin on, ainakin ru~XXXXtsin pojat lähtivät tyylillä. 21st Centurylle nostan hattua, aitoon Hewson-tyyliin heiltä ei huonoja pelejä liiemmin ilmesty.

We've already seen the stupendously good graphics and discussed the huge range of features; so Illusions wins on all counts really. Except, er, two. One: the loss of a table. I was expecting four, as with Dreams and Fantasies, so even when the twirling shapes of the intro lit up my telly and proffered but three, I was, to say the least, slightly peeved. Two: the first two tables will be considered, by pinball nuts, to be too easy. Extreme Sports is rather rock, but you'll be racking up the points like nobody's business on Law 'n' Justice and Babewatch. However, it's only the same argument which could be used for Fantasies – because I found the Partyland table too easy there, and that was far and away the most popular. So it's difficult to fault Illusions, because any gripes which I had about the first two games have been fixed.

Pour trouver mieux que Pinbal Illusions, il ne vous reste plus qu'une seule alternative : acheter un vrai flip !

If Pinball Illusions is the last ever pinball sim on the Amiga (21st Century will not conform or deny this and nobody else has plans for one at the moment) then it is not a bad game to bow out on. It is beautiful and addictive and although it does not excite me as much as its predecessors, it is still a top game. It does not quite give you the same feeling ass a genuine pinball table, but for computer pinball fans it is pretty much an essential purchase.

Table for table the best pinball game on the Amiga. There is stuff going on all the time, with no dull ‘dead ball’ moments. The atmosphere and everything is perfect. And now it has got multiball. If you are used to four tables in these things, you will inevitably be slightly disappointed. We hate the music on Extreme Sports. And really of course it is just Dreams, and Fantasies again, with a couple of new gimmicks. A tough call, in a way, with there being one less table. But the quality of the three we have got is compensation enough. After all, as Steve so wisely observes, would you mark a platform game down for having 60 levels rather than 80? No you would not.

Pinball Illusions is the best Amiga pinball game to date, but don't expect a radical departure from Dreams or Fantasies; just a couple more balls and one less table.

Digital Illusions have put a hell of a lot of work into this. They've created three excellent tables which look better and play just as well as before. The multi-ball feature takes some getting used to before you can begin to reap full benefits in the points department, but this isn't about points in the main. Pinball Illusions, like the two before it, is about loading up, sitting back and simply enjoying and exploring. Improving Fantasies was almost impossible, but it has been done – just. However, value for money fans (of which I am one) may rise an inquisitive eyebrow at the shortage of tables.

Without a shadow of a doubt this is the best Amiga pinball game that money can buy. Fans of Dreams and Fantasies aren't even reading this as they're camped outside their local computer emporium waiting for it to arrive, so there's no point in trying to convince them how good this latest version is because they already know.