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 Pinball
Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (Wii)
Wii owners looking for authentic and
dynamic classic arcade action will find plenty to like in Crave's Pinball
Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection. With authentic emulations of ten
classic machines, there's plenty of variety to be seen. The game's physics
are superb with impressive tables featuring several modes of play. An
extended tutorial shows you the ins and outs of each board and each
machine offers a unique challenge. Pinball Hall of Fame's controls take
good advantage of the Wii's unique controls, using the nunchuck and
wiimote as flippers while shaking the wiimote shakes the table around.
This is an excellent collection with high replay value that should appeal
to gamers looking for some quick action. |
Featuring a large selection of ten classic
pinball titles including such legendary tables as Gorgar, Pinbot,
Whirlwind, Firepower, and Black Knight, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams
Collection offers a solid compilation of challenging machines. At the
beginning of each round, you can travel through a virtual arcade and
select which machine you want to play. Some machines are initially
unlocked, though you can earn more by winning credits and unlocking their
free-play mode. Once selected, you can choose from several options
including number of players, balls and overall difficulty. As you gain
high scores, other options, such as reverse fields are unlocked as well.
Players can also make so cosmetic changes such as turning on the glass
reflections on or off and selecting the background arcade noise ambience
or turning it off. Each of the pinball tables in this collection offers a
bevy of different strategies and layouts with different targets and
objectives for each. Before you begin playing, you can view a quick
tutorial which shows you the key locations of big points targets and
explains how to unlock secrets such as multi-ball modes for each table.
When the player has completed this introductory sequence, it's time to go
play and use their accumulated credits to begin. Each of the machines is
expertly crafted and you'll find that the simulations deliver a remarkable
degree of accuracy and realism, which extends to every element of the
pinball simulation. There are ten unique boards included in the game,
ranging from classic machines of the 60's and 70's, which were much
simpler to more complex recent releases. Each table has been recreated in
meticulous detail, which should please those who remember the arcade
versions.
Each board has been emulated, with all
the bumpers targets, sound effects and plunger positions accurately
recreated and placed. The level of detail is impressive, and some of the
more elaborate multi level play fields are impressive in the ingenuity and
style. You can especially appreciate the level of detail in the
imaginative designs of machines like Pin Bot, with their hidden targets
and secret compartments that you can uncover. The artwork and visuals look
fantastic in the package, and each machine has been recreated down to the
backglass artwork, sound effects and sampled speech. The atmospheric sound
effects and arcade ambience enhance the mood which makes you feel like you
are playing an actual pinball machine on a long-ago Saturday night, which
is really cool. Hall of Fame's excellent ball physics and responsiveness
allows players to use classic techniques such as use of body-english and
flipper maneuvering to keep the balls in play. Players need to be careful
not to tilt the machines, since these indicators are quite sensitive, at
least using an analog stick. This makes it bit annoying at times, but
other than this minor issue, the translations feel almost flawless.
 You
won't find very many problems in terms of presentation and interface. The
game provides multiple view points allow you to play with either a full
view of the table, a close-up angle or a smart cam where the action zooms
in and out depending on ball position. Playing with the full-view mode
doesn't allow for as much detail, but compensates for this by allowing you
to judge the ball position, while the zoom angles give you a better chance
at hitting targets. Once you've memorized each board, you'll find that
things are much easier. The zoom mode is very effective, and brings an
excitement to the gameplay that sucks you right into the action. However,
Pinball Hall of Fame's AI is smart enough to revert to a wide angle when
you activate multi-ball bonuses. This makes playing the game a breeze,
allowing for a quick pick up and play mechanics where you don't have to
worry about complex moves or combos.
The game's immediate appeal is also due
in large part to its well-known tables, some of which like Black Knight
are probably firmly imprinted on players' memories, along with the
legendary PinBot, which was immortalized in a memorable NES release many
years ago. The lesser known tables also provide plenty of play action,
with the simple play of early titles like Firepower and Sorceror
contrasting with the more complicated, mutli-tiered tables such as Fun
House and or Space Shuttle. Playing the simpler games like Gorgar is good
practice for the more complicated tables later one. These require more
concentration and skill. Regardless of their difficulty, each of the
included table play just as brilliantly as you remember and there plenty
of goals, such as points earned or specific targets to hit, that add to
the challenge. While the Wii version doesn't differ substantially from
other versions out there, it does take advantage of the console's unique
controls with the nunchuck and wii mote used in tandem to act as flipper
controls, with players pressing a button on each. This approach accurately
mimics the feel of a real machine, since your hands are separated at a
better approximate distance, to better capture the feel of real pinball.
Using the shaking moves is done by shaking the wiimote around. Other
versions seemed a bit oversensitive, but the subtle motions allowed by
this motion-sensitive controller allow for more precise controls. Overall,
Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection is a solid addition to the Wii
library, offering a surprisingly good value for the money thanks to its
extensive selection of tables, challenging gameplay and the timeless
appeal of pinball itself.
- Michael Palisano
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