07 January, 2016

Oldies but baddies: the Crazy Pinball collection

A few years ago, when new pinballs from small, unknown, developers were still making their appearance in the App Store I had spotted the release of several tables under the general title Crazy Pinball. The tables of this small collection were: 
Jungle


Safari
Galaxy 
Backdraft
and Deep Blue

At that time I did not feel like investing is those games (and the blog did not exist yet). Somehow I was feeling that the games would be a let down. Recently I had the occasion to try the Crazy Pinballs and it turned out that my intuition was correct. The pinballs (still available in the App Store but not updated since their initial release in 2010) are a good example why those early attempts did fail. It is not enough to have a more or less OK simulation, physics-wise, as well as acceptable graphics. Pinball is above all else gameplay. If, as in the case of Crazy Pinballs (but also for most, now defunct, pinballs in the App Store), the game consists essentially in kicking the ball around, failure is guaranteed. 

In fact (financial) success is not guaranteed even for great pinballs with captivating gameplay, excellent physics and great graphics, like the unforgettable Littlewing tables. I only cross my fingers and pray that another great pinball line (I am looking at you ProPinball) manage to survive.

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