Pinball Dreams is the first in a long line of pinball games released for the PC after being converted from a variety of console formats, such as SEGA and also Amiga. It spawned several more pinball titles, including the more popular Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions. Digital Illusions released this port in the early nineties and was also marketed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System under the title Pinball! Pinball!
Pinball Dreams for DOS, while not nearly as good as its console brethren, is still a worthwhile pinball game.
Pinball Dreams is the first in a long line of pinball games released for the PC after being converted from a variety of console formats, such as SEGA and also Amiga. It spawned several more pinball titles, including the more popular Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions. Digital Illusions released this port in the early nineties and was also marketed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System under the title Pinball! Pinball!
Pinball Dreams for DOS, while not nearly as good as its console brethren, is still a worthwhile pinball game. The controls are easy to muster, since there is not much to learn beyond the plunger and the flippers or paddles. The play is standard pinball. The user controls the amount of power to put behind
the ball when first launching it into play. From there, the user must judge angles and speed in order to strike bumpers, knock down flags, and light bonus areas to complete sequences resulting in huge points. The user has several flippers or paddles to control on various parts of the game screen.
Pinball Dreams offers several different pinball tables or boards. The first is in a wild West theme, the second involves a space them filled with rockets and celestial bodies, the third is a church’s graveyard with eerie overtones, and the third involves popular music, complete with excellent music and sound effects. The music and sound effects are actually very good through the entire game on all four boards. The graphics are also wonderful and very well done. The tables are very well designed and interesting, and all reflect their respective themes appropriately. The game play itself, however, is somewhat suspect. The ball is jumpy and does not respond in a predictable geometric pattern. The erratic action forces the ball to follow illogical paths and veer off at incorrect angles, making it difficult to gage the flipper strikes.
In short, Pinball Dreams is probably not the best pinball simulation for PC on the market, but it had some great points that make it playable. The spirit of competitiveness will keep the gamer playing again and again, all in an effort to beat his own high score, or maybe one of his buddy’s. The soundtrack is super and fun, and the effects are great. The levels are interesting and different, although some will notice some shadowing and pixilated graphics. Overall, it is playable, and not many will be disappointed by the actual game play.
