I loved the Midway Collection on xboxone. I wish there was a way to play this one (good post) other than buying a wii or ps2.
I liked Metroid on DS are any other DS pinballz worth it?
THANK YOU. I completely missed that this had come out (which isn’t difficult to do with games that even GameStop doesn’t carry). I absolutely loved the first Pinball Hall of Fame, and Williams tables are much more my speed than the selection of Gottlieb tables in the first game.
Just today I saw the Wii version at a local FYE for $20. Now that I see this review, I may have to go back and grab it.
I’ve had a hard time getting into pinball games on a screen. I have the highly regarded Pinball - The Gottlieb Collection on PSP, but it just didn’t work for me - maybe the screen was too small.
I was a fan of Pinbot and Whirlwind in the arcade, so perhaps I should consider this collection.
Any insight on whether the Wii or PS2 version is better? It seems to me that the Wii controller wouldn’t add much to a pinball game…
I’m so in. I’ve been playing the surprising good Pinball game on XBLA so I’m very much in the mood.
IMHO, the Wii controls do bring something, but it’s not a dealbreaker by any stretch. The diffs:
Sorcerer table (which is nice)
Jive Time table (which isn’t)
480p widescreen
$15 more
I agree with the back view, especially with PinballFX on XBLA. It seemed way too far and at the same time at a shallow angle… weird. I didn’t like the camera tracking the ball directly either, but when I changed it to the camera mode where you “look up” the pinball deck as the ball goes past the midpoint I began to enjoy myself a lot more. It’s how my eyes track the balls whenever I play, even when I’m not looking directly at them. Too bad the decks seemed generic and the ball mechanics felt so unrealistic to me, because graphically I thought it was fairly attractive.
For whatever reason the PBFX mechanics lead me to perceive the ball as being composed of a hollow ceramic shell, it just feels like it doesn’t have enough heft the way it travels around and off the targets and flippers.
I wish this would have come out on 360 with the level of polish as PBFX tho, I fucking love Williams machines, such classics! I have my Whirlwind right across from my media center actually… it wouldn’t fit in my basement with the topper attached and I wasn’t about to sacrifice that. I am so jealous of others with more decks because I can’t fit them even if I wanted them… argh, I want the Twilight Zone so bad!
Has anybody other than Runesword seen this out in the wild? None of my local game stores have it. I can find anyone selling it online. The Crave website doesn’t list it either. I need my Funhouse dammit! sniff
I didn’t see it in the wild. No one had it in Indianapolis, including Fry’s, which usually has everything.
Amazon has it.
I ordered from Amazon as soon as I saw this thread. No idea which retailers would carry it in store.
I cannot find any actual retailer that carries this. Gamestop won’t even order it (and they will order ANYTHING). I am simply astonished at the lack of any press. I mean “Cosmic Family” for the Wii got more love. Amazon it is.
So I’ve been playing the Wii version quite a bit, and it’s pretty good. It’s a blast to relive treasured moments with some of these tables and to discover others that I missed during pinball’s heyday. Williams has always been my favorite manufacturer, so, in many ways, this collection is a dream come true.
My main gripe is about how muddy the graphics are in the full cam views, even in 480p. Since the tables aren’t super sharp in the first place, much of the detail is lost in an aliased mishmash when the view pulls out from the table. I prefer to see the whole field at once, so I was disappointed. Fortunately, the smart cams are not as obnoxious as those seen on other pin-sims, so those with motion sickness issues might not have as much of a problem. Still, when the ball does an unhindered run from the back of the field to the front, I wish the smart cam would show me the flippers sooner so that I could better judge the ball’s trajectory.
I also wish the table sound effects and table music levels were adjustable. Pin*Bot is still a standard bearer in both areas, but the music seems like it’s mixed too low. At least the game gives you the ability to turn off the “period” arcade music and ambient noise.
The physics aren’t bad, but they still seem more floaty than the excellent Pro Pinball series. And this…
…has happened to me, too. It appears that the ball’s collision detection gets out of synch for a second, causing the ball to “phase” into the middle of the flipper joint. A tenth of a second later, the collision detection reasserts itself and the ball is flung away, normally right into the gutter.
Even with the gripes, the game is still a great deal for pinball enthusiasts at $30 (even more so at $20). But in a perfect world, I would have paid $60 for HD versions of these classics with Pro Pinball level physics and polish.
I’ve been eyeing this one, but I’m still undecided. I have the free (and fairly well stocked in both original tables & recreations) Future Pinball on my computer already.
Does anyone here have both? How do the physics compare? I’m definitely not a fan of light and floaty virtual pinball, but it sounds like that part has changed since the previous game.
The Williams ball is lighter than Future Pinball, but heavier than Pinball FX. I’ve read a couple comments that claim it’s a bit heavier than the Gottlieb collection. The default in Future Pinball seems a bit too heavy to me, but eye of the beholder, I guess.
HD pinball would be cool. Pro Pinball, Future Pinball, and Pinball FX on Xbox Live show how nice a full view of the table can look.
I like the smart camera in Williams HoF better than any of the scan modes in Future Pinball, and I wouldn’t turn it off even if I was running 1080p. It emulates how I focus when playing real pinball, and the playfield looks great that way. Full view has always seemed unnaturally distant to me.
PS I’ll tell my son he wasn’t crazy on the flipper thing. I’m 20 hours in, and my one anomaly was a "ball has left the table " message when it went to the right side in Funhouse. It put a replacement ball on the plunger.
How does it stack up to the Pro Pinball series (Timeshock, Big Race USA) for PC?
You can modify the ball motion on individual tables by changing the angle of steepness on the table before you load it. I try to keep it as realistic as possible. I haven’t figured out how to change flipper strength though. There are a few tables that have over powered flippers. It makes the whole table pretty useless.
I guess you already know about these, but the BlindManKind tables were made with high enough resolution textures to render in HD equivalent resolutions on your computer. The Dead Hunters table is nearly photorealistic.
Well, Williams HoF is a sim in the sense that they’re real pinball tables, and the physics are attempting realism. There are absolutely no configuration parameters on the pinball.
I don’t know Future Pinball very well, I’ve only played a few tables on it briefly. But it’s a construction set, so I assume one can control a lot of stuff.
I played Pro Pinball Timeshock and Big Race USA, and those were insanely realistic and configurable. That series remains the benchmark for pin sims IMHO. I think the ball is a touch lighter/livelier on Williams HoF than Big Race. It might be annoying if you’re a stickler on that. And you’ll find that they’re generous with nudging, you can body up pretty hard before getting a tilt.
On the other hand, I know Firepower quite well, and the shot angles and behavior on that table are down cold. You can light an outer lane save kicker on the left side, that in real life, landing a ball there would sometimes (maybe 20%) give a strong kick that would bank off each side and each flipper bumper, then re-drain down the (now non-save) left outer lane. This sim does the exact same thing, about the same percentage of the time. It’s spooky. And a pisser, may I add.
I like it for different reasons than the heavier computer sims. I like my big comfy chair, I like the controls more than a keyboard, and I like the ease of no-seat-switching multiplayer against my kids. The only sim part that’s superior for me is the smart cam – and many people may prefer full table view.
I just got this game for the PS2 and it is really great!
Not quite Pro Pinball (Big Race USA) level physics, but quite serviceable. I love the presentation, and the pins feel solid overall.
I like it quite a bit more than the previous entry in the Hall of Fame based on the Gottleib tables. Not sure whether it’s the tables, or what, but I found myself drawn in to this one.
hey, sweet, the Xbox version of Pinball Hall of Fame: Gottleib Collection works under backwards compatibility for the 360. I’ll have to pick up that version.
My “many hours later remarks” are:
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this game is helping me hold onto my pride against my son, good LORD is he schooling me in Smash. I’m only semi-respectable with R.O.B.
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the “tournament” option is very nice for player to player challenges
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I dunno what they used for the full motion video for the arcade intro, but it’s seriously horrible. If you get this game, don’t let it scare you. The “arcade room” interface is questionable, and the “upstairs” room will make you wonder why it exists. Thankfully, that crap doesn’t matter.
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The help system where they break down the table scoring with a voiceover is solid. Whoever scripted it actually knows how to play, because the occasional tips on where to focus are accurate.
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the “table goals” unlock the “table wizard goals” which unlock various colored pinball options, mirror mode, and turning off tilting. I don’t really care about any of that stuff much, but the goals are nicely chosen. The goals themselves make me care. There’s a couple that are really tough on each machine. After many hours of play, and I consider myself a good pinballer, I still haven’t beaten all the wizard goals on half the tables.