Story

In 1996, SCI Software (Sales Curve Interactive) released the PC Pinball game Tilt! (made by NMS Software) in Europe, distributed by Virgin. Shortly afterwards, the game was released in the U.S. with the name Hyper 3D Pinball, which has caused no end of confusion on the world-wide internet! The game got very mixed reviews. Most of the magazines loved it. Most die-hard pinball fans HATED it. While it was easily the graphically best-looking PCPin game at the time, the physics were horrible. Most of the problem involved ramps that practically vacuumed the ball up if you hit it anywhere near them and inlanes that majorly sped up the ball, making it hard to aim and killing the "feel" of real pinball for many. Still, not only did the game look good, but it had SIX fairly complex tables, complete with wizard modes. And it sold pretty well.

Apparently, it sold well enough for a sequel to be made. Early last year, word started to spread about the sequel, which was to be called 2 Up Tilt!, made by NMS Software and distributed by SCI Software. There was never any word if the game would be released in the US, or under what name. (Using 2-Up Tilt! would be silly, since there wasn't any game called Tilt released here!)

Then, the game was unveiled in the May, 1997 issue of Britain's PC Review magazine with a 2-page article on the game, including screenshots and interviews with the designers, and a fully playable demo (with no time limits, but the games stops adding to your score after 10 million points) of one of the tables on the cover disk CD. Supposedly the game was to be released in May.

Well, May came and went, as did the rest of the year, with no word from SCI or NMS. The game seemed to disappear.

Then in November/December Interplay's web site announced the then forthcoming Star Trek Pinball by SCI (somewhere NMS dissapeared from the picture). Obviously, this game was 2 Up Tilt!, rethemed for Star Trek (the original series.) Apparently, Interplay got the rights to a Star Trek Pinball game and wanted to rush it to market, hoping to hit the X-Mas buying season (which they didn't make.) Earlier, designers at Sierra, makers of the 3D Ultra Pinball series, who had started working on their own Star Trek pinball game were told that Viacom had mysteriously taken back the rights for a Trek pinball game with no explanation.

Finally, about a month ago, Star Trek Pinball was released in the US and Europe with little fanfare. Interplay's advertising campaign seems mostly limited to text plugs in ads for Interplay's other Star Trek games. Star Trek Pinball has also gotten mixed reviews for the same reasons. It looks great, even better than the original. The physics are somewhat improved, though the inlanes STILL speed up the ball too much. But the gap between the flippers has vastly increased making SDTM (straight down the middle) shots inevitable, especially with the designs of these tables, unless you nudge a lot. And the nudging is FAR too strong to be realistic. While the "To Boldly Go" table is pretty well designed and complex, the 2-player "Nemesis" is fairly useless, with the "Qapla'" Klingon table mediocre. All of the Star Trek sounds are samples from the original series, which are activated by certain moves, which can get VERY repetitive.

I've finally managed to get my hands on the demo CD and article. (I didn't have the cash on me when I first saw it, and the store had trashed them when I returned!)

For those who are curious, here's how the original table themes have changed:

Stuntmania = To Boldly Go
The Unexplained = Qapla'
Mythomaniac = Nemesis

Stuntmania was based on daredevil stunts. The Unexplained was loosely based on the X-Files (which explains the crossed X-shaped lanes in the middle), with aliens and such. The big model Klingon head in Qapla' was originally a traditional "gray" alien. The 2-Player table Nemesis seems to be themed around magical spells (which alter the scoring and physics of your opponents balls.)

If you look around hard enough, you'll find a few remnants of the original theming in STP. I was racking my brain, trying to figure out what the Star Trek reference of "Loop of Fire" was, but it's just a stunt!

Demo