Microsoft Pinball Arcade	Dev: Mir Dialogue/Microsoft Pub: Microsoft
Reviewed:  1998-12-17

- The pinball

Historical simulation of real pinballs. One way of describing this pinball. Featuring simulations of 7 pinballs - each a sort of "milestone" in the pinball history. All tables are in a 3d view which heightens the realism, in my opinion this is the best attempt at simulating a real pinball table so far. Note though that it is maybe not the best attempt at simulating the realism of a real table. The realism on concern of physics (ball movement and flipper realism) might no be the most impressive ever but I find it pretty good and it easily outranks the masses of lousy pinballs. The sounds are very nice, the sfx is pretty lovely with almost only (if not only?) samples from the real tables. The music isn't so much to talk about, for those tables which didn't feature their own musical score some cd track with "moody" music has been included (though you can just as well do with out those imo). The selection of tables is nomatter what someone else might say good, most pinball fans will find some table in the pack they like really much and a couple the really dislike, opinions differ on such and I find myself quite happy with the selection. Ofcourse I can't say any of these tables are superbly enjoying and really cool (nor are any of the tables what I would really like to see simulated), I sort of just like them for what they are, old classics (well more or less classics). MPA isn'y the most realistic simulation of real pinballs, the pro pinball series have much more realistic physics, but MPA features simulations of real tables. Because of that last bit you can't expect the simulated table to be any more fun than the real table (I'm talking about the theme here) since it then wouldn't be a simulation! But there is a certain charm or level of fun in playing a simulated real table.


- The Tables

Baffle Ball

Together with Slick Chick this is my favorite table in the pack. Both the table theme and layout is extremely simple but still kind a fun. The table consists of 4 big pockets in the middle of the table and lots of small pockets at the bottom of the table (see screenshot). The object of the table is to get your 10 balls into these pockets which give you score of varying size! Sounds tough, huh? Well the balls have different colors and getting a samecolored ball into a samecolored pocket doubles the points! And then there is the baffle, a small round metallic plate thing at the top of the table, if you manage to get the ball to stop on top of this thing all scores double!!! The Baffle Ball simulation of the real table is quite good, graphically it is acceptable and soundwise too. It is a little annoying that the tilt is so sensitive, you can't tilt the table so you loose a ball but if you have a ball on the baffle it too easily falls of it if you tilt. There is lots of little pins sticking up everywhere on the table to make it harder for you to get a ball where you want it, the ball though bounces around the table quite naturally. The plunger could also have been worked on a little more I think, though I won't really complain on it, you could launch a ball and get it pretty much near where you want if you practise.

Humpty Dumpty

Nice simulation of this silly table. You have six flippers which you use as clubs (you sort of swing them over you head, they don't act as a normal flipper does), the flippers are placed with a pair near the bottom of the table, another pair in the middle of the table and a third paired near the top of the table. The pairs are made up of one club like flipper at the left side and one on the right side of the table. After having launched away the ball it will progress down from the top of the table (naturally) and as it does so you try to hit it with the flippers and steer it in the direction of a bumper or lock hole that awards different amounts of score. Some twists on scoring exist, but basically there isn't much more to it! This is the first table with flippers I belive.

Knock Out

Not exactly the most exciting table. A nice setup of two mechanical boxers in a boxing ring take up the middle part of the table, as you hit targets and score these boxers will knock each other down. The flippers are now placed at the bottom of the table, though they are still of the smaller size and not the size that is more standard today. There is also an extremely wide gap between the flippers, you can raise a metallic barrier that prevents drains though.

Spirit of 76

More or less fantastic table, hit drop targets for 1776 and 1976 and score! The flippers are bigger now though the shape is more rectangular (the tip is about as wide as the base of the flipper).

Slick Chick

This table I like. Small flippers, lots of bumpers, pretty nice soundscore and good sfx. The layout is a bit silly, 9 bumpers form a cross in the middle of the table, you're mission is the delight these bumpers. You do so by hitting them in certain sequences. A quick overview of the table. From the middle to the top of the table there is the bumper cross, below at the bottom of the table you have two really big slingshots that stretches from the left and right wall to the base of the left and right flipper (no inlanes), this means catching a ball isn't the easiest though it is possible. The flippers are also small so aiming away a shot is quite hard. Basically whenever the ball reaches the flippers you try to get it up to the bumpers again, which is quite hard but possible. This kind of table is build up more on you being able to redirect a moving ball to where you want it instead of catching and setting up shots as you might do now and then in real tables. Pretty much action in the table, you play for score and credits as usual. There is also a gobble hole on the table (steals the ball if you get the ball into it, you loose the ball that is). The simulation of the real table is good and I found this table quite enjoyable to play.

Haunted House

A tripple-deckered table. First there is the normal middle surface of the table, then there is an raised small area at the topleft corner of the table, then there is an area below the regular playing surface. This area below is visible trough a glass window in the middle surface. I had an hard time getting used to this under surface area, I still haven't quite gotten used to it. It is not the lower area itself, it is the graphics, the middle area looks so strange, you get a twisted idea of things... This is when you play on the normal middle surface. Whenever a ball enters the lower area you have to small flippers to use in there, it is like a minitable, quite neat. See the screenshots and you might understand that comment. The ball quite easily drains and I can't exactly say I found it so easy to keep a ball in play on the middle area. Still you can play and the table is a quite good simulation.

Cue-Ball Wizard

In my opinion not a terrific table, simulation wise at least. The flippers feel weak and the ball bounces around as it wishes (much more than in any of the other tables). Hitting certain ramps (the often needed to do "ramp shot" for example, but that is not the only thing) and targets is pretty unrealisticly hard. I did get into the table and could play it and explore it, though I never really got used to the table itself. The physics were just too far fetched.


- The Feeling

The quality of the feeling varies from table to table, depending on how advanced the table is and what you expect out of the physics for each table. Baffle Ball features no flippers only a plunger and balls. The plunger is annoying, it appears in a little window on top of the table (like in hyper 3d pinball, this window appearing showing how you pull back the plunger is featured in all the tables), I would much have preferred seeing the plunger on the table itself where it belongs. As for the ball movement it was quite good sometimes though I still felt quite annoyed at it. The plunger power should be reprogrammed totally so you can get the ball directly where you want it more easily. With easily I mean more realisticly, right now it takes very little of pulling the plunger back to get the ball out on the table (the ball sort of glides up the plunger lane like the lane was really really well oiled). You can though in Baffle Ball pretty easily (too easily maybe) get the ball to stop directly on the baffle from a plunger shot. The ball physics on some tables resulted in a little too bouncy ball, it would bounce-bounce-bounce here and there when landing on the flipper (spirit of 76/cbw). Also the ball seems to glide up the table way to long after a light flip with the flipper, even though the ball in most pinballs does seem to go upways much more than you want too, at this occasion it seems to go an little annoying bit to much extra. In slick chick I'm still happy with the balls movement among the bumpers, really good in my opinion, doesn't get stuck and doesn't get high speed or something like that. Also the controll you have over the ball with the flippers in SC is nice, the tilting in the table is a bit sensitive and could have been better so you could save more drains. In overall there is small things and big things in feeling that continues to annoy, I can't finger point it all, it is more of a question of how you overall experience the table when playing. Mostly the feeling was acceptable, CBW annoyed me the most, but on other tables I found it quite acceptable, such as in baffle ball, humpty dumpty and slick chick. Still you can enjoy playing most of the tables but the physics can be better!!


- The Whole

A pinball maybe not the easiest to recommend, but I think most pinball fans will find it enojyable. I think so mostly because I at least liked getting to try out these tables which are rather rare in the normal arcade? When loading up the final version I didn't expect to get to try out some high tech advanced tables, instead I wanted to get to try out some good old classics and have a little fun with them, which I also had! This means the tables simulated are not exactly of the nature one returns to them each day just to explore more, score more (except baffle ball which I don't mind playing sometimes now and then). It is not a pinball I recommend to someone just looking for really challenging tables and realistic physics, instead if you are a fan of the real tables or someone who just likes pinball you'll probably enjoy these simulations.

Platform: PC
Operating System: Windows 95/98, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 3)

Pentium 90 MHz or higher
16MB RAM (24MB if you are using NT)
1MB PCI Video card capable of at least 640x480x256
MS DicrectX API 5.2 compatible Soundcard
2x cdrom

Also available for: -

Cue Ball Wizard (1993)

---