Pure Pinball (Xbox)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.9 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 08/12/2004
• Released on: 08/05/2004
• Originally published on GameSpot: Pure Pinball (Xbox) Review

Video pinball games usually pick one of two paths. On one hand, you have games that try to take pinball in a direction that a real-life table couldn't handle, usually by adding elaborate video modes, moving characters on the playfield, and other unrealistic features. The other school is devoted to creating new, realistic pinball machines that can only be played on a video screen, but could probably be created in real life, as well. Pure Pinball follows the path of this second group, providing four different tables that could probably exist as actual pinball machines. However, the early-90s feel of the table designs gets a little stale after a few hours of play.

The four pinball machines in Pure Pinball are all pretty similar. They have large loops, some side flippers here and there, and the ability to work ramps and loops together for combo bonuses. You'll also find modes on the tables, but once you start a mode, the game doesn't really give you a clear picture of what, exactly, earning points in that mode entails. Better use of the dot matrix display--which shows your score and a few other informative details--would have helped here. Instead, you need to keep an eye on the flashing lights on the table itself to figure out where to aim. However, most of the game's usable camera angles are pulled back so far that you won't actually be able to read any of the table's indicators. Once you learn the ins and outs of every table, this isn't a problem, but it definitely adds a level of frustration to its learning curve.

Of the four tables, Runaway Train is probably the most complex, offering a sunken playfield and a captive ball, as well as modes, ramps, and all the other bells and whistles. Excessive Speed, World War, and Hyper Space all have different themes and different object placement, but they all feel functionally similar. The likeness of the four tables shortens the game's overall life span and gives it a pretty generic feel, but the tables do stick to their early-90s design aesthetic well. All the tables are fun, but none of them match the classic machines of the 80s and 90s, like High Speed, Pinbot, or Black Knight.

When it comes to successfully mimicking pinball, good physics modeling is the key. With regard to ball movement and how the ball reacts when it hits off the various surfaces on a table, Pure Pinball does a fantastic job. Even ball-on-ball collisions in multiball respond as they should. Your ability to nudge the ball around, however, isn't very good. You'll tilt the machine after only a few good bumps, and each bump isn't enough to really get the ball moving around. Don't expect to be able to perform a death save with the game's relatively weak nudges.

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