Reviewed: December 16, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Crave Entertainment

Developer
FarSight Studios

Released: November 1, 2004
Genre: Arcade
Players: 4
ESRB: Everyone

7
7
7
7
7.4

Supported Features:

Spanning more than 50 years of pinball history, Pinball Hall of Fame features seven of Gottlieb’s greatest pinball tables from the 50’s all the way to their ultimate demise in the 90’s. Save those quarters for the laundry room, as older gamers can now relive a very special moment from gaming history and younger gamers can get a taste of what gaming was like back when their dad was a kid.

The seven tables represent some of pinball’s greatest moments over a 50-year time frame, and as you go back in time the gameplay definitely shows its primitive roots. The 1957 Ace High table is very basic, especially compared to anything you might find in active service today. Even the 1993 Tee’d Off is a bit of a cultural shock.

Surprising enough, the best table of the bunch (in my opinion) is the 1987 Black Hole, not only because it has one of the best designs, but because I actually played the real table back in the day and it all came back to me. For those who never played Black Hole, there is actually a mini-pinball table under the main board that slopes the opposite way. If you drop the ball into this lower table you then have to keep it “alive” with flippers at the other end as you hit the ball back toward you.

The 1979 Genie is another great table featuring no less than five flippers and some challenging gameplay that requires a lot of precision shot making. All of the tables have their own unique challenges and level of difficulty. You’ll quickly learn to appreciate some of the wonderful designs when you graduate from a table consisting primarily of bumpers and targets to the more sophisticated tables with spiraling rails and multiple arrays of flippers.

FarSight Studios have already proven they can handle “ball physics” with last year’s release of Mojo! and if nothing else, Pinball Hall of Fame features some of the most realistic ball movement and reactions in any pinball game to date on the PC or a console. The flippers react very well with the tap of the R1 and L1 buttons and the left analog stick gives you variable control over the launch plunger for those skill shots.

Now comes the only negative thing I have to say about Pinball Hall of Fame and this is tough because this is an issue that has plagued pinball games since they were first replicated on a computer. How do you get a traditionally “vertical” game to play on a traditionally “horizontal” system? Some games shrink down the table to fit the entire surface on half the screen leaving the rest for scoring and perhaps the artwork from the vertical section of the machine. Those are the ones that work with any type of success.

In this particular game FarSight gives you two camera views to choose from, a fixed view and a dynamic view. At first the fixed view seems to be the lesser of the two evils. Imagine planting your chin on the glass about six inches behind the flippers. It’s a very shallow view that keeps you from seeing anything on the top half of the table.

Your other option is the dynamic view that zooms in on the ball and follows a small area that surrounds it. This is a great way to see all of the wonderful details in artwork and table mechanics like lights, plungers, bumpers, and targets right up to the point where you blow chunks all over your TV from motion sickness. Plus, with this limited view it makes it hard to line up shots or anticipate which flipper to use.

If you are remotely interested in pinball, especially from an historical standpoint, or you are just looking for some good wholesome family entertainment without visiting a smoky bar or bowling alley and dropping a few dozen quarters into a slot then this is the game for you.