Although the game’s physics are not totally convincing when compared to an actual table, they come impressively close, save for a bit of extra momentum the ball travels with at times. Ball movement in particular looks much more natural than in Pinball Dreaming, and apparently its speed is actually just as it was in the original game, something that Cowboy Rodeo says was not the case with Pinball Dreaming. Optically, there are what purists might call some radical changes here, and while table design and the physics engine are identical to the Amiga version, the game plays smoother than ever. Oddly enough, it’s the gameplay that benefits from the game’s beautification. It was the gameplay, after all, that made the original so great. Personally, I thought it was great, and I was more than a bit skeptical when I heard that Cowboy Rodeo planned to release a new, cosmetically altered version of it.
It held up well despite the years, but most of its greatest admirers did seem to be those who recognized it from its Amiga days and a certain appreciation of things firmly “retro” was required to become fully ensconced in it. Originally developed for the Amiga and released in 1992, Pinball Dreams was first released on the iPhone in early 2009 as Pinball Dreaming: Pinball Dreams and featured some slightly retooled graphics courtesy of Cowboy Rodeo. Pinball Dreams HD (out now, $4.99) is definitely a step in the right direction, however. After all, the devices in upright position are roughly the shape of a pinball table, and you’d expect mobile gaming and arcade appeal to play well together-who wouldn’t love to steal a few moments waiting for a bus or during study hall playing their favorite table?-and while there have been about a dozen decent attempts at developing or porting pinball to our favorite platform, (as well as innumerable poor attempts), the genre feels like it has yet to hit stride. You’d think that iOS gaming would be the perfect medium for digital pinball. In an age where real, physical pinball has become something of a relic of a bygone era, we have seen something of a digital pinball revolution occurring in living rooms across the world any serious gamer can still appreciate the skill of the person holding that high score they’d love to crack. It’s also something that takes a lot of dedication to master, with gameplay that combines a necessity for spatial awareness, tactical skill, and catlike reflexes with the need for devoted practice. I guess there’s just something undeniably fun for me about the purely tactile, physical feel of the game. For some reason, when I was a kid I was attracted to those strange tables even more than I was the arcade cabinets any time I’d venture into an arcade. I’m no Tommy, but I have always loved pinball.
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