So, my Dream Pinball preorder showed up yesterday. Haven't seen any reviews of it, so here is an initial one. (More to follow, as I only spent about half an hour with it and only checked out 2 of the 6 tables.)
The Good:
The Bad:
Neutral:
COMMENTS
Overall, Dream Pinball feels not-so-comfortable to play. Perhaps I'm spoiled with recent playtime on the Williams Collection, which gives a pretty darn realistic pinball experience imo. The physics appear to be pretty consistent, at least.
My biggest gripe is with the camera, which ruins the experience. There are 7(!) camera options: 6 (not-so) 'smart' camera angles, and one fixed full-table angle.
The fixed camera is nice for lining shots, but overall not very useful. Why? Because the games all rely heavily on using flipper buttons for switching lit lanes located at various spots around the playfield to light them all up. You can barely see the lanes and the moving ball near the top of the playfield with the fixed camera. (This is on a 65" tv, btw.) There are also flippers located in the upper half of the playfields, and they are impossible to control accurately, again because you can barely see them and the ball in fixed camera mode.
The smart camera modes offer different angles and slightly different ball-tracking behavior. However, the #1 RULE for cameras in a pinball sim is that the camera sure as hell better get down to the flippers before the ball does! And it simply does not in Dream Pinball. Sure, you can guess a bit at the timing and ball direction to try to save a middle shot, but that is generally difficult and ruins the experience. Just as in real pins, you need to see the flippers as the ball approaches them to control or save the ball. Having a camera that lags behind is simply inexcusable. Unfortunately, the smart cameras are necessary to follow and control any action in the upper parts of the playfield (which generally have both additional flippers, ramp entrances, and switchable rollover lanes). The fixed camera doesn't cut it. So you're stuck with a camera that lags the ball and doesn't let you see what you need to far too often. In fact, I found that even with the ball in the lower part of the playfield, the camera would orient to just cut off the lower tips of the flippers. Bad.
The 2 tables I played (and the other ones, which I just looked over) seemed too 'similar' with similar rules (complete lit rollovers, shoot for combo shots, activate multiball). The differences are mostly in the graphics and audio, and the arrangement of the same basic pieces (flippers, ramps, bumpers) in various layouts. Again, maybe I'm spoiled by the Williams Collection (and prior experience on those real games), but these games don't seem to 'feel' any different from each other.
Overall, if you buy one pinball game for the Wii, I would strongly recommend the Williams Collection. And after playing that game, Dream Pinball will likely feel less polished and not as satisfying.
Note: I *really* wanted to like this game, as I am a fan of pinball machines and put a lot of emphasis on the pinball 'experience' that a sim offers. Dream Pinball just didn't deliver.
The Good:
- Six tables, multiple flippers
- Physics appear decent (behaves like a pin table, not glitchy)
- Decent flipper control for aiming
- 4 selectable difficulty levels (# of balls, timing of bonus modes)
- Good control options (wiimote/nunchuck w/triggers, or sideways wiimote)
The Bad:
- BAD CAMERA OPTIONS! (see below - this is major)
- Tables seem 'similar' and a tad generic
- Too much 'voice' as opposed to sound effects (imo)
- Automatic 'ball change' during play to balls made of wood/brass/etc. Not quite realistic and not apparently avoidable
Neutral:
- Some graphic 'flame' animations when hitting certain targets/rollovers (not a fan)
- 'Air' plunger is interesting (You hold the A button and pull the wiimote toward you to draw back the plunger, then release the A button to launch the ball)
- Graphics for table features are pretty good (ramps, bumpers, etc.)
- Playfields look OK, but design is a bit 'busy imo
COMMENTS
Overall, Dream Pinball feels not-so-comfortable to play. Perhaps I'm spoiled with recent playtime on the Williams Collection, which gives a pretty darn realistic pinball experience imo. The physics appear to be pretty consistent, at least.
My biggest gripe is with the camera, which ruins the experience. There are 7(!) camera options: 6 (not-so) 'smart' camera angles, and one fixed full-table angle.
The fixed camera is nice for lining shots, but overall not very useful. Why? Because the games all rely heavily on using flipper buttons for switching lit lanes located at various spots around the playfield to light them all up. You can barely see the lanes and the moving ball near the top of the playfield with the fixed camera. (This is on a 65" tv, btw.) There are also flippers located in the upper half of the playfields, and they are impossible to control accurately, again because you can barely see them and the ball in fixed camera mode.
The smart camera modes offer different angles and slightly different ball-tracking behavior. However, the #1 RULE for cameras in a pinball sim is that the camera sure as hell better get down to the flippers before the ball does! And it simply does not in Dream Pinball. Sure, you can guess a bit at the timing and ball direction to try to save a middle shot, but that is generally difficult and ruins the experience. Just as in real pins, you need to see the flippers as the ball approaches them to control or save the ball. Having a camera that lags behind is simply inexcusable. Unfortunately, the smart cameras are necessary to follow and control any action in the upper parts of the playfield (which generally have both additional flippers, ramp entrances, and switchable rollover lanes). The fixed camera doesn't cut it. So you're stuck with a camera that lags the ball and doesn't let you see what you need to far too often. In fact, I found that even with the ball in the lower part of the playfield, the camera would orient to just cut off the lower tips of the flippers. Bad.
The 2 tables I played (and the other ones, which I just looked over) seemed too 'similar' with similar rules (complete lit rollovers, shoot for combo shots, activate multiball). The differences are mostly in the graphics and audio, and the arrangement of the same basic pieces (flippers, ramps, bumpers) in various layouts. Again, maybe I'm spoiled by the Williams Collection (and prior experience on those real games), but these games don't seem to 'feel' any different from each other.
Overall, if you buy one pinball game for the Wii, I would strongly recommend the Williams Collection. And after playing that game, Dream Pinball will likely feel less polished and not as satisfying.
Note: I *really* wanted to like this game, as I am a fan of pinball machines and put a lot of emphasis on the pinball 'experience' that a sim offers. Dream Pinball just didn't deliver.
