Relive the glory days of pinball on your Xbox!

Over the decades pinball popularity has been on a sharp decline ever since the introduction of arcade games and the eventual release of home consoles. Not content on just letting classic pinball fade away, console developers have made many attempts at bringing pinball into peoples homes through a console. The latest attempt at this is Pure Pinball from XS Games. Does it faithfully capture the charm of arcade pinball machines? Read on to find out.

Features

4 original pinball tables

Ultra-realistic pinball ball physics

Single player play only

Gameplay
It’s pinball. It’s hard to image that someone might not know exactly what pinball is, but in case you are one of those people here you go. The object of the game is to keep a small silver ball in motion, bouncing it off various objects and flippers while raking up points and avoiding losing the ball. It’s all about playing with physics and fortunately Pure Pinball features the most dead on ball physics yet for a console-based pinball game. Players will be bouncing their ball in one of four available tables: Excessive Speed, World War, Runaway Train, and Hyper Space. Each table is decorated appropriately to match its theme and features a digital screen playing matching animations throughout the game. The four tables are great but also are one of the biggest problems with the game. Only four tables are ever available to players and that is it. For $20 players should be offered a few more tables or at least be able to download more through Xbox Live.

On the topic of shortcomings, besides the lack of tables the lack of a multiplayer mode also holds back Pure Pinball from great heights. One of the most enjoyable aspects of pinball was being able to take turns playing with your friends and unfortunately you will not be doing that here. The addition of a multiplayer mode or even an online multiplayer mode would have added greatly to the overall package.

Graphics
Graphically, Pure Pinball does a great job recreating the look of real pinball tables with almost photo-realistic graphics. Each table sports its own theme and the graphics are well done enough to make each one standout on its own with various props and other items matching the theme. Unfortunately despite the solid graphics and theme related items filling each table, the tables are generally lifeless. You will not find cool moving parts and items like you would find in any modern real pinball table. This is a real shame because the possibilities available to the developer are great since these are digital tables. The tables do feature a lot of flashing lights you would come to expect from a table and even reflections on the glass.

Sound
Pure Pinball sounds like a pinball game, and that is a good thing. You will here all the bleeps, clinks, and blips you would expect to hear from a real pinball machine all in crisp and clear audio. The music from the four tables is fitting for each table and like a real pinball table not based on a license the music is generally generic but never gets on your nerves. To complete the pinball arcade experience the sound of muffled background noise and talking can also be heard in the background.

Closing
Pure Pinball faithfully recreates the pinball experience on your Xbox and could be enjoyed by any pinball fan if they can get over the games shortcomings. Even at $20 the lack of a great number of tables and multiplayer makes it hard to recommend the game for anyone other then a diehard pinball fan. If you happen to be one of those people and can get over these shortcomings, then you will find an enjoyable pinball experience.