POSTED 25/1/14


THE PINBALL ARCADE

Farsight Studios

Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve played the silver ball. Admittedly they were usually about three millimetres in diameter back then, ensconced within a plastic cocoon with cardboard backing and a flimsy sproingy-spring, but the seeds of future addiction were sown.

Years later I played real pinnies, and was in lurvvvvve – despite relative craptitude at them. I even owned one once, and learned what buggers they were to maintain. So, simulations appeal.

This continuation of a project started yonks ago to emulate classic real world pinnies hits PS4wards in both on-disc and downloadable formats. Flipping (heh) back to how-we-were-taught-to-write all non-individualistically-like, we plumped for the former both to save space and sanity, what with all the individual downloadables needed to obtain the same table total.

As such, we get all 22 tables available at launch for PS4, with the promise of many more to come – at a price, of course.

What’s on offer ranges from poxy to blissful – although somebody out there would probably voluntarily play ancient machine Genie. From Ripley’s Believe It or Not to the scoretastic Theatre of Magic, the aptly titled Medieval Madness to Star Trek: The Next Generation made so and beyond, there’s much to love.

What’s even more to love is the emulation quality. Lag, which destroyed the PS3 incarnation, is at a minimum (although we still recommend flicking to your TV’s game mode), and the machine lighting in particular is stunning – Funhouse a notable example.

What sucks, however, is the user interface. Imagine getting a Bugatti Veyron, then slapping ‘My Family’ stickers all over it. Same deal here. It’s messtacular, from high score entry to sound to being unable to compare scores with friends, plus heaps more we’d whinge about should space be our friend.

Still, the actual game matters most. Yeah, like anybody will listen to us. Or me, even...

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