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Galactic Pinball (Nintendo Virtual Boy, 1995)
Price:
C $59.99
Approximately£34.79
+ C $11.70 postage
Returns:
Condition:
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... Of course, that's because it's the ONLY pinball game on Virtual Boy. Galactic Pinball gives you five different "space" themed pinball tables to choose from, each of them unique. There is a decent amount to do in each of them (such as blasting comets, collecting letters and so on), but most of them are fairly sparse with not a lot of targets to shoot at. In fact, some of the targets are disabled too, so plenty of shots will just bounce around off things without scoring at all. One of my biggest complaints about this game is that it eschews many standard pinball features. For example, only one table has bonus rollover light-ups at the top, despite this being a standard feature on just about every modern table. I've also yet to see any multi-ball. Speaking of which, you don't even play with a ball, instead it's a "puck". I don't base that just on the appearance either, the game itself will tell you that you have two "pucks" remaining. I don't get it. Another problem is that the physics are somewhat wonky at times, especially around your flippers, which is a real problem. "Catching" the puck with your flipper is actually TOO easy. If the puck is rolling down behind one of the bumpers and you keep your flipper held up, the puck will come to a dead stop when it hits it. In fact, even if you keep the flipper down, the puck bounces off the base of your flipper, causing it to slow down significantly. This is hard to get used to, and makes aiming somewhat harder than it should be, as you get no momentum from the falling puck. The graphics are acceptable, as the tables are about as good looking as you can expect given the red and black graphics of the Virtual Boy. The tables don't actually look like actual pinball tables, instead they look like pinball components floating in space, so you don't get any art on the surface of the table, just a star field (Though this is probably for the best, as table art would likely just make it harder to see the puck). You get a bit of a 3D effect from the tilt of the playfield, but it's pretty minor. There are occasionally special events in the tables that will have more of a 3D effect to them... like in the Colony table, your puck will jump vertically off the table and become a turret to shoot down at oncoming comets. These events are pretty infrequent though. Sound is pretty poor. The music sounds little better than something you'd get from a Game Boy, and the sound effects are nothing special. Plenty of other VB games have done better. You control the flippers with either the L and R triggers, or by using the two D-Pads. A pulls the plunger, and B tilts.... which makes the two D-Pad control basically useless, since you have to take your right thumb off the D-Pad in order to tilt. In fact, tilting seems to have almost no effect anyways. It's too bad, as using the D-Pads to tilt in four directions would have been a good feature. You can't change the controls, and in fact, there are NO options in the game whatsoever beyond the automatic pause option that all VB games have. It also can't save high scores. There are so many other, better pinball video games out there that it's hard to recommend this one. More recent games like Fantastic Journey and Time Shock have far more to offer, and even if you're looking for a more classic pinball game, Pinball Fantasies does the job much better than this. However, if you're a fan of the Virtual Boy and you like pinball, you'll probably still manage to enjoy it.Read full review
This game is not as engaging as some of the other front runners like Wario Land or Teleroboxer, but it stands on its own as a more chill gaming experience. There are a few different boards/levels to choose from, each with their own special uniqness. The 3D of looks great, sound is great. Very fun pinball game.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Pinball has been around for a while and you, like me, may remember laying hands on a machine or two at an arcade back in the day. At some point, the seemingly random notion that pinball could be experienced in video game (ie, digital) form became a reality and while there are hits and misses in terms of implementation, Galactic Pinball is most certainly a hit. One of the important things that a digital pinball game should set out to do is figure out if its going for an authentic feel or an over-the-top joy ride that would hardly be possible with a real pinball machine. The makers of Galactic Pinball decided on the latter and crafted a game with so many mini games and bonus rounds that you're never left feeling like there's nothing to do--and there are four tables, to boot, so you'll likely play quite a lot if you get this game. Just to grab your attention, one mini game involves controlling Samus in her space ship shooting down Metroid enemies! Instead of a pinball, you control a puck. The graphics are great and there's something that seems right about the puck in this game. It lends itself to the space theme, I think. The table also seems to extend into the distance and makes you feel like you are actually at a pinball table. Two odd things, however, are the absence of a back wall behind the paddles for death saves and the slight catch of the puck on the base of all paddles when the puck slides over it. This makes it necessary to let the puck catch on the paddle and then let it roll to the desired location on the paddle for your shot. At first, I didn't like this, but later I realized it offers a whole other realm of strategy and planning, allowing you to more accurately line up shots and more easily save a puck and prepare for the perfect timing needed for a dream shot. Another real plus for this game is the addition of battery backed up saves. The top five high scores are kept saved on the game pak itself and five preset top scores are in place that make you work a bit to beat. If you're like me, and you set yourself a goal of wiping clean the default top scores, then you're in for quite a lot of replay value. Unfortunately, while there are battery backed up saves, there is no in game method of clearing all the high scores or returning them to the default settings. As this is the case, the method I used to reset the saves involved sticking a piece of wire simultaneously in two of the slots holding the pins that connect the game pak to the Virtual Boy. Instructions can be found on the Internet and the process is not hard. It worked, but it's hardly ideal. Overall, graphics, sound, play physics, table design, mini games and all the other aspects of this game are top notch. If you like pinball, I would certainly recommend Galactic Pinball to anyone with a Virtual Boy. It's certainly another example of the high caliber of games that were developed for the fledgling Nintendo system.Read full review
Pinball in 3d, what more do you want? Hours of fun! Graphics are reasonable, it's a virtual boy not 1080 lol. Easy to play and fun mini games within each table. Lots of replay value, who doesn't like pinball?
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This game is exactly what I was expecting; vintage 3D pinball! I had very high hopes for this game and they were almost met. It only has a few tables to choose from which is the only downside of the entire game. Aside from that is quite fun and easy to put a few hours into. I would definitely recommend it to all VB owners.
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