A 3D, true-to-physics iPhone pinball game featuring complex logic without roaming cameras or “RGB-like quest on an eight-screen playfield” X-tremism.
OK, a few exist already – the revived Amiga classic Pinball Dreaming: Pinball Dreams in particular – and this isn’t the most in-demand genre around. But as a former kid willing to tolerate dad’s beatings for staying too long at the ice rink’s arcade, one can never indulge in enough of this stuff to make up for painful memories.
Alas, this isn’t quite the remedial bless I anticipated (although it didn’t put me back in therapy either).
Pocket Pinball Sci-Fi is an app screaming for an update with some minor tweaks, mostly to the fickle flipper controls. The tap area of the virtual flipper buttons is a bit small and they don’t response particularly well, sometimes flipping up and back when you try holding a flipper down and other times flipping several times rapidly in succession.
Beyond that, the launch action is pretty lame, propelling the ball with little enthusiasm into the middle of the playfield. Certain things don’t respond like one expects (almost any other game lets players use a flipper to toggle the lights above the bonus slots at the top of the table, for instance). There’s no nudge or tilt options – how does that of all things get left on an iPhone app? Also, there’s no way to pause or abandon a game in progress.
Finally, the game crashed in the middle of my first game, repeatedly telling me to “launch the ball” without allowing me to do so. It hasn’t happened since, but obviously one gets wary of having a record-setting game disrupted by such problems. A disclaimer by the developer that “game experience may varies(sic) depending on hardware devices” and “some iPhone2G/3G device may encounter laggy response” is less than encouraging as well.
Get these flaws out, however, and the result will be a well-rounded effort. Players can toggle six different camera angles during games; start with three, six, or nine balls; unlock achievements; and compete for high scores online in categories such as points per minute.
The table isn’t overly cluttered with layers of ramps and targets – a mixed blessing in others of this genre that can get confusing on the tiny screen – but there’s a large range of goals explained concisely in the help section. Multiball is limited to two at a time, but one of them is a gold ball with different physics than the default steel one.
This isn’t ever going to be a top-ranked pinball app, especially at a non-bargain price of $3.99, but it does have the potential to satisfy the cravings of fans who happen to choose it from the many available. After all, how many people really need more than one or two decent versions of this ancient pastime?
Score: 5 out of 10
Pocket Pinball Sci-Fi by GamePEA Pte Ltd
$3.99
Platform Reviewed: iPhone/iPod/iPad (Requires iPhone OS 2.1 or later)
Category: Games
Languages Supported: English
Rating: 4+
File Size: 19.3 MB
#1
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