Air Combat (PSOne Review)

For those of us old school gamers, I'm sure there are plenty of you that would attest that back in the day there was no better looking arcade flight shooter than Sega's After Burner. I honestly can't remember how many hours I wasted during my high school years standing besides that gigantic moveable cockpit cabinet wishing for the day to come where I could play something that looked that real from the comfort of my couch.

Once I discovered the PlayStation back in 1998, I figured that my hopes and dreams for gaming had finally come to fruition. Everything looked so much better than it ever had on my Commodore 64 and damn wasn't it close to what the arcade cabinets were able to put out. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the ability to get the sofa to move underneath me. Little did I know, this was just the beginning where in-home gaming was to surpass that of the arcade variety. We now could have all the fun without the need to use up our laundry quarters.

The flight genre is one of the least overall exploited categories in the PlayStation library. Although, if you take a snapshot of the early days, you'd think exactly the opposite. In the first couple of years, there seemed to be a literal avalanche of flight concentrated titles, some being top-down shooters while others decided to dabble in the third dimension. However, this flood quickly dried up and only a few stalwarts remained. One of the first just happened to become the be all, end all to the flight game genre on the PlayStation. Although it would go thru a name change, it still set the bar for all that would follow and kept the pretenders honest. Of course I'm referring to the big daddy of all flight games, Air Combat (AC).

The backstory for AC is nothing new or unique. You are a member of an elite group of mercenaries hired by the governments of the world to combat and defeat an invading force of terrorists. Where the air forces of the establishment have failed, it's up to you and your band of mercenaries to succeed. The danger is great, but so are the rewards. Are you up to the challenge? Well, strap in tight and let's get ready to taxi. Up next, Air Combat. Ready? Break Now!

The first thing for any flight game that a person wants is variety in the plane lineup. Well, Air Combat does not fail in this department. Although you initial choices are limited, as you progress through the game you will have the opportunity to pilot sixteen different planes ranging from the slow, plodding A-10 Warhog to the nimble SU-27. Each plane has varied ratings in five different categories (Stability, Offense, Defense, Power and Mobility) and they all handle differently, which adds the possibility of replayability for players looking to complete all the levels with all the different planes.

You begin the first mission with only 3 planes in your personal hanger. However, more become available for purchase as you progress through the game allowing up to eight planes total to be at the ready. However, if your plane gets shot down, or you crash and burn, to get that type of plane again you must purchase it from funds in your account. One thing to keep in mind though is that all unlocked planes do not remain purchasable at all times an you might have to wait to find your preferred ride again. Once you fill your hanger, you do have the option of selling lesser planes back, for half of their original purchase price, to open up a spot. But, once again, be careful of what you get rid of, as it may not become available later on when it could have been useful.

You also do not have to take on all the missions alone. You have the opportunity, in some of the missions, to purchase the assistance of various mercenary wingman to watch your back and help out when the going gets hot. Nevertheless, their respective abilities and planes are not free. These mercenaries want their money up-front, so if you crash and burn, not only do you lose the plane you had but also the cash you used to purchase your help. Money management is an added factor that must be taken into consideration at the beginning of every chapter.

Where do you get the funds? Well, along with a standard pre-announced cash prize for successfully completing the mission, everything that you shoot down or blow up has a prize value that gets added to your score when you achieve your goal. Usually there are specific targets, designated with special HUD cursors, that must be destroyed to complete the mission. However, all other additional forces can either be engaged or ignored, depending on the whim of the player. I would suggest though that leaving these targets still sitting on the table can create a real cash crisis later on in the game and should only be passed up if your plane is in a critical condition. Also, you do have a limited amount of missiles, ammunition and fuel to take into consideration. So, if you are running low on any of these, I'd advise you to concentrate on the primary objectives and leave the gravy on the plate.

The mission variety is definitely on par with any flight game you may have experienced. Dogfighting other planes does occupy the majority of the experiences, just as it should, however you can expect Namco to keep everything fresh and exciting. Not only will you take on terrorist planes and 'copters, but also ground forces, supply stations, naval vessels and even a super-sized air fortress in the final mission. One nice touch is that you don't have to follow the game linearly. After getting into the meat of the game, multiple mission branches begin to open up. Players can choose where they want to go next and tackle which specific mission when they want. Eventually, you will have to complete them all to get you to the end, but having the freedom to decide when is a big plus in my book. The environments are also as varied. Besides the wide blue yonder, you can expect to have to tackle desert lands, open ocean waters and some rather claustrophobic canyon runs tight enough to challenge Maverick and Goose. All in all, there are 17 very different missions to complete and each one has something different to offer.

Visually, Air Combat isn't that much of a backwards leap, even though it was released early in the lifespan of the original PlayStation. True, it doesn't have photo-realistic backgrounds and there definitely are some jaggies here and there. Nevertheless, unless you are a graphics whore, I really don't see much complaining to be done. Everything is running at a steady frame-rate, the distance draw-in is minimal, for a first generation PlayStation game, and there are no real collision detection issues that I've found. The night missions are a little more difficult than the normal day flights as you don't have a good clear view of your surroundings. But, I found if you pay just a bit more attention to the landscape than normal, you won't be having to scrape your plane off the side of a mountain as often.

While this is all may sound overly positive, everything in AC is not top notch, especially in the audio department. Yes, you do have eleven different background tunes to keep the dogfights fresh. However, the only way to pick your favorite tune is to use the music player in the options menu.  Each level usually has it's own set song, most of which would sound perfect if injected into the movie soundtrack for Top Gun. Nevertheless, they can become stale if you have to repeat the same level over and over again. Besides that, there are only the standard choices of mono or stereo in the options menu even though the PSOne is capable of so much more. Probably this disappointment stems more from the plethora of modern-day options available in today's games like custom soundtracks and multichannel surround sound. Nevertheless, the sound options and output are acceptable and keep you in the game and what does come out does it at an extremely high quality.

One other negative aspect I discovered in Air Combat was the lack of analog control, along with no support for the thumbsticks. Once again, this simply is a product of its time. These two options did not exist when the game was created. I found using the D-pad more difficult than piloting a plane with the later standard fare, but it still was possible to keep yourself flying once you got used to the retro controls.

According to the instruction booklet the controls are customizable, but the booklet is not very helpful in explaining how it is done. Only with extensive investigation did I discover that the "expert" controller setting does allow complete controller customization while the "novice" only allows a player to adjust the Y-Axis choice. Besides this, this only difference between the two is that the "expert" setting gives the player greater control over their turning ability. Selecting them means you can bank more sharply, execute maneuvers like barrel rolls or turn slightly using the separate yaw controls. Although this may be important to some air jockeys, you still can easily complete the game using the standard pre-set "novice" controls.

Players do have the option of choosing between the standard third-person (behind the plane) or the first-person (in-the-cockpit) views. Even though I tried both, and they are feasible, I much preferred to put myself into the virtual cockpit. Although I doubt that many players use the third-person view, it's nice that Namco added it in for gamers to exercise their personal taste. Either way, you are kept visually in the action and never have to worry about getting blindsided.

The one other thing that I found disappointing was the overall length of the game. There are seventeen different missions, but none of then had any extensive depth. Once I figured out the controls and got used to them, I was able to streak through most of the game in a single afternoon. I just had to finish up the final two levels after dinner to have the entire first playthough completed in a total of 6 hours. Granted, this was on the most simplistic of the three difficulty level, however I really would have preferred to have more available. One thing I did learn was that once you complete the game on different difficulty levels, you open up special unlockables to assist you repeating the process. Finishing up on the easy level allows players access to all of the planes in the game without having to purchase them, and without the limitation of hanger size. There are additional prizes, which I won't spoil for you, for completing the additional difficulty levels, so there is a reason to play the game through multiple times.

But, if you get tired of playing by yourself, Air Combat also comes packed with a 2-player split screen mode so you can fly the unfriendly skies against a buddy. There is not a lot of depth to this option. You can change up the initial face off of the combatants, giving one player an advantage of starting behind the other, but it really doesn't affect things that much after the first few seconds. Honestly, this mode is nothing to get overly excited about and only is a neat distraction that probably would last a couple of minutes, at the most, before you and a friend went to discover fun elsewhere.

In summation, Air Combat gives players a solid experience, especially if you take it's release date into consideration. However, it definitely gives room for development and refining for future renditions. As a flight game, it gives you a half decent time even though the story is a bit on the short side. Nevertheless, it's always nice to experience things at their origin, and in no way is Air Combat a disappointment to fans of the series. If nothing but for its historical nature, this one should be gobbled up by flight fans everywhere. For those casual gamers, you can probably pass it up for something with a fresher coat of paint.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 7

Audio: 6

Visuals: 7

Replayability: 8

Overall: 7.5

Aquanaut's Holiday (PSOne Review)

Back in the 90s there was this little television show about absolutely nothing. It set all types of viewing records and dethroned The Cosby Show as the must watch show of the week. You probably remember watching it at home, or have recently watched Seinfeld in reruns. Well, it was a huge success and there was no interlocking grand plot, no real continuing storyline or defined strategy. It simply was, and in doing so became one of the grandest sitcoms in television history.

Now I'm sure that you're asking yourself, "What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?" No, you haven't slipped into one of the new episodes of the Twilight Zone, and yes this will eventually get to a video game review. It's just that Aquanaut's Holiday (AH) has so much in common with Seinfeld. No, there is no Soup Nazi at the bottom of the ocean nor does Kramer come barging into your sub at inopportune times. It's simply that AH is seeming a game about nothing. In fact, if you go throughout the web you might think that it doesn't actually exist.

In doing my background research for Aquanaut's Holiday, I was astounded upon what, or more like the lack of, information concerning the title I found. One of the better known websites simply had two paragraphs for their entire review. Seriously, two whole paragraphs (the images weren't added until a year later) and that was it. Other big sites simply have the basic game info without any write-up at all. Honestly, it left a bad taste in my mouth and increased my rage against the establishment machine. Just because a game isn't CoD (Call of Duty) or Mario doesn't mean that it should be pushed to the side and forgotten. Every game deserves to be given the same consideration, in my opinion, niche game or not. Nevertheless, I'll make sure to fill the void where the "Industry" has stumbled.

Anyhow, Aquanaut's Holiday is unlike anything else I've experienced in my entire gaming career. There is no grand adventure, there is no real plot and there are no cut-scenes. It simply is an underwater simulator where you traverse the bottom of the ocean watching the fish swim their way around your submersible. That's where the "Holiday," or what we would call vacation, part of the title comes from. You aren't on any mission to save the planet. You are simply here in the underwater world to relax from a busy time at the office. Although this may sound extremely foolish to us here in the States, it is usually how people in other places enjoy their time off and recover from the day-to-day drumming of life. Seriously, we usually need a couple of days off after we complete our vacation to recover from all the running we did while we were supposed to be relaxing.

Nevertheless, there is a pretty large underwater world, at least in the PSOne standards of things, to discover. Upon leaving your underwater base, you can venture to all points of the compass seeing what there is to see. You can visit sunken ships, megalithic pillars and a bunch of other artifacts all at your desired pace. There is no time limit, no fictional restriction of air supply or no killer sharks chasing you around. You do have the option of dropping a marker to keep your place and using it to return at a later date if you want to quickly return to your base of operations. Although this might seem meaningless, it does serve a purpose. These way points allow you to not have to retrack over already discovered territory. Furthermore, they can be placed when you find some interesting artifact or sunken relic for an easier return in the future.

Even though it appears that AH has no purpose, there actually is one disguised as a mini-game. At your home base, you can construct your own coral reef. You acquire "blocks" as you adventure around doing your underwater exploration. You don't actually pick them up or collect them, as you do in other games, but simply more are available to use the more you explore. As your reef expands, more fish are attracted to it. Once you have collected a number reef blocks, it's up to you on how they are placed. Placement and color variation are key to attracting more and more fish. Eventually when you attract the maximum amount of fish, it unlocks a super secret ability to control the fish that you come across. When you fill the meter at the bottom of the screen, you have finally completed a game with no "official" ending.

Visually, Aquanaut's Holiday is decent for it's time-frame. Released in Japan during the PlayStation's first year in 1995 (it was released in the US one year later in 1996), things really aren't all that beautiful. In fact, the visual depth of the little fishes are very two-dimensional and they like to disappear as they turn from left to right. The variety of the wildlife does have a decent selection from normal everyday fish, to creatures of the deep like anglerfish, to sea snakes and even dolphins and sharks. Although the size and placement of the creatures may not be true to life, I'm sure that won't mean much to somebody willing to dedicate the hours needed to find them all. The environments are sparse and there is quite a bit of draw-in evident. Perhaps if Artdink had darkened the background a bit more it wouldn't have been as blatant, however all of the water environment is that light to medium shade of blue instead of the inky blackness that we all know that the depths actually have. Darkening the background color would have made the draw-in seem more realistic instead of what we were given. Nevertheless, taking into account the early release date of the game, it only gets an average overall score for the visuals instead of the expected poor score if it was being considered using today's standards.

Your underwater navigation is handled adeptly through a well defined HUD (Heads-Up Display). Players have three separate meters where they can monitor their forward or backward motion, their compass heading and their change in elevation. All of these appear on the screen when action is happening, but neatly disappear when the sub is in hover mode so that your view of the fishes is completely clear. All of the controls are digital in nature, as this title was released before analog became the standard, but everything responds in a timely fashion with no button delay at all.

The audio selection is about as sparse as the rest of the game. There is occasionally a slight orchestrated tune, depending upon your location, but most of the time the only thing that breaks the silence are the occasional machine beeps from the sub and the four different sonar sounds you use to communicate with the fish. In a way you become the PlayStation version of Aquaman and are able to slightly talk with the aquatic life surrounding your sub. Different types of fish respond uniquely to the different sounds your sub produces. By mixing and matching the specific sounds, one "ping" will call one fish while that same chime will send another off into the deep. It definitely gives you something to experiment with, and adds some depth to your adventure, however there is no reward for finding each fish's unique language.

When it all comes down to it, Aquanaut's Holiday is an enjoyable title if you know what to expect going in before you turn on your PSOne. This title definitely isn't for everyone and anyone expecting some form of collection, danger or adrenaline producing adventure should just move along to some more mainstream game. There is no real difficulty learning curve, so if you can run a DualShock you can play this game. Since there really is no ending, one can come back time and time again to Aquanaut's Holiday whenever you feel the need, for nothing more than the tranquility the title offers. Personally, if Artdink had added a photo option to the submersible where you collected pictures of the fish you found, kind of like how it was done in the PS2 game Everblue 2, AH would have done so much better with the general public. Nevertheless, it is what it is; a stress free underwater holiday without the trouble of renting the submarine. So, now as they say on the islands, "Mahalo nui loa and aloha."

Difficulty: 10

Control: 8

Audio: 4

Visuals: 5

Replayability: 7

Overall: 6.8

Shipwreckers! (PSOne Review)

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That's what I always think of whenever I see that little Psygnosis symbol down on the bottom of a CD case. It always seemed that whatever they created, it was just "this close" to being a monster game. I always thought of them as the "little company that almost could." Unbeknownst to me at the time, they were one of Sony's in-house development companies acquired in 1993 before the Japanese launch of the original PlayStation.

For those familiar with the early days of the original PlayStation, there should be a plethora of known Psygnosis titles rolling off of your tongue. Colony Wars, Destruction Derby, Formula 1 and WipeOut are probably their best known titles with a multitude of lesser-known cult classics hiding in the shadows (Discworld anyone?). No matter how good these titles were, there just seemed to be a little something missing from each one to vault them into my favorites list. Nevertheless, I could always feel safe in knowing that seeing the Psygnosis label meant that there were some good times a'waiting to be played. So now, let's step away from the mainstream and lean more towards the cult classic flavor and check out one of Psygnosis' lesser known titles, Shipwreckers!

Most people would think that pirates and video games would go together like peanut butter and jelly. Nevertheless, nothing could be further from the truth. Really, one should expect to see pirate game after pirate game in one of the most bloated genre-exploiting explosions rather than the bare handful of titles spanning three separate console generations. If you take away the expected Pirates of the Caribbean tie-ins, you probably could have the rest of the genre counted out on one hand. Luckily, Psygnosis wasn't afraid to break from the crowd and bring us some Yo-Ho-Ho goodness.

Shipwreckers! gives players a top-down view of the Seven Seas with some of the best water effects available on the PSOne. However, players are not given full polygonal goodness as the whole game, minus the cut-scenes, are done via pixels. Although back in the 90s this might have been a negative, for today's gamers this is a refreshing trip down memory lane and gives the title a feeling of nostalgia. Nevertheless, this title doesn't offer much extra in the eyecandy department, even though the graphics are all clear, have no pop-in or ghosting at any time. There also are no in-game hesitations to distract you from hitting a target at the exact moment that you need to sink an opponent. Everything is pre-loaded before anything is accessible, which does create some rather extensive loading times, especially in this day and age of streaming.

Gamers are given plenty of depth with 20 different levels to play and three difficulty levels to play them at. For most of the levels, you simply have to find the assorted treasure chests, take over the seaside towns and obliterate the competition. Each of the end world levels pits your ship up against a big boss where quarters are close and the strength of the boss is intense. Level design is rather inventive. Hidden sections are scattered across the worlds. Some of which have to be blasted open, others are simply hiding behind waterfalls. All these hidden sections become more easily findable as you acquire floating map sections scattered throughout the level in the form of little green bottles. Players can also pick up additional weapons, ammunition and health floating in the water. Moreover, when you capture a town, usually a plethora of extra pick-ups appear to assist in your endeavors. More importantly, these captured towns work as checkpoints, so you aren't forced to start completely over when your ship gets inevitably sunk.

Over time, you ship's weaponry does increase in power and range, making things a bit easier to lay to and blow up structures from a distance. Players are also graced with weapons besides the everyday cannonball. Flaming oil slicks, MX missiles, depth charges, floating mines, flame-throwers and even Tesla-like electric weaponry all can be acquired and leveled-up while you sail the seven seas. This does give extreme flexibility for individuals to use whatever methods they find best to proceed through the story level. Perhaps using the broadsides multi-cannonball shot for taking out the competition is too difficult for you? Well, you do have the option for firing single shots from the bow or drop mines from the rear instead of trying to get yourself parallel to the quick moving targets. As the levels progress, your arsenal also grows to allow you to pack a punch big enough to take down anything you might come across.  

On the other hand, Shipwreckers! just doesn't stand pat with the regular enemies. As your ammo and weapons increase, newer and more challenging enemies make themselves known in the most rudest fashion. Regular sailing ships now pack flaming ammunition, bomb dropping birds appear along with crew-napping UFO's to keep things hopping. Mantas and baby sea monsters attack you from under the waves while airships attempt to drop explosives onto your deck. Although enjoyable at the beginning, as the levels progress things do start to get a bit repetitive, even with the introduction of more exotic weaponry that your ship can weld. Nevertheless, this game keeps you on your toes and doesn't give one inch unless you can take it.

If you are expecting a simple run to the end, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, this game is no cakewalk. Players only have three ships to start, while additional ones can be acquired during gameplay, that's all you get to make it thru the 20 levels. This can up the frustration factor excessively, especially when you are down to your last ship and are up against one of the many boss battles. However before you get to the point where controllers are in jeopardy of being destroyed, there is a password access to use via cheat codes to sidestep the down to one ship frustration, if you are willing to compromise your gaming integrity. Shipwreckers! also does have memory card support, so you do have the ability to save your progress once you complete a level. Nevertheless, you'll start to hate that parrot sitting on the lit bomb loading screen after watching it for the umpteenth time when you keep losing your last ship over and over again.

However if you get bored sailing the seven seas by yourself, you can break out the multitap and have a 5 player free-for-all in the multiplayer part of the game. The multiplayer can go as far as 9 rounds of either timed or untimed action. Also, you can choose whether the health of the ships recharge at the end of the round or damage carries over in a survival mode. Players also have ten different arenas to choose from for their multi-ship action. This alone is worth the price of admission, as there really are very few good multiplayer games where players don't need to have an excess of experience to have a good time with their friends.

When you are looking for an example on how to do controls for a game correctly, you can use Shipwreckers! as the number one example.  To begin with, the default controller layout seems pretty much natural for anyone's preferences. Nevertheless, if there is something that you don't like, there's no need to fear because the entire button configuration can be customized to however you like it. The only downfall of the game is that it was designed before the DualShock came out, so the thumbsticks are not utilized. Besides that, this is exactly how all games should be done. Letting the consumer decide what works best for them without having to memorize some unnatural button layout when it's just as easy to let the user program their likes into the game. Surprisingly, this is not common practice two generations later and it's still only rarely done in games today.

The audio section of Shipwreckers! is also just as impressive, especially when you take its release date into consideration. Not only do you have the standard mono or stereo selections, there also is a Dolby sound option, the beginnings of what would eventually become surround sound. Moreover, you have the tuning option for the individually tweaking the BGM (BackGround Music) and the game's sound effects to your personal tastes. All of the BGM feels right for the game, varying from a bouncy lite island theme in the early stages to a heavy brooding dramatic score when the going starts to get a bit more tough. The only thing missing would be actual voices for the characters in the cut-scenes instead of the primitive grunts and groans used to barely convey a conversation. Anyway, that's a minor complaint and it barely scratches away at any of the overall rating.

All in all, Shipwreckers! gives players a decent, if not overly challenging, ride on the deep blue sea. The added multiplayer can give gamers a reason to keep it around after they somehow complete the 20 demanding levels of the single-player mode. Although I can pretty safely say that besides this, the replay factor just isn't high enough to expect much more. Shipwreckers! could have been gaming gold but, like most of my experiences with Psygnosis' products, it just falls slightly short. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, just don't expect to be completely blown away.

Difficulty: 6
Control: 9
Audio: 9
Visuals: 7
Replayability: 6
Overall: 7.4

Extreme Pinball (PSOne Review)

Back in the day before pixelated happiness or polygonal goodness graced video screens across the world, the king of the arcades was the pinball machine. However, what you might not know is that during the majority of the genre's lifespan, it was illegal in most cities to play or own a pinball machine. Considered a form of gambling, most major metropolitan areas here in America from the 1940s until the mid-1970s forbid their existence and actually held prohibition-styled raids on pinball parlors. 

The ban in New York City was finally overturned in 1976, only after the herculean effort of a 26-year-old magazine editor named Roger Sharpe. He was able to prove during a city council meeting that properly playing a pinball machine was more related to skill, rather than luck, by calling his shots on where he would make the ball would go. Nevertheless, there remain cities to this day that have forgotten pinball bans still on their books. 

But now, you don't have to worry about going out and exposing yourself to sticky flipper buttons, noisy arcades or fighting with ten-year-old kids for a place in line to enjoy some time with the magic silver ball. Thanks to EA, pinball fans now can fulfill their pinball cravings in the convenience of their own home, without having to fork out hundreds of dollars for a single machine. Keep your quarters in the piggy bank and let's take a look at Extreme Pinball.

For those of you looking for some pinball variety, this game features four unique tables all with very different themes. You can go the 80s heavy metal route with Rock Fantasy, battle a dragon in Medieval Knights, go bananas in Monkey Mayhem or stamp out crime on the Urban Chaos table. The amount of flippers ranges from either three or four total, varying in placement, size and strength for every table. There are also a multitude of various rail lanes on each table to keep the action always moving quickly. Furthermore, don't think that since you're playing a video version that you can't incorporate your own "special english" with the play. The table can be "bumped" left, right and up, just like in real life. However, there also is a tilt function that kills the gameplay for the current ball if you get over excited or too ambitious. Just like in the arcade, you have to learn how much you can get away with on the machines without crossing over that fine line so you can ride the tiger to its fullest extent.

Observant players will also notice that the ball itself will metamorphisize its appearance from a normal silver ball into gold rings or other apparent rolling items. Personally, I found this a distraction and usually ended up losing the ball because I was more interested in looking at the new ball rather than where it was going. Also, tables offer multi-ball bonus events where a literal hailstorm of balls will shower the table and then let the chaos begin. Furthermore, each machine has limited extra minigames that can be unlocked with exceptional play. Yes folks, there is plenty of action going on and it is very easy to get distracted by the glitz and glamor. 

Extreme Pinball also has variety in the setup of the game itself. Tables can have the number of balls available per game set at either three, five or seven. Moreover, every table can be played by up to four different players with the bonus of not needing to actually have four different controllers plugged in to accomplish it. Of course, there will be plenty of controller swapping since everything can be run on a single DualShock, but it's definitely a better option than having to dig out the multitap and make sure you have four working controllers squirreled away for those rare multiplayer opportunities. The only downside is that high scores cannot be saved, as there is no memory card function available.

Visually, Extreme Pinball gives the player a good view of the action. The tables are all blown up enough for you to actually see where the ball is going and the screen usually does a good job of keeping up with the ball's action. However like most screen-scrolling pinball games, there is the problem of the table view lagging behind the motion of the ball. Even though it seems like the view is lagging only by about a half of a second, it can make success in the game weighted more towards luck rather than skill. All of the targets and ball paths are clearly marked, but the action is so fast that without an intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of each table you can get easily get lost on what you need to do once a bonus opens up. While some may find this discouraging, pinball wizards will attest that this reflects the realism of playing in real life. Without using skill, or knowledge of your surroundings, simply bashing the ball back and forth will never get you into the high score environments. 

The audio aspects of Extreme Pinball are rather limited, but that is more a reflection of the times. Standard mono and stereo sound options apply, but there is nothing for those of us using high tech audio systems. Nevertheless, everything comes through clearly and all the beeps and boops you would to expect to hear when playing a table are all included. All four tables have unique background music and sound effects, both of which can be individually tuned in volume level for the gamer's preference.

Nevertheless, everything is not positive about this title. The load screen times are somewhat lengthy. In fact, there were many instances where I began to worry that the system had locked up because they took so long to finish. These lasted as long as a full minute at some times, and in this day and age of immediate gratification, that might seem like a lifetime to many. However once you get into actually playing the table, the action is seamless without any hesitation or delay when shifting between balls or players.

My biggest problem with evaluating this game is that it moves so damn fast. It is really difficult, for a duffer like me, to keep up with everything that is going on. Lights are flashing all over the place, the lower scoreboard has information running across it when something new is activated and the ball is simply flying around like a greased pig. This in no way a criticism of Extreme Pinball, rather a self-realization that I'm not a very good pinball player.  Nevertheless, I kept being drawn back to play a table "just one more time" over and over again and that in my book means this has some quality to offer.

Now this game is not going to be attractive to every person. You adrenaline junkies will find the gameplay slow and limited compared to those FPS or racing titles. However, this game is right up the alley of a more casual gamer. As far as pinball titles go, this one is by far my favorite (so far as of this writing). The four different tables give enough variation to hold the boredom away and each table has enough action on it to bring you back for more. If you are a pinball wizard, this one should offer enough to keep your attention, even with the limitations of being released back in 1996. When shopping at your local independent retro gaming store, if you see this game gathering dust on the shelves, be a trooper and give it a new home. You shouldn't be sorry.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 9

Audio: 6

Visuals: 7

Replayability: 8

Overall: 7.8