Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Developer: Farsight Studios
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Release Date: Sept. 22, 2009
System: Xbox 360 (reviewed), Wii, PS3, PSP
ESRB Rating: E10+
Official Web site

In a nutshell: The most pinball fun you can have without buying a table.

0:00 After my piece on the Pinball World Championships, I've joined a local league to rekindle my love for the game. A lot of people there have been talking excitedly about this one, so I was happy to get a review copy.

0:01 A cheesy, early-'90s-era 3-D model of a pinball parlor. The camera zooms through the big glass doors and pans languorously around the sparsely attended grounds. Some lovingly detailed close-up shots of the tables are paired with incredibly awful electric-guitar twanging. Hey, there's Dark Knight! I just played Dark Knight 2000 in the league! And there's Pinbot! I had the NES version of that one. Beautiful HD art.

0:02 After the intro movie, we're back to the outside of the parlor, complete with flashing neon sign. Ambient horns from the street fade away as I enter.

0:03 Four of the music tracks in the options menu are set to "off" by default. Kind of odd ... is that music so bad they don't really want it in the game?

0:05 Navigating the arcade with the analog stick. Each time I got to a machine, an overwrought announcer announces the name in a booming voice: "Medieval Madness! Gorgar!" etc. I pass by some faux classic arcade cabinets like "Comet" and "Egg Invader." and fake pinball machines like "Inferno" and "Space Colony" (at least, I think they're fake). For what amounts to a simple menu, there's a lot of attention to detail -- fake wood paneling, purple carpet, a neo restrooms sign ... I'm mildly impressed.

***-->CONTINUE READING AT CRISPY GAMER<--***

____________________________________________________

King of Clubs

Developer: Oxygen Studios
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Release Date: Aug. 4, 2008
Systems: Wii (reviewed), PS2, PC, DS, PSP
ESRB Rating: E

In a nutshell: Mini-golf, maxi-annoyance.
0:00 I hadn't heard of this game until it appeared in my mailbox just before I moved. I'm a big fan of real-life mini-golf, though, so it shouldn't be a tough sell.

0:01 "Oh, bless my soul," says an Elvis impersonator on the preview screen. Wha? Then straight into the intro, with the desert countryside rolling by. "Under the blistering heat of the Nevada sun, five men (there are six of us!)... six men struggle against the odds." They have to fight traps and the elements and "they're gonna have to do it all in stupid costumes." Silly scenes of the characters doing a sort of screen test and antagonizing each other. "I don't want to see no spittin', no quittin', and no out-of-bounds hittin'," says the Elvis impersonator who seems to lead this ragtag group. "Perhaps I should play the caveman," says the very English guy in the knight getup. Wow, this is gonna be cheese-tastic, I can already tell.

0:03 A quick, one-screen explanation of the controls: I have to stand up, press A, pull back, press A again, and swing.

0:04 Some desert scrub scrolls by in the background as some endearing twangy rockabilly plays. I pick career mode, where I have to "clear as many pars as possible to advance." Jurassic Classic is the first course. The course par is 36.

0:05 A simple little interface lets me purchase pedestrian things like balls and clubs, but also weird things like mulligans (buy in bulk and they're cheaper), colored balls and trails (I pick red!) soundtracks and even action figures of the characters. Cute.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer

Brunswick Pro Bowling

Developer: Point of View
Publisher: Crave
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2007
Systems: Wii (reviewed), PS2, PSP
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web Site

In a nutshell: Brunswick Pro Bowling

0:01 0:00 Bowling was by far my favorite part of Wii Sports, so I'm looking forward to see what a game with a "Pro" license can do with the concept.

0:01 Right off, I'm doubled over by the Disc Channel's hilarious, bass-heavy R&B groove. This is possibly the least appropriate bowling music I've ever heard.

0:02 In the options menu, the music starts at 70 percent and the sound effects at 60 percent. Is this a concession to the cranky old people that are the game's target audience?

0:03 On to Career mode. The create-a-bowler has a perpetual frown and slumped shoulders. He looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. Bad sign.

0:05 Still playing around with the somewhat meager character creation options. "Facial-hair type 2" is a perfect Hitler mustache. I love it! There are a grand total of two body types: Athletic and Husky.

0:06 HuskyHilter is too long for the name field, so HskyHtlr will have to do. But we know what his real name is.

Read the full review over at Crispy Gamer