Bruce Von Stiers
There are a lot of pinball games available for the PC but few good ones for
consoles. Try as they might, some things just don't get done right. Growing
up in the age where pinball was king, I have had sore fingers many times from
pushing the flipper buttons a lot. Empire Interactive has tried to capture
the essence of those bygone days of pinball glory. They have a series of pinball
games that are called Pro-Pinball. One of the most recent titles is this series
was released for PlayStation. This game is called Pro-Pinball:
Fantastic Journey.
Fantastic Journey, like many of the better pinball games, has a storyline behind it. There is the nasty guy, General Yagov, who wants to rule the world. If he doesn't get his way, Yagov will launch a rocket that will blow up the moon and cause real problems for the earth. There is this other guy, Professor Steam, who has the means to stop Yagov. With his various contraptions, Steam may just be able to stop Yagov in time. You, the player, have to help Professor Steam get the job done.
The game is set up just like a real pinball table. You have the ball chute, flippers and various rails for the ball to ride on. Certain things can be hit in order to spell out the word Luck. This allows the Dead End For Luck part of the table. Shoot this area and receive a random Award. These awards are sprinkled throughout the table. You just have to light up specific things to be entitled to the awards.
There are several different modes for the game. It depends on what your ball is doing at the time. If you shoot at the ramp to light up the Boiler for Steam. Hit the Boiler to start the Steam mode. The Ultra modes are randomly started after knocking down the H-E-R targets. There are also contraptions and adventures to complete in order to get to special areas of the table. There are a total of four adventures that have to be gone through before you get to the mysterious island. Once there, you and the Professor will have a chance to stop the fiendish Yagov.
I found it a little difficult to remember where I was in the storyline. When the ball is going from place to place, all you want to do is not lose it. But that was always my trouble with pinball, concentrating on not losing the ball and racking up points, not paying attention to the story behind the bumpers and rails.
One thing I should mention is that Fantastic Journey features only one table. My son was really disappointed that the game didn't include more than one table. But going through the manual made him see the reason for the single table. Fantastic Journey is an adventure by itself. For those of you who are looking for games that feature more than one table, Empire Interactive has some titles that are grouped together in a specific Pro Pinball collection.
Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey is a fun, fast paced version of the pinball games that used to line arcades around the globe.
To learn more about the Pro Pinball series or other game titles by Empire Interactive, visit their web site at www.empireinteractive.com.
© 2001 Bruce E. Von Stiers