Full Tilt! Pinball

The Good
3D Space Cadet is a pinball game already installed on my computer when I bought it. It's an interesting addition. Anyway, I've already played pinball games: Android from Epic Pinball, Loony Labyrinth and Crystal Caliburn from Little Wings.

The first good thing about the game is that it brings pleasure when you understand the concept. I mean, I needed an user review for finally understanding how to rise through the ranks...

3D Space Cadet puts you in the shoes of a space Cadet who will rise through the ranks thanks to the executed missions. In fact, you have arrows to guide you: an arrow next to the bottom left buttons for choosing a mission, an arrow at the entrance of the ramp for accepting the mission, etc.. My best rank is Ensign but as I don't use the nudge because I'm fast to reach the "TILT", I think that it can be considered as a good score... for an occasional player.

You have three missions to do if you want a promotion but you can have four different ways to arrive to that and you can do the same mission three times in a row if you want it. But keep in mind that when you advance, missions get harder.

Anyway, you also have shields that prevent you to lose a ball when it's going on the side and you can restore them thanks to buttons in the upper half of the pinball. You also have to be careful to the fuel reserve. If you're going out of fuel, missions are locked: you can't or activate one or finish one (this one making you loose all the things done). You also have the Worm's Nest which can give you extra balls.

The graphics are really simple but it's sufficient for playing it. The soundtrack is nice but if you don't like it, you can shut it in the options. As for the speed of the ball, it's normal and the reactivity of your flippers to the ball is good. I've played Loony Labyrinth and it was slow. You have the feeling that it's hard to activate your flipper. So, 3D Space Cadet is much easier than Loony.

Another thing is that you can play with your friends. The game allows 4 players. So with 3 balls for each player and if you're alone, you can set the 4 players mode in order to train you. It's what I'm doing. But be aware that when you're having a good play and loses the ball, the next ball of the next player will seem not so good. It's just a question of psychology. You're still in the deception of having lost and your mind isn't set on the next play.

The Bad
The first negative point is that, even being translated, the game wasn't intuitive. I explain: the first time I've played it, I didn't really understand the concept of going through the ranks by executing the missions and what I needed to do. Anyway, I didn't read the help, I just wanted to play. If I didn't read an user review on another gaming website, I wouldn't have understood the game. I knew that I played this game but I didn't remember from where. And then, well, I discovered the pinball again.

The second negative point was already explained in the good part: it's the training with the four players mode. I mean, high scores are the real goal in a pinball game. So, when losing a good play, you're disappointed with yourself and the next play, well, you're not concentrated and don't do the right things.

Finally, the third negative point is the fuel thing. If you run out of it, you loose the mission you're currently trying to finish or you can't enable one... It's frustrating when you have only one step ahead to do and finish what you're doing... It's more frustrating when it's the last mission before a promotion...

The Bottom Line
Anyway, 3D Space Cadet is a good pinball game, giving good feelings, with sober graphics and with varied missions, so, if you're lucky enough to find it, try it and you'll be very pleased.

Well, apparently, it was part of another game but I can't tell what was the other two pinball games because I don't own it, remember, Space Cadet was already installed on my computer.

The Good
3D Pinball game for Windows. It features smooth gameplay and nice graphics and sound. It's my favorite pinball game. You can play against a friend and record your scores. Try to go from Cadet to Fleet Admiral. It's got some cool background music also.

The Bad
I didn't like the default controls. For the flippers it's like, z and s. You can change them but it's still pretty annoying. I also didn't like that they only have on board to play on. It's a cool board but I would've like at least two.

The Bottom Line
3D Pinball is an excellent pinball game for Windows. It has fast gameplay and wonderful sound. Try to score as high as possible and record your scores against your friends. This game is a great game and I would recommend it to anyone.