PSP Reviews – PSP Console, Games & Accessories

Pinball Hall of Fame The Gottlieb Collection

Pinball Hall of Fame – The Gottlieb Collection lets you Relive the days when the pinball table was king. It resurrects seven of Gottlieb’s greatest pinball machines spanning the 60 years of arcade pinball’s golden age. The game play, visuals and sound effects are so authentic, you’ll feel like you’re in a real arcade.

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars A Mediocre Sim Filled With Careless Gliches
I was never much of a Gottlieb fan when trolling the arcade with a fat pocketful of quarters. I found their machines to be an exercise in frustration, with their lazy board angles, weak kickbacks, and exceptionally wide spaces between flippers. When the machines were in anything but tip-top condition (which very few actually were), frustration could easily lead to a smoldering anger as the balls seemed to naturally be drawn to the gutters while you had nothing to respond with except anemic flippers and a bruised hip to send the offending machine smashing against the back wall. “The Gottlieb Collection” by Crave Entertainment not only has helped me relive these unfortunate experiences of a misspent youth, they have compounded these frustrations by providing a product so full of glitches that I have relegated it to the back of my video game collection. It’s all there in unfortunate detail; the anemic flippers, sleepy kickbacks, and quarter-cheating gutters that had me steering clear of these devious machines in the arcade. As if this wasn’t enough, Crave has magnanimously added virtual balls that magically pass through flippers, bumpers, and targets along with becoming eternally ensconced in holes that will not release even after a tilt, forcing you to reset the game. These are only a few examples of why beta testing is so important before releasing a product for retail. I gazed at my Playstation 2 in wonderment as the multiball feature in “Tee’d Off” was reduced to a sputtering, frame-skipping, inaccurate mess. It had served me so well during all of the GTA mayhem….was the processor finally on its last legs? Did anyone at Crave Entertainment double check the game coding before sending the DVD out? It is a shame, because the emulations really do show a potential for fun. I only ask that I be given a semblance of body english without an over eager tilt (the way these machines truly are played in the arcade), and for the flippers and bumpers to become solid once again.

I would pass on this collection, but by all means, purchase “The Williams Collection”, also by Crave Entertainment. They seemed to have learned from their mistakes and released an exceptional product, one which has me lofting high the “Crave Entertainment” banner and reliving the golden age of pinball once again.

3 Stars Not bad, but not as realistic as you might think
If you aren’t a real-world pinball aficionado, you might not be as aware of the slightly unrealistic physics during gameplay. I’ve played tens of thousands of games of pinball and never have I seen a solid steel ball bounce around like it commonly does in this game. Plus, many of the so-called “pinball games” are actually not pinball, but other types of amusement games. However, this is still a pretty nice package. The newer release, “Williams Pinball Classics” dramatically improves on the gameplay physics, but suffers from bugs that will crash the game while you’re in the middle of it.

This game suffers from a number of serious problems. First and foremost, there are bugs in the code which will cause pinballs to disappear or get stuck and you will lose your game. I didn’t like this in the real world and I can’t imagine the designers intended the software to emulate this behavior – it’s annoying, especially if you’re in the middle of the challenge – kiss an hour’s worth of time goodbye.

Second, and perhaps most importantly, as a pinball aficionado, I wax nostalgic for all the old games and many of these I’ve played in real life. And it brings back a lot of memories… bad memories of how profoundly bad many of Gottlieb’s machines were. Some games are simply unenjoyable to play. There is very little skill involved when in at least 1/4 of the games, a significant percentage of the time the ball will drain before you can even get a flipper on it. I don’t blame the programmers. I blame Gottlieb for designing machines that eat money and are only worthy of being in a bar played by drunk people who don’t care. But on the PSP, this becomes an exercise in frustration. The Williams version is dramatically better and shows how superior Williams pinball games are. The developers could have done much better with virtually any pinball company other than Gottlieb. I look forward to Stern and Bally versions — anything is better than the eternally frustrating tables in this game.

Third, the game physics seem to alter depending upon the view. This is not a figment of my imagination. There are some targets I can more or less easily hit depending upon the cam view. This does not happen in the later Williams version. The developers definitely had some problems in this game they fixed in their newer Williams release. Some of the machines, like Tee’d Off are an exercise in frustration to play, as some essential targets to hit in order to complete the table goals seem almost impossible to complete, due to some bizarre program logic that makes the ball go in one extreme direction or another. You cannot execute any reliable ball-flipping accuracy in this game like you can in the Williams version.

If I could take this game back, I would. It has been more frustrating than entertaining and fun. It reminds me of my worst pinball experiences, playing unforgiving tables that required more dumb luck than skill, and malfunctioning machines that ate my quarters. That’s not the type of nostalgia I was hoping for.

5 Stars Best Version of a Good Collection
This is essentially the same game as on the PS2, except it has an extra 3 tables. The best part, though, is that it has a great viewing angle – tilt the PSP vertical, and it fills the screen. It didn’t include very many modern tables (1992’s Teed Off was the most recent), and Victory is about as generic as you can get, but at least they were based on real tables. I might have knocked off a star for the table selection, but, considering how great the rest of the presentation is, and considering there really aren’t any other games out there like this, then this is a must have for pinball fans.

4 Stars just pick it up
listen, if you like pinball, have a psp, and roughly $20 you can’t go wrong with this game.

5 Stars Awesome recreation of classic pinball tables
You can’t beat the value of this game at $20 or less. Take a stroll through an arcade and play some note-for-note replicas of pinball tables ranging from 1932 up to 1996. Excellent all-around. the scrolling gameplay is a sneeze less than perfect, but that’s to be expected on the smaller screen of the PSP, versus playing it on a computer screen or TV. highlights include Black Hole, Tee’d Off, Aces High and Goin’ Nuts (an unreleased game that is a lot of fun). can’t wait until their next release comes out on February 20th, 2008. it will feature Williams’ tables (including Whirlwind, Black Knight, Funhouse, Gorgar, etc).

Buy/More Info

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Pinball Hall of Fame The Williams Collection

Pinball Hall of Fame includes 10 classic Williams’ pinball tables from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s! Features unlockable bonus extra game features that the player can earn throughout the game, editable table controls such as Tilt, custom pinballs, more balls per play, table art gallery, 4-player multiplayer mode and much more!

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great big fun on a little screen
What a great game! Crave has done a masterful job of assembling these vintage tables in one game. The game play is fun and furious, the sound effects dead-on and this game has great replayability. Being able to rotate the game view 90 deg. to take advantage of the PSP’s 16:9 aspect ratio is genius – tables display perfectly (I use table view #3) without the annoying “follow the ball” camera actions of other pinball sims. The only drawback to this is that the plunger / nudge functions are controlled from the analog stick, requiring the user to make a somewhat awkward reach…

Did you know that you can beam tables to other PSP owners in ad-hoc mode?

5 Stars Much cheaper than owning the real thing!
I love pinball! My brother and I have 2, a Funhouse and a Whirlwind. They’re in his basement and once in a while I get the chance to go over there and play them. With the PSP version I can play them anytime! I would love to get a PinBot, High Speed, Fish Tales, Addams Family, Twilight Zone, ST: TNG, etc… but there’s no way I can afford all of them. At the very least I can play Pinbot and other classics on my PSP. Did I mention that I love pinball?

Mark

4 Stars Pinball Games
If you grew up when pinball machines were everywhere then this game is for you …it will bring back memories…I love this game…I am a big fan of pinball games and can’t wait for more old time pinball machines to be turned into games…

5 Stars An Excellent Pinball Sim
I had almost given up on Crave Entertainment after sampling their Gottlieb Pinball Collection offering. There is a special place reserved in the Netherworld for companies that rush their product to market without properly debugging their games. The Gottlieb Collection was chock full of annoying glitches that were so disadvantageous to the player that I alomst swore off pinball sims altogether. Fortunately, Their Williams Collection shows that Crave really can put out an excellent product. I have always preferred Williams games in the arcade, with so many outstanding video and pinball games that have since achieved legendary status.

As you have read in other reviews, features such as “The Williams Challenge” and some of the unlocking bonuses that are earned for gameplay really help to keep the player engaged. I had originally purchased this collection for the “Black Knight” emulation, but have discovered the joy of such games as “Funhouse” and “Taxi” which really were superior in physical form. The simulations are so close to accurate in so many ways that it is hard to find much to complain about, except for the tendancy for the balls to bound about in identical patterns. This does not hamper gameplay, as it doesn’t happen in most situations and when it does, it can often serve as an advantage to the player. The original music that plays between table choices is well done and very evocative of the late 80s and early 90, having a very live sounding feel and displaying excellent music compositional ability. Crave Entertainment has won me back and I look forward to their next offerings. In the meantime, you should give this pinball sim a whirl…you won’t be disappointed.

5 Stars Great fun, great challenge, For the Pinball wizard in us all.
Okay, let me start off by saying that I love this game. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not looking at it through rose colored lenses, I thought long and hard about how to describe this game.

To start off, I must say that I bought this thinking it would be kinda fun, but I swiftly became addicted, and I now carry it in my psp as the staple of my gaming fix. In this game, you basically recieve a pinball arcade. You start with a generous amount of credits from the very beginning so you can play the machines that take credits without delay.

Now, I use an old Playstation portable, the fat black, and I can say the loadtimes for this game are not even close to the longest on this system.

Very easy to endure.

I love the physics for this game, and give them a thumbs up. the ball moves with weight, and is quite realistic in it’s behavior. I must also note that out of all Pinball video games I have played, the nudge function, applied by a twitch of the analog nub, is very convincing and very intuitive. Although, nudge the wrong way, and you could possibly send your ball straight down the chute, and do it to often and you will “TILT” the table which quite simply, shuts off your paddles, and forces you to lose your ball. Why? Because you were cheating, so do one, maybe to nudges at a time and you’ll be fine.

As far as graphics go, I definately applaud the detail put into these tables. It truly feels genuine, and accurate to these classics. The sounds also are quite enjoyable. From the classic ping sounds of the bumpers in “Jive Time” to the voices used in both “Taxi” and “Gorgar” tables, each table feels very different in terms of sound, and you’ll find your favorite table in no time. I myself find the “Sorceror” table to be my favorite. It is challenging as well as satisfying. And the Multiball is very fun and frantic.

Now I must talk about the faults of this game. Glitches can happen, but I myself have only experienced one such glitch, where on the “Gorgar” table my ball passed right through the flipper. This is the only glitch I have experienced, and I have only experienced it once, and have not had any other occurance to it or any other glitch. One fault that I can overlook, but feel is necessary to say… is that some of these tables were designed to be “Quarter bandits” These tables have certain features that make ball loss all to easy to the inexperienced. “Gorgar” for example has paddles that are just a bit further apart than the width of the ball, which means a fall from the very center most likely will mean certain death. Or “Pin*Bot” which has side alleys that make it all to easy to lose the ball that way (My most frequent way to lose at that table)

But, if the player realises this, and simply keeps trying, they will learn little tricks to help over come such pitfalls (pardon the pun)

But by far, the oldest table “Jive Time” circa 1970’s is the most notorious table for such quarter munching. It has paddles far apart, and alleys with easy access, ball loss WILL happen on this one I am afraid, but thankfully, they implemented a rare mode for this table. Per credit, you get five balls instead of the normal three, which makes all the difference.

Now, I haven’t completed every objective just yet, but I do know that once you acquire 100 credits, you can unlock freeplay on a machine that takes credits. But you can also beat a set of objective from a table to do the same. Also, once you beat the standard objectives, a more difficult “Wizard” list of objectives appears. I have yet to beat these, but I am having a lot of fun trying.

Speaking of objectives… each table has a goal. Sort of like how to win, per se. Or for mose tables, how to score insane points. They give a tutorial for each table, which explains the in’s and out’s of high scoring tactics for each table. They are thorough and very easy to understand if you know basic pinball table terminology, such as drop targets, and such.

Multiplayer in the game is good, but no infrastructure sadly. But they allow you to gameshare a great deal of the tables, meaning, with one copy, you can share tables with people and try to outdo each other’s scores.

For those seeking a worthy challenge, or seeking to remember an era that sadly seems to be fading fast, then I highly reccomend this wonderful game. You’ll find me on the “Sorceror” table. I hope that those who truly give this game a play, will be thrilled, and addicted, but most importantly, as happy as I was to be playing it.

Buy/More Info

Pinball Hall of Fame The Williams Collection

Pinball Hall of Fame includes 10 classic Williams’ pinball tables from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s! Features unlockable bonus extra game features that the player can earn throughout the game, editable table controls such as Tilt, custom pinballs, more balls per play, table art gallery, 4-player multiplayer mode and much more!

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Pinball Games
If you grew up when pinball machines were everywhere then this game is for you …it will bring back memories…I love this game…I am a big fan of pinball games and can’t wait for more old time pinball machines to be turned into games…

5 Stars Great big fun on a little screen
What a great game! Crave has done a masterful job of assembling these vintage tables in one game. The game play is fun and furious, the sound effects dead-on and this game has great replayability. Being able to rotate the game view 90 deg. to take advantage of the PSP’s 16:9 aspect ratio is genius – tables display perfectly (I use table view #3) without the annoying “follow the ball” camera actions of other pinball sims. The only drawback to this is that the plunger / nudge functions are controlled from the analog stick, requiring the user to make a somewhat awkward reach…

Did you know that you can beam tables to other PSP owners in ad-hoc mode?

5 Stars Much cheaper than owning the real thing!
I love pinball! My brother and I have 2, a Funhouse and a Whirlwind. They’re in his basement and once in a while I get the chance to go over there and play them. With the PSP version I can play them anytime! I would love to get a PinBot, High Speed, Fish Tales, Addams Family, Twilight Zone, ST: TNG, etc… but there’s no way I can afford all of them. At the very least I can play Pinbot and other classics on my PSP. Did I mention that I love pinball?

Mark

5 Stars An Excellent Pinball Sim
I had almost given up on Crave Entertainment after sampling their Gottlieb Pinball Collection offering. There is a special place reserved in the Netherworld for companies that rush their product to market without properly debugging their games. The Gottlieb Collection was chock full of annoying glitches that were so disadvantageous to the player that I alomst swore off pinball sims altogether. Fortunately, Their Williams Collection shows that Crave really can put out an excellent product. I have always preferred Williams games in the arcade, with so many outstanding video and pinball games that have since achieved legendary status.

As you have read in other reviews, features such as “The Williams Challenge” and some of the unlocking bonuses that are earned for gameplay really help to keep the player engaged. I had originally purchased this collection for the “Black Knight” emulation, but have discovered the joy of such games as “Funhouse” and “Taxi” which really were superior in physical form. The simulations are so close to accurate in so many ways that it is hard to find much to complain about, except for the tendancy for the balls to bound about in identical patterns. This does not hamper gameplay, as it doesn’t happen in most situations and when it does, it can often serve as an advantage to the player. The original music that plays between table choices is well done and very evocative of the late 80s and early 90, having a very live sounding feel and displaying excellent music compositional ability. Crave Entertainment has won me back and I look forward to their next offerings. In the meantime, you should give this pinball sim a whirl…you won’t be disappointed.

5 Stars Great fun, great challenge, For the Pinball wizard in us all.
Okay, let me start off by saying that I love this game. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not looking at it through rose colored lenses, I thought long and hard about how to describe this game.

To start off, I must say that I bought this thinking it would be kinda fun, but I swiftly became addicted, and I now carry it in my psp as the staple of my gaming fix. In this game, you basically recieve a pinball arcade. You start with a generous amount of credits from the very beginning so you can play the machines that take credits without delay.

Now, I use an old Playstation portable, the fat black, and I can say the loadtimes for this game are not even close to the longest on this system.

Very easy to endure.

I love the physics for this game, and give them a thumbs up. the ball moves with weight, and is quite realistic in it’s behavior. I must also note that out of all Pinball video games I have played, the nudge function, applied by a twitch of the analog nub, is very convincing and very intuitive. Although, nudge the wrong way, and you could possibly send your ball straight down the chute, and do it to often and you will “TILT” the table which quite simply, shuts off your paddles, and forces you to lose your ball. Why? Because you were cheating, so do one, maybe to nudges at a time and you’ll be fine.

As far as graphics go, I definately applaud the detail put into these tables. It truly feels genuine, and accurate to these classics. The sounds also are quite enjoyable. From the classic ping sounds of the bumpers in “Jive Time” to the voices used in both “Taxi” and “Gorgar” tables, each table feels very different in terms of sound, and you’ll find your favorite table in no time. I myself find the “Sorceror” table to be my favorite. It is challenging as well as satisfying. And the Multiball is very fun and frantic.

Now I must talk about the faults of this game. Glitches can happen, but I myself have only experienced one such glitch, where on the “Gorgar” table my ball passed right through the flipper. This is the only glitch I have experienced, and I have only experienced it once, and have not had any other occurance to it or any other glitch. One fault that I can overlook, but feel is necessary to say… is that some of these tables were designed to be “Quarter bandits” These tables have certain features that make ball loss all to easy to the inexperienced. “Gorgar” for example has paddles that are just a bit further apart than the width of the ball, which means a fall from the very center most likely will mean certain death. Or “Pin*Bot” which has side alleys that make it all to easy to lose the ball that way (My most frequent way to lose at that table)

But, if the player realises this, and simply keeps trying, they will learn little tricks to help over come such pitfalls (pardon the pun)

But by far, the oldest table “Jive Time” circa 1970’s is the most notorious table for such quarter munching. It has paddles far apart, and alleys with easy access, ball loss WILL happen on this one I am afraid, but thankfully, they implemented a rare mode for this table. Per credit, you get five balls instead of the normal three, which makes all the difference.

Now, I haven’t completed every objective just yet, but I do know that once you acquire 100 credits, you can unlock freeplay on a machine that takes credits. But you can also beat a set of objective from a table to do the same. Also, once you beat the standard objectives, a more difficult “Wizard” list of objectives appears. I have yet to beat these, but I am having a lot of fun trying.

Speaking of objectives… each table has a goal. Sort of like how to win, per se. Or for mose tables, how to score insane points. They give a tutorial for each table, which explains the in’s and out’s of high scoring tactics for each table. They are thorough and very easy to understand if you know basic pinball table terminology, such as drop targets, and such.

Multiplayer in the game is good, but no infrastructure sadly. But they allow you to gameshare a great deal of the tables, meaning, with one copy, you can share tables with people and try to outdo each other’s scores.

For those seeking a worthy challenge, or seeking to remember an era that sadly seems to be fading fast, then I highly reccomend this wonderful game. You’ll find me on the “Sorceror” table. I hope that those who truly give this game a play, will be thrilled, and addicted, but most importantly, as happy as I was to be playing it.

Buy/More Info