Sprite = Computer Animated Graphic (like a car that drives around on the screen)

A debate

The two first pinballs in the series, I both reviewed and graded with the number three (3). 3dup1 was a early review and was not so trough thought but I notice I saw positive things in the pinball that made it fun but also I remember I just couldn't give the pinball any higher grade. It did not stand out in any other bigger way than that it was in 3d (few were 3d back then).
Ok it had lots of stupid sprites walking around on the table. That might be fun, but it is what you want in a pinball? And most important of all, does it work, do those modes make you want get back and play the pinball more?

If it is made right, the modes are fun and are challenging and important to complete. Yes I think it could work then. Just look at Full Tilt! 2, I like that pinball, ofcourse it has some sides that pulls down the grade. I do like to play the pinball sometimes for fun and try to set a hiscore. But when I play 3dup* I really don't care so much, I find myself doing the same things all over and over and new sprites look different but it is all much the same. The pinballs miss something, a good theme that makes it last and in which the sprites fulfill a role and competing the modes means something.

Please notice I am not comparing this pinball to hard core sims like Timeshock! that provides addicts with all they could ever want. But I compare it with pinball games that are there for the fun of it, trying to take advantage of all a computer can offer to a pinball table. There is a very small chance this will succeed, because I want a sim to be serious otherwise I loose my faith for it, I want a game to be serious too, but it can take on another look, it can be unrealistic and strange, just as long as it has its challenging and meaningful parts. Pinball games can be unrealistic, but they have to have a level of realism, challenge and meaning otherwise I at least wont get stuck playing it so much.

So why might The Lost Continent succeed better then the other in the series. Because it has a main theme that seems to be good and the modes are involved in that the theme in a new way making it something that might be challenging, interesting, fun, unrealistic, and at the same time something with a level, a main theme that has a chance of attracting addicts of the genre... and who knows keep them.

Personally I already now doubt it will reach the greater heighs, but I do belive it might turn out better then it's prequels, but as I said who knows.


The Theme

Sometime after WWII, Rex Hunter, bush pilot and part-time hero for hire, has crash landed in an unexplored jungle. With him are Professor Spector, a zoologist and famous inventor and his assistant, Mary. The place they find themselves in is a place protected by time, a world where dinosaurs and cave-men still exist. Someone has hauled off the pieces of their plane in the middle of the night.

It's up to Rex to solve the mysteries of the strange land, and find their missing plane so they can get back to the world they came from. To do this, Rex and his friends must brave dinosaur attacks, cross treacherous terrain, and outwit cunning traps if they want to survive.

• Table Shot 1
• Table Shot 2
• Table Shot 3
• Table Shot 4