Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey

1999

platform

MS-DOS
Microsoft Windows
Mac OS
PlayStation

genre

Pinball

Game mode

Single player or 2-4 players (one after the other)

Age rating

USK

Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey is a 3D animated pinball - computer game , it is available for MS-DOS , Microsoft Windows , Mac OS and the PlayStation . The game was developed by Cunning Developments and published by Empire Interactive on December 28, 1999 . The pinball machine contains elements of the Victorian era and steam-powered machines.

Gameplay

The player looks at the table from above, unlike other games of this type, the camera does not move. The pinball machine can be operated using a joystick, a gamepad or a keyboard. It is also possible to change the angle of the table or the strength of the flip levers, and you can change various options for playing the table, such as: B. the difficulty of the multiball, or the time limit until the drops are set up again.

There are five pinball missions that require you to collect a crystal to complete the mission. In contrast to the previous series, there is no time limit and if the ball is lost during the mission, you can continue the mission with the next ball exactly where you were before the ball was lost. The adventures include the Boat Advendture, the Airplaine Adventure, the Submarine Adventure and the Drill Adventure . When you have completed all four adventures, the Mystery Island Adventure starts (there is a time limit on this adventure). You have to try to catch a mad scientist who wants to destroy the moon with a rocket. If the mission is successful, there is another mission in which you have to catch the scientist, the moon adventure . If you are successful in both missions, there is a victory frenzy in which many points are possible. Then the game starts again, but you keep your points. However, if you fail in the Mystery Island Adventure or the Moon Adventure , there is a video sequence in which the scientist destroys the moon, and the game also starts again.

In contrast to the predecessors of the series, Fantastic Journey is the first game in which it is possible to switch the dot-matrix display from orange to colored. In addition, the concept of the so-called Magnosave was resumed here, which was previously done in Flipper Timeshock! already occurred. In this case, you can trigger a magnet on the left outlane, which, if triggered in time, prevents the ball from disappearing in the outlane, thus keeping the ball in play. After triggering this function, however, it must be reactivated by clearing all of the drops at the bottom. In addition, the concept of "Ball Rescue" from the first pinball machine in the series, The Web , has also been adopted for the right outlane. Like Magnosave , this Rescue can only be used once and then has to be reloaded manually, but unlike the Magnosave, the Rescue triggered automatically, there is a plunger that shoots the ball back into the game.

reception

Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey received very mixed ratings, the majority of the people who rated the game gave rather less points for the originality of the game and the way it was played, but the graphics and the physical engine were rated very well.

Prices

In 1999, Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey was named the best classic game of the year for the PC by Computer Gaming World and Electronic Gaming Monthly magazines .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey - About this game . IGN. 1999. Accessed February 1, 2014.

^ ^A ^b Cary Woodham: ELECTRONIC ADVENTURES . In: The Dallas Morning News , June 15, 2000, p. 4F. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

^ ^A ^b Cleveland, Adam: Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey Sure Midway stopped making actual pinball machines, but there's a reason. Introducing Pro Pinball. . IGN. October 4, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

↑ Stone, David: Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey Review . GameZebo. June 16, 2009. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 1, 2014. @1@ 2

↑ Pro Pinball Fantastic Journey - Complete the pinball adventures to save the moon . gog.com. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

↑ ^a ^b Woods, Nick: Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey Review . AllGame. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

↑ Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey . Metacritic. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

↑ Finn, Mike: WIRED WATCH - Tech news and previews . In: The Dallas Morning News , Jan. 27, 2000, p. 2F. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

[ign1999-1] Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey - About this game . IGN. 1999. Accessed February 1, 2014.

[woodham1999-2] A ^b Cary Woodham: ELECTRONIC ADVENTURES . In: The Dallas Morning News , June 15, 2000, p. 4F. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

[cleveland-2000-3] A ^b Cleveland, Adam: Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey Sure Midway stopped making actual pinball machines, but there's a reason. Introducing Pro Pinball. . IGN. October 4, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2014.