Subject: REVIEW: Pinball Illusions version 1.5
From: [email-masked] (C. J. Coulson)
Date: 20 Apr 1995 18:11:37 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Pinball Illusions - Version 1.5

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	The third game in the pinball simulator family from Digital
Illusions, and the first to be AGA-only.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		21st Century Entertainment
	Address:	Westbrook Street
			Blewbury
			Oxon.
			OX11 9QB
			ENGLAND

	Telephone:	(01235) 851533 - English speaking help line
	FAX:		(01235) 851473

	E-mail:		Not known

LIST PRICE

	29.99 UK Pounds

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		Amiga with AGA chipset
		Hard drive optional

		If running from Workbench, you need around 1.7MB of Chip RAM
		free.

	SOFTWARE

		None

COPY PROTECTION

	None at all!

	Yes, you heard me right. NO PROTECTION. :-)

	Furthermore, the game installs cleanly onto a hard drive, without
the need to use a key disk.  Other companies take note!

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 4000/030/882, 2MB Chip RAM, 16MB Fast RAM
	Seagate 120MB Hard Drive
	Samsung 410MB Hard Drive
	Workbench 3.0 (39.29), Kickstart 3.0 (39.106)

	A large and varied selection of commodities and system hacks.

INSTALLATION

	The provided Installer script makes this task simplicity itself.

	One note: The supplied documentation directs you to Disk 1 to find
the Installer.  It is actually on Disk 4.

	Note that the default location for high scores (nv_location for
those ENVARC: enthusiasts out there) is not the same as the location
specified by Pinball Fantasies.  If you already have Fantasies installed on
your system, you'll need to change the default directory for Illusions to
point to the existing highscore directory.  If you don't, then the next time
you play Fantasies, your old high scores won't appear.

REVIEW	  

	Well, this is the third game in the series.  What, you may ask,
could Digital Illusions do to warrant the release (and purchase) of yet
another pinball simulator?

	The answer is this:  They've polished the simulation engine until it
shines brighter than a very bright thing indeed.  Then they've added new
features like multi-ball (yeah!) and hi-res mode.  Finally, making the game
AGA only allowed them to really work on the graphics until they look
fantastic.  If you were a bit disappointed with the AGA visuals in
Fantasies, prepare for a shock to the vision system.  Illusions looks every
inch an AGA game.

	So, it's worth buying.  Go out and buy it then.

	For the two and a half of you out there that aren't quite convinced
by all that, here's a slightly more in-depth review.

	Unlike its predecessors, Illusions provides only three tables.  But
don't let that put you off, since each table has been worked on until it
plays like a dream:  something that was not always true of all the tables in
the previous releases.  For instance, although I just love Stones n Bones
and Partyland from Fantasies, I very rarely play Billion Dollar Gameshow or
Speed Devils.  On the other hand, all three Illusions tables get regular
use; so for me, Illusions is better value for money, as I get three great
tables rather than two great and two so-so tables.

	Of course, some of you might still have preferred four tables, and
I'll admit that if Digital Illusions had provided four tables, I wouldn't
have complained.  However, this is absolutely NO REASON for not buying the
game.

	A quick description of each table seems in order:

	"Law n Justice":

		This table is based around a nightmare future of lawlessness
	(as portrayed in Robocop) and places you in the position of a police
	officer, trying to keep the peace whilst all around you villains are
	doing their best to break it.  My least favourite of the three, but
	that's only because the other two tables are so good.  (Featured in
	the playable demo available on Aminet.)

	"Babewatch":

		One for the Beach Boys fans, this table sees you as a beach
	bum, trying to impress the babes by various means (surfing, muscle
	building, gambling etc. etc.).  Fun, fun, fun 'till my Daddy took
	the T'Bird away...  ........My second favourite table.

	Extreme Sports:

		WHOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

		I just LOVE this table.  You are a grungy kind of guy who
	likes nothing better than a bit of bungee jumping or skydiving.
	(For UK readers, think of the Pepsi Max adverts....)  Everything
	about this table screams EXTREME, from the music, via the sound
	effects, to the scoreboard animations.  I could play this table all
	day.

	So, three tables, each with a different theme.  What about the common
elements to the game?  Firstly, if you're used to the single-shade score
panels in Fantasies or Dreams, the multi-shade panels in Illusions will be a
bit of a surprise.  The extra shades are used for purely cosmetic uses, to
enhance the bonus/special mode animations.  But so what, if DI want to give
us better looking graphics, then so be it.  At least they haven't short
changed us on the gameplay side of things.

	The flippers seem to work slightly differently to the earlier games,
in that they "feel" different.  If you press and hold down the flipper key,
the effect seems to be different to when you press and release the key.
This effect isn't mentioned in the manual, so it might just be
psychological, and then I might just be going crazy.................well, I
have just bought a PC :-(

	Finally we get multi-ball, and boy is it fun!  Up to three balls in
play at once, you just won't be able to flip fast enough at times.  It works
beautifully and shows no signs of slowdown (though note my system
configuration above -- I cannot vouch for the speed of this game on an
unexpanded A1200 :)).

	Nudging the table is somewhat more involved now, with the old and
faithful vertical nudge being joined by left and right nudges, which can be
combined to produce diagonal nudges as well.  I found that nudging the ball
has less effect on it than in the earlier games, which can be frustrating at
times, but with a bit of practice you can get out of most nasty situations.

	If you've launched the game from Workbench, you can return to
Workbench during play by pausing the game and pressing the Tab key.  This
places you back on the Workbench and adds an extra option to the Tools menu.
Selecting this option returns you to the game.  Slightly neater than some of
the methods used in other games, and it seems to be stable.  I've run
Illusions without any problems from a Workbench overloaded with commodities
(including screen blankers, normally the first thing to cause a problem).
The only thing I have to do is free up around 1.7MB of Chip RAM, which is
easy enough to do.  Unlike Fantasies, I've never seen Illusions crash,
though I haven't been playing Illusions nearly as long as Fantasies.

	The scoring system has been changed to produce scores roughly 10
times higher than those in the earlier games, so whereas previously the
highest preset highscore was 100,000,000, it's now 1,000,000,000.  Is this
just a gimmick to make you think you're doing better than you really are?  I
don't know, but it doesn't make much difference to the gameplay, which is
excellent.

	I guess a few of you are wondering about the game dynamics.  Well,
the ball rolls around with much more realism than ever before.  Ramps
actually work like ramps, multiballs collide into one another and rebound
satisfyingly, and generally the game feels more like the real thing than
either of the prequels.  This is helped somewhat by the hi-res mode.......

	Yes, hi-res mode makes its appearance here.  Now you can almost
entirely say goodbye to vertical scrolling (since each table is slightly
taller than two low-res screens, there is still a little bit of scrolling
necessary).  The advantages are multiple.  Firstly, you can actually see
where the ball is going to go, rather than having to learn the layout of the
table in order to be able to hit a certain ramp or target.  Secondly, you
get more warning when the ball is about to reach the flippers, which in
multi-ball mode is crucial.  Finally it's more realistic; how many of you
play real pinball looking through a letterbox? No, I didn't think many of
you would own up, so why should you have to play simulated pinball with a
letterbox view of the table... well, no more.

	Some of you folks may be concerned about interlace flicker.  I know
I was before I played the sim, especially as I very rarely use interlace now
(the joys of multiscan).  Well, on a decent monitor you'll hardly notice the
flicker at all.  I've played for hours in hi-res mode and I haven't felt any
ill effects, whereas after 10 minutes or so using a word processor in
interlace gives me a headache.  So, unless you are using a cacky TV which
flickers badly to start with, or you are ultra-sensitive to interlace
flicker, hi-res mode is just as easy on the eye as low-res.

	Of course, if Illusions supported multiscan screenmodes, life would
be even better, but they don't.  Bummer.

	What more can I say?  The background music and effects are better
than ever before, the ball really looks like a polished metal ball, erm,
erm......I can't think of anything else.  Pinball Illusions is just one of
those games you'll either love or hate.  If you like simulated pinball and
you have an A1200/A4000, this is most definitely the next game on your
purchase list.

DOCUMENTATION

	A 64 page multilingual (English, French, German and Italian) manual
featuring descriptions of each table.

	A multilingual card describing the loading procedure, and how to
install the game onto hard drive (though note my earlier comment about the
location of the installer)

	What more do you want? This is a pinball simulator, not a flight
simulator.

LIKES

	Quite simply it is the best pinball simulator I have played on
ANY system.

	Furthermore, it seems to be as system friendly as it can be, and
it installs to hard drive.

	No protection at all.  At last we get treated like the responsible
and law-abiding people we all are...

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	Maybe a fourth table should have been included; but then again, the
three that are supplied are so good -- who cares?

	No table editor.  It would be fun to try designing your own tables,
though I'm not so sure how practical it would be.

	Hi-res mode doesn't offer a multiscan mode, which is a minor black
mark.  If the interlace flicker had been more intrusive, I'd have really made
a fuss about this.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	All through this review I've been using Pinball Fantasies as a
relative benchmark.  Illusions beats it hands down.  Pinball Dreams doesn't
even get a look in.

BUGS

	One bug noted.  If you press both the left and right nudge keys
together, the program registers this as a tilt.  Better be careful with
those combination nudges then.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	Unknown.

WARRANTY

	Unknown.

CONCLUSIONS

	You've read the review, you know what I think.

	Pinball Illusions is THE FINEST pinball simulator.  If you even
remotely liked either Pinball Dreams or Fantasies, and you have the required
hardware, then Illusions is a must buy.

	I'll give it 4.9 out of 5 stars.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Review created on 18th April 1995 by Chris Coulson.  Use it for your
own pleasure (oo-er), use it for fun, wave it in the air, stick it in a
bun.  If you want to use it in a publication, do so.  I'd appreciate an
email telling me about it though.

	Be seeing you.......
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Coulson				|  A4000/030/882 - 18MB/530MB
Postgraduate - Robotics Group		|  A500 - 1MB
email: [email-masked]		|  Pentium 60 - 16MB/540MB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

   Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews
   Send reviews to:	[email-masked]
   Request information:	[email-masked]
   Moderator mail:	[email-masked]
   Anonymous ftp site:  math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews