Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Adam Larck on 10.09.2009
How does the new Hall of Fame improve on last year’s game? Find out inside.
Title: Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Developer: Farsight Studios
Genre: Pinball
Players: 1-4
Rated: E10+ for Everyone 10 and up
Pinball Hall of Fame has been out already for some systems. The PlayStation 2, Wii and PSP already had a version of it. However, just recently the 360 and PlayStation 3 got their version, with updated graphics and a few other features. Does the game have enough new changes to warrant a purchase? Read on to find out.
Gameplay:
The game features 13 different tables to play. I was actually pretty surprised when I started the game because I knew quite a bit of them. Some of my favorites, such as Pinbot and Black Knight, are in the game, as well as other tables I had played before (Medieval Madness and No Good Gophers). The rest of the tables in the game are: Firepower, Funhouse, Gorgar, Space Shuttle, Taxi, Whirlwind, Jive Time, Sorcerer and Tales of the Arabian Nights.
The only disappointing thing here is that there are no movie or TV themed tables, but this mainly has to do with copyright licensing.
Each table gives a unique feel, releasing at different times in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. they go from just simple flippers and bumpers to adding a lot of the computer graphics in there for mini-games.
However, not all the tables are available at the start of the game. Jive Time actually has to be unlocked through one of the game’s three modes: the Williams Challenge. The Williams Challenge has you going through each table to try to beat a set score to advance to the next table. You get three retries per table to try to beat the score. If you don’t, the challenge ends and sends you back to the menu. There also aren’t any saves on this, so it has to be done in one sitting. I still haven’t been able to complete it, as I get pretty far in then end up just having a few bad games that end it for me.
Another of the modes, tournament, allow you to choose the number of players and tables that you want to compete on. It’s great to play against friends to give bragging rights, as the overall winner is determined by the ranking a person gets on each table.
One key item is missing from the tournament mode: online multiplayer. Online would have made the tournament mode, and the game overall, great to compete against friends around the world. The leaderboards that are in the game are nice, but they just can’t replace actually playing against someone in another area of the world.
The final mode is the one you’ll spend most of your time in: the Arcade. The arcade has three sections for you to wander around in: the main area, the upstairs area and the back area. Each area contains various tables for you to move between to select what you want to play.
Each table is not free to play at the beginning, though. Many are, but some cost credits to play at the beginning. You start with 20 credits, but can win more with the match game at the end of the game or by beating goals.
Each table starts off with five goals to beat that give you credits for beating each one. The goals are normally simple towards the beginning, just a bit hard to get due to the randomness that pinball games can sometimes have. After beating the basic goals, you can unlock a Wizard set of goals that are harder to achieve and give more credits.
One thing to note is that even if you have beaten a Wizard goal on the basic level, it will not unlock until you are on the Wizard goals. Also, goals can be unlocked in any of the modes.
By either beating all the basic goals on a table or by getting 100 credits, you can unlock one table for free play. It’s always a good idea to do this as soon as possible so you do not have to worry about dealing with the credits.
By beating all the basic goals, you can unlock a table slide show showing all of the tables off. Beating all the Wizard challenges unlocks the ability to change the ball’s look, turn off the Tilt function and mirroring the table from its original look.
As far as playing the tables go, controls are very simple. Pulling back the right stick controls the launcher, the triggers control the flippers and the left stick controls the tilt. The controls are very responsive and easy to understand.
While playing the game, if the ball manages to get stuck, there is also a call attendant button to reset the ball position. It helps if the game glitches, but unfortunately resets bonuses.
As you try newer tables, you’ll also see that it’s easier to get a much higher score. It’s something I found interesting that it was just easier to get a higher score when compared to the early tables.
Overall, the tables play great and have a unique feel with various strengths and weaknesses. It really reminded me of why I liked to play the tables at the arcade. Crave did a great job perfecting the tables for the game.
Graphics :
One of the big changes this game has over the Wii version is the inclusion of HD graphics for the tables. The new graphics really make the tables look great. They still remind of you their arcade counterparts, but the HD gives it an extra shine that looks great.
Aside from the look, there are various camera angles that can be used while playing. The angles give you quite a few different views of both the launcher and table when in play. It’s a nice touch to let players either follow the ball in the upper part of the table or to just see the table at an overview.
Outside of the pinball playing, the arcade looks decent, but you can easily tell that more time was put into the tables then the arcade. It’s basically there to show off the tables before actually playing them. Also, you start out outside the arcade. You see much of the same there (decent graphics, primarily used as placeholder) as you did in the arcade.
Overall, the tables look great and really recapture the look of the tables in the arcade. The HD really gives it a bit more shine for the 360.
Sound:
The sound on the tables is great. All of the original bleep and other sounds from the tables are back for each table. I actually hadn’t played some of these tables before, so hearing some of the sounds were pretty interesting. The one that really caught my attention was the Gorgon table. I had never realized that many of the sounds from that game could actually be heard in other arcade games. It was pretty interesting.
Outside of the tables, the menus and arcade you wander around in has 12 music tracks to listen to. They aren’t bad tracks, but there’s nothing amazing here that will catch your attention. Unfortunately, “Pinball Wizard” is not one of these tracks.
One of the interesting sound effects were actually not on any of the tables at all, it was outside of the arcade. I know they wanted to base the game like you were actually in an arcade, but is there any reason to make the base menu outside of the arcade. Not only that, but they even added sound in from people walking by on the sidewalk and cars passing. It’s an interesting extra bit, but not really needed for the game. Lasting Appeal:
The lasting appeal depends on how much you like pinball. This isn’t a game I can see myself playing hours on end, because, obviously, there is no story to see and nothing really major to unlock besides challenges for each table.
However, this is a game that I would play for short periods of time between meetings or other events going on. Every game will always be different, and it’s always a good challenge to try and get a score that tops your previous one.
Also, there are some tables to try and unlock for free play, and one table that you even unlock through the Williams Challenge. However, most of the lasting appeal will just come from trying to get high scores on the tables.
One of the big problems I listed above is the lack of online multiplayer. The inclusion of four-player local multiplayer is great, but this game is on the 360 now. Online multiplayer would have done great things for this game. The inclusion of the leaderboards is nice, but actually competing against someone in real time would have been great.
Fun Factor:
This is a great game that offers either short spurts of playing time or longer marathons of gaming, depending on what you feel like at the time. Going back through the history of Williams and seeing some of their better tables is great. The game offers a lot of fun for groups of friends to see who the best player is, and even playing a table by yourself is nice just to unwind and relax.
The 411:
Overall, Pinball Hall of Fame is a good game for pinball fans. It brings back some of the better tables that Williams has made throughout the years for fans to enjoy at home. Plus, the added HD graphics and additional tables give owners of the previous version a new reason to pick it up as well. Pinball fans should definitely check this out, and even non-fans should give this a look.
Graphics
8.0
While the arcade may look a bit bland, the tables look great. The HD graphics really improve on what the Wii’s looked like.
Gameplay
9.5
For what the game is made to be, it does a great job. The controls are responsive, and all the tables have a unique feel. It’s great to go back through and see some of Williams’ top tables.
Sound
7.5
All the sounds from the tables have been brought into the game, and they sound good. You have a few generic tracks while wandering around the arcade, which is also nice to listen to while picking a table out.
Lasting Appeal
7.5
Once you beat all the challenges, there’s still tournaments to set up and the Williams Challenge to complete for high scores. However, why no online multiplayer? This game would be great for it.
Fun Factor
8.5
Pinball fans will have a great time with this game seeing some of the older and newer tables that Williams has made. This is a great game for friends and families to play to see who can get high scores.
