Gameprom has more than proven themselves on the App Store with three fantastic iPhone pinball games: Wild West Pinball, [99¢], The Deep Pinball [99¢], and Jungle Style Pinball [99¢]. Their latest game, The Pinball [$2.99], combines the three of these games in to a single high-resolution iPad game.
All of the high scoring, table objectives, and everything else from the three iPhone games are included, in addition to several different options for playing the game in 3D using stereoscopic 3D glasses. The red/cyan 3D works fairly well, but feels kind of gimmicky like most games that feature this kind of 3D.
Much like the iPhone versions, the pinball physics of each of the included games are phenomenal, but what has left me scratching my head with The Pinball HD is how few view options are included. The iPhone games are played in portrait mode and the camera can either follow the ball or zoom out to view the whole table. On the iPad, this is controlled by which way you orient the device.
Holding it horizontally allows you to see the whole table at an odd skewed perspective, while holding it in portrait mode follows the ball around. This really seems backwards, and I'd love to see the whole table in portrait mode. Judging by the response in our forums, I'm not alone on that.
Even though the camera is kind of weird, The Pinball HD seems to be the best pinball collection available for the iPad right now. Gameprom has had a fantastic history of updating and maintaining their games, so I have faith they'll listen to and implement feedback to change the in-game camera around.
Apple's devices almost seem built for pinball. It just feelsright seeing a pinball table running below the elongated glass touch screen. It's a well represented genre on the App Store with many quality options available. Recently, there's been a brand new game released, a significant update to an existing game, and a new app that gives you a truly unique experience while playing pinball on your Mac (and PC soon too), all of which are worth a mention.
The newest game from Matmi, makers of Monster Pinball, is another blisteringly fast game with a focus on multiple balls in play. Unlike more traditional tables, this game makes it easy to unlock multiball modes and ensures that you're almost always playing with at least 2 balls concurrently. It features the same fantastic graphics and art designs that are a hallmark of Matmi games.
The only downfall here is that there is just this one table when their other games feature at least three, however this one table is well designed and extremely fun to play. If you liked Matmi's previous pinball offerings, you will most certainly like this.
Although released last November, Pinball Ride never gained much notoriety due to a difficult table design and a relatively higher price. Well, Massive Finger has been hard at work since then and have released a 1.1 update that really improves the game greatly. Certain aspects of the table have been reworked to be more forgiving, and in turn the game is overall much more fun. It's a completely 3D table which looks impressive, and the pinball action is fast and smooth.
The $4.99 price still may be a bit high if you're not a pinball fanatic, as there's only the one table. A lite is available to try so you can determine for yourself if you want to plunk down the cash. The lite features a Burst Mode that puts 45 seconds on the clock to play and achieve a high score. This isn't nearly enough time to get a good feel for the game. Fortunately, the developer has created a TouchArcade exclusive link to get 5 free credits of unlimited play in the lite. Each game lasts a long time, and 5 credits should be more than enough to help you decide if you're into it or not. Definitely worth trying out.
Gameprom is known for bringing out high quality pinball games at extremely low prices. Their Wild West, The Deep, and Jungle Style games have all seen a lot of success. Now, all three of them are available on your Mac. The Pinball can be downloaded from Gameprom's website for free with Wild West already included. For $2.99 each, you can download The Deep and Jungle Style as well.
The interesting thing is that the only way you can purchase these additional tables is as DLC through the Pinball Remote App itself. Besides acting as the online store for The Pinball, the remote can also control the game on your Mac via Wi-Fi. Sit back and relax as you control the flippers, plunger, and tilt on your computer screen using your iPhone or iPod touch. It works well for the most part, although I encountered occasional lag with my screen taps on the remote triggering the flippers in the game. Still, it's a really fun concept to use and since The Pinball and Pinball Remote are both free, you can try it out without risk. The Pinball is currently Mac only, but Windows users can join in on the fun in the next month or so.
We just got word that Gameprom's set of three pinball games for the iPhone are coming to the Mac in one application that is going to serve as the hub for all of their desktop-sized pinball ports. The Pinball will allow you to play full screen high resolution versions of Wild West Pinball, The Deep Pinball and Jungle Style Pinball and bring several new features to the table such as greatly improved graphics, as well as a stereoscopic 3D mode that will require red/blue 3D glasses to play.
Available along side the launch of The Pinball is the companion iPhone app Pinball Remote which will allow players to utilize their iPhone as a wireless controller while playing The Pinball. You will also be able to use Pinball Remote to browse scores online, as well as purchase other pinball tables to play. Gameprom mentions Wild West Pinball available for free for users who download Pinball Remote, but has yet to reveal pricing details on both The Pinball Mac game or additional tables for Pinball Remote.
Here is a video of Pinball Remote and The Pinball in action:
Gameprom is hoping to launch The Pinball and Pinball Remote on March 1st, and being a Mac user who obviously owns an iPhone, I'm anxious to try these games full screen on my iMac.
Among iPhone gamer pinball fans, it seems like debate of which of the pinball series is the best on the platform is as hotly contested as Star Wars nerds arguing over which is the best movie in the original trilogy. I'm partial to Gameprom's pinball games, as they all load very quickly, seem to have realistic pinball physics, come packed with online leaderboards, and have camera options to either follow the pinball or stay locked and display the entire table.
Wild West Pinball [Free] was released first, followed by The Deep Pinball [Free] and as of a few days ago, Jungle Style Pinball [99¢] is the latest in Gameprom's pinball lineup. Normally both 99¢, Wild West and The Deep both went free to promote the launch of Jungle Style. On top of that, the previous two games also were recently updated to "Christmas Editions" which just amount to each of the tables having their art slightly modified to be more festive.
Jungle Style Pinball takes the same gameplay and adds a new jungle themed pinball table. Much like The Deep was an improvement on the table found in Wild West, Jungle Style takes this even farther with even more things to hit and hidden areas to boost your score.
The developer released the following gameplay trailer:
I highly recommend downloading The Deep Pinball and Wild West Pinball while they're free. If you enjoy either of those games, you should like Jungle Style Pinball just as much if not even more.
Here are a few releases that have snuck by us over the past few weeks that are worth considering. Each game has its fans and both the gameplay video and forum threads are linked so you can dig deeper.
Chuck Norris: Bring on the Pain
Chuck Norris arrives on the iPhone with an over-the-top side scrolling shooter. The controls aren't great, and the game reminds us of an old school side shooter, but Chuck Norris fans seem to be enjoying it. It's only $0.99 and you can join the discussion thread for more impressions.
Demolition fans may enjoy IUGO's latest physics puzzler in which you place your quota of dynamic to see if you can level each building. There are 60 levels in all drawn in chalkboard style. The game is available for $1.99, comes with online leaderboards and new levels coming in the next update. Join the discussion.
Fans of Matmi's beautifully styled Monster Pinball will be happy to see their latest pinball creation: Snowy's Christmas Pinball. The game is set across 3 distinct interconnected tables with various mini-goals per table. The game is a little early for the Christmas season and is available for $1.99. Join the forum discussion here.
One game that we neglected on its initial release was Undead Attack Pinball -- an interesting combination of a defense game and pinball.
The goal of the game is to avoid damage and ultimate destruction of your gate at the bottom of the board from hoards of zombies. You can take out these zombies through the use of the pinball itself and collect money for upgrades.
While hardcore pinball fanatics may find these gameplay changes a bit gimmicky, I find the inclusion of these in-game goals (smashing Zombies, in this case) holds my interest much more than compared to traditional pinball games. The initial version of Undead Attack! generated criticisms for the quirky ball physics, but the game has since been updated to address this issue.
The developers also recently released a Lite version so you can give the game a try yourself. The latest update of the full version released today also adds a Halloween theme and provides some additional bug fixes.
The game has also seen a price drop from $2.99 to $0.99 in celebration of Halloween, so give it a shot.
The App Store seems to go in cycles with releases and upgrades coming in waves. Tonight a number of long awaited game updates have appeared, including Duke Nukem.
Here's a partial list:
Duke Nukem 3D ($2.99) - The long awaited control system update is now available. This fixes the issue with the analog controls. The controls are fully adjustable and many find them to be too sensitive on the default settings, so be sure to adjust these until you find a liking. The controls are still perhaps not ideal, but are much improved.
Samurai: Way of the Warrior ($2.99) - Stability and performance improvements and.... "minor game balancing" including that of level 3.
Archon ($2.99) - New 1 player campaign mode called "Conquest" which is said to add hours of individual play.
Wild West Pinball ($0.99 - New missions, music, tilt, and fixed camera option.
The Deep Pinball ($0.99) - OS 2.x compatibility, and fixed camera option
Gameprom's Wild West Pinball [App Store] and The Deep Pinball [App Store] both have significant updates that are currently sitting in Apple's App Store approval queue.
It seems like one of the most requested features that we've seen from our readers about these games is the ability to lock your camera. If this was an issue for you in either of these games, as soon as these updates drop you will be able to pinch the screen to zoom out and lock the camera to see the whole table. If you get tired of this viewpoint, the opposite pinching gesture makes the camera pan back in to how it's usually displayed.
The Deep update also adds the ability to toggle both the in-game music and voiceovers, and the changes to Wild West are far more significant: a slightly redesigned table, some improved animations, as well as music and missions have been added. The upcoming soundtrack to Wild Westcan be downloaded here.
In previous versions of these games, you were able to shake your phone as much as you wanted to bump the table. Gameprom has finally put a limit on how much you can do this by adding a tilt sensor. The effect this change will have on the global high score list should be dramatic, as previously the best way to cheese a high score was to shake your iPhone like crazy to keep bumping off the bumpers in Wild West's bank and The Deep's sunken ship.
Both updates have already been submitted and Gameprom is just waiting for Apple to throw the approval switch. In the meantime, if you haven't downloaded either of these games, they are two of the best 3D pinball games on the App Store even in their current pre-update state and easily worth $0.99.
Gameprom's The Deep Pinball [App Store] just appeared for download on the App Store. With a dynamic camera system similar to Wild West Pinball [App Store], The Deep is based on the same great pinball engine with an entirely new table.
Complete with a sunken ship to bounce around on, a treasure chest to open, and sharks to hunt, the pinball table in The Deep is a significant evolution from the comparatively barren table in Wild West Pinball. Both games have online global scoring, but The Deep is anything like Wild West, the top score boards will be flooded with super-human pinball scoring monsters before too long.
Here's a gameplay video I took of me completing a few objectives and exploring the various areas of the pinball table:
Wild West Pinball was my favorite pinball game for the iPhone until The Deep came along. As someone who often emptied entire pockets full of quarters in to pinball machines in my life, it's great to be able to get a game like this for what would amount to four plays of any real machine. If you have any interest in pinball, The Deep is a steal at $0.99.
If you haven't already, before reading this please go download Wild West Pinball [App Store] while it's still free. No seriously, go download it. Tell your friends. Wild West Pinball is one of the best 3D pinball games on the App Store, and while some people complained about not being able to see the whole table as the camera panned around to follow the ball, that was one of the things I really like about the game.
Gameprom's upcoming pinball game, The Deep brings the same level of performance and the same high quality pinball table graphics seen in Wild West Pinball, only this time bank robberies and shootouts are traded for sunken treasure and other underwater dangers.
Check out this gameplay video where I complete a few "missions" (in-game objectives that have you hitting a specific part of the table with your ball), cracking open the treasure chest, and plundering the sunken ship:
The Deep has already been submitted and Gameprom is optimistic it will appear on the App Store sometime in the next week.
One of my very favorite iPhone games is Cowboy Rodeo's iPhone port of the classic Amiga pinball game Pinball Dreams [App Store] from Digital Illusions. It's easily one of the best multi-table pinball games in the App Store. And, while I greatly enjoyed the original on my Amiga back in the early '90s, I found it's sequel -- Pinball Fantasies -- to be a superior game. And so it was with a smile on my face that I reported, back in February, that Pinball Fantasies was headed to the App Store.
And, based on an update from forum reader Mindfield, it seems Pinball Fantasies' release is just a few weeks away.
Mindfeld is a beta tester who's been working with Cowboy Rodeo of late and was able to give us a feel of what's to come in the iPhone port of this highly acclaimed title.
...the main menu is still familiar with its coverflow-style interface, but the high scores have been moved below so they can be seen as soon as you flip to a game. Flipping the game icon now rather amusingly shows you the back of a floppy disk. Most of the rest is still pretty familiar, though. In-game, all of the same features are present; all of the screen action areas are still there, and the pause menu still brings up the options to change graphics, lock orientation, and so on, but there’s a new option to add a “finger area” which blocks off a portion of the bottom of the screen dedicated to flipper use. This is purely a visual thing, in case you don’t want your thumbs obscuring part of the action. Landscape mode is still supported as well, which has its own natural areas for the thumbs due to the portrait nature of the tables, though it is at the expense of some visibility.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, the tables in Pinball Fantasies are vertically taller and generally more complex than those in Pinball Dreams, and the game features four different tables.
Party Land - a table oriented around an amusement park, where the letters of either PARTY or CRAZY must be lit to start a high-scoring event. This is the easiest table due to several high scoring targets such as the Arcade and the Loop Ramp. This is the table included in the shareware release
Speed Devils - focused on car racing, and the player must overtake cars to take the lead. This is more difficult due to much fewer high-scoring targets
Billion Dollar Gameshow - a gameshow-style table where the player attempts to win prizes by achieving certain combinations of ramps. This is the most difficult, as if the player loses the ball before winning the jackpot the prizes are lost
Stones 'N Bones - based on a haunted house, where the player must go through different modes of play (by hitting targets spelling out "Stone" and "Bone"), with the later modes scoring more points. This is generally considered the highest-scoring table. It is similar in theme to Nightmare in Pinball Dreams.
Mindfield indciates that the game runs rather close to a solid 60 fps on the 2G iPod touch and will be submitted to the App Store in the next day or two. So, in the next few weeks, Pinball Fantasies for the iPhone should be available for download.
Gameprom's Wild West Pinball game is now free [App Store]. It was originally priced at $2.99 and tries to offer a more authentic pinball experience than many of its competitors. The game was very well received and praised for its accurate physics model. The most recent update (1.1) added an improved graphics engine, new icon design and better support for global leaderboards.
It appears the game will be free from now on and support will stop after the 1.2 update. We suspect the price drop is an effort to promote their next title The Deep Pinball. A gameplay video of this new upcoming pinball game has been provided:
Gameprom has more than proven themselves on the App Store with three fantastic iPhone pinball games: Wild West Pinball, [99¢], The Deep Pinball [99¢], and Jungle Style Pinball [99¢]. Their latest game, The Pinball [$2.99], combines the three of these games in to a single high-resolution iPad game.
