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Pinball Dreams

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Pinball Dreams
DeveloperDigital Illusions
Publishers21st Century Entertainment, GameTek (Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES)
ProducerBarry Simpson
DesignerOlof Gustafsson
ProgrammerAndreas Axelsson
ArtistMarkus Nyström
ComposerOlof Gustafsson
PlatformsAmiga, Falcon,[2] MS-DOS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, GP32, iOS, OS X, PlayStation Network, SNES
Release1992[1]
GenrePinball
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Pinball Dreams is a pinball simulation video game developed by Digital Illusions and originally released for the Amiga in 1992. It spawned several sequels, including Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions. The MS-DOS port was digitally released by Rebellion Developments along with its sequel and Pinball Mania on February 22, 2011 on GOG.com with support for Microsoft Windows.[3] It received an OS X build on April 23, 2013;[4] and a Linux build on August 19, 2014.[5]

Gameplay

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The game includes four pinball tables:

  1. "Ignition", themed around a rocket launch, planets, and space exploration. The Expert Software's '2000 port of the game renamed this table "Rocket".
  2. "Steel Wheel", themed around steam trains and the Old West.
  3. "Beat Box", themed around the music industry, charts, bands and tours.
  4. "Nightmare", themed around a graveyard, ghosts, demons, nightmares and generally evil things. Unlike the other tables in the game, the name of the table in the menu did not reflect the name displayed on the table itself—"Graveyard". Some ports of the game (notably the GameTek port to the Game Boy) name this table "Graveyard" in the menu as well. The layout and some rules of this table is based on Terminator 2: Judgment Day pinball machine released a year earlier.[6]

The version of Pinball Dreams bundled with the Amiga 1200 had a bug which rendered most of Beat Box's advanced features non-functional.[citation needed]

Development

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The ball moves according to reasonably realistic physics, and the game was restricted to using table elements which would also be possible to build in reality. Sound and music use module files.[2]

Ports:

Reception

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Pinball Dreams was a commercial success, selling more than 650,000 copies in its debut year.[12]

Pinball Dreams was overall received positive by press reviews.[13][14][15][16] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Game Gear version a 5.8 out of 10, commenting that "Pinball never really worked well on portable systems and Pinball Dreams is no exception. The boards are huge, but the game is a little slow."[17] Power Unlimited gave the Game Boy version a score of 85% summarizing: "Sharp graphics, excellent sound and simple controls all contribute to a game that will hardly get boring. And with the three different cabinets there is also variety.[18]

In 1993 Computer Gaming World criticized the PC version of Pinball Dreams as having "the worst physical model" of four reviewed games, and disliked the "jerk[y]" scrolling.[19] The magazine said in June 1994 that Pinball 2000 "is an average title at a better than average price".[20] In 1996 the magazine ranked Pinball Dreams as the 119th best game of all time, stating, "Smooth scrolling and great ball physics made this Amiga game a wizard's choice."[21] In 2011, Wirtualna Polska ranked it as the fourth best Amiga game.[22]

Legacy

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Multiple games based on Pinball Dreams were published by 21st Century Entertainment:

  1. Pinball Dreams 2, (1994, MS-DOS), developed by Spidersoft
  2. Pinball Mania (1995 MS-DOS), developed by Spidersoft.[23] A Game Boy port was published by GameTek UK.
  3. Absolute Pinball (1996, MS-DOS), developed by Unique Development Studios[24]
  4. Total Pinball 3D (1996, MS-DOS), developed by Spidersoft
  5. Pinball Builder (1996, Windows), developed by Spidersoft

References

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  1. ^ Verburg, Kenneth. "Fredrik Liliegren, CEO of Digital Illusions about Rally Masters". Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Pinball Dreams - Atari Falcon". fatal-design.com. 2001. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  3. ^ "New release: Pinball Gold Pack". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2019. First of all, you get five games - Pinball Dreams 1 and 2, Pinball Fantasies, Pinball Mania, and Pinball Illusions, each featuring four pinball tables.
  4. ^ "Mac Game Update: 22 New Additions". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 23 April 2013. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  5. ^ "GOG.com Now Supports Linux!". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  6. ^ Dillon, Tony (April 1992). "Pinball Dream review". CU Amiga. No. 26. EMAP. p. 47.
  7. ^ Pinball Dreams Preview c64
  8. ^ Pinball Dreams 100% Amstrad CPC
  9. ^ Campbell, Stuart (April 1992). "Pinball Dreams". Amiga Power. No. 12. p. 78.
  10. ^ "Power Unlimited Game Database". powerweb.nl (in Dutch). 1993. Archived from the original on October 20, 2003. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  11. ^ "Power Unlimited Game Database". Power Unlimited. Archived from the original on October 21, 2003. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  12. ^ Hawken, Kieren (2016). "From the Archives: 21st Century Entertainment". Retro Gamer (151): 56–61.
  13. ^ Braun, Peter (1992-03-01). "Pinball Dreams: Flipper ist unser bester Freund!" (in German). Amiga Joker. Retrieved 2011-02-07. Eine der besten Flippersimulationen für den Amiga!
  14. ^ Rückert, Lars (1992-04-01). "Pinball Mania" (in German). Aktueller Software Markt. p. 104. Retrieved 2011-02-07. Gut.
  15. ^ Gollert, Knut (1992-04-01). "Pinball Dreams: Flipperträume" (in German). PowerPlay. p. 104. Retrieved 2011-02-07. Naja.
  16. ^ "Amiga Reviews: Pinball Dreams". www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
  17. ^ "Review Crew: Pinball Dreams". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 55. EGM Media, LLC. February 1994. p. 46.
  18. ^ "Power Unlimited Game Database". Power Unlimited. Archived from the original on October 21, 2003. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  19. ^ Lombardi, Chris (December 1993). "Bumper Crop". Computer Gaming World. No. 113. pp. 110–114. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  20. ^ "Taking A Peek". Computer Gaming World. No. 119. June 1994. pp. 168–172.
  21. ^ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. pp. 64–80. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  22. ^ 4. Pinball Dreams - 30 najlepszych gier na Amigę - Imperium gier, WP.PL (in Polish)
  23. ^ "Pinball Mania for DOS (1995)".
  24. ^ "Absolute Pinball for DOS (1996)".
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