From: rjung@aludra.usc.edu (Robert A. Jung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video,alt.games.lynx
Subject: Re: Reformed lynxist (Pinball Jam)
Date: 16 Oct 92 01:24:24 GMT
Organization: Southern California Lynx Enthusiasts
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

In article <1992Oct15.181730.13102@ncsu.edu> jadorety@eos.ncsu.edu (JAMES ALLEN DORETY) writes:
>Pinball Jam rocks.  The best way to compare it would be to Pinbot for
>Nintendo, which I think is the standard.  Pinbot was the first realistic
>version of an actuall Pin that played like the pin.

  Have to disagree here. As a pinball fan who's racked lots of time on the
real PINBOT, the Nintendo version was a bit disappointing. Two big problems
were the inaccurate physics (any shot up the left ramp, no matter how weak,
automatically succeeds) and the "video mode" things (after the first multiball
session is over, you have the flying triangles to deflect your ball, and the
spaseship which bombs your flippers). If I could turn some of that stuff off,
I'd like it more, but right now PINBOT for the NES is only so-so.

>Pinball Jam feels like pinball.  Thats the highest compliment I can pay it
>since is the only video pinball I've ever played that deserved it.

  Agreed. I'd love to see some sequels to PINBALL JAM, even though Atari has
yet to sequelize any Lynx game. How about BLACK KNIGHT 2000, WHIRLWIND,
CYCLONE, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, or HIGH SPEED for starters?  B-)

>The reason I wrote all of this about a game Robert reviewed a while ago is
>that he somehow misses some things in his reviews.

  I'm sorry to hear that.

>I'm lucky to
>buy a game every 3-4 months, like many of you.  Robert can call games good
>that keep his attention only 2-3 weeks because he has others to play, and he
>can come back to the good ones (like Klax) that don't hold his attention
>long.

  I don't know whether or not I should be offended by this. I review games in
a vaccuum, for the most part. I try to identify shallow and superficial games
as shallow and superficial, and ignore the rest of my game library. But if
people want to give me feedback into my analysis processes, I'd love to hear
them. I'm only doing this for your sakes; my ego doesn't get stoked by writing
reviews and posting them.

>Thanks to Robert and all who write reviews, but keep
>the "little" people like me in mind.  We can't afford the good games, we want
>the great ones that you keep coming back to. In short I suggest a new
>catagory: Long term playability, for those of us who need a game to last a
>month or two before it wears thin.

  That's a tough call, IMO, because playability means different things for
different people. I think SLIME WORLD get repetitive fairly quickly, but I
know people who love the exploring aspects of it. My own hope is to write a
review that describes the game in sufficient detail for you to make up your
own mind. A review is a combination of my own opinion and a factual
description of the game; even if you disagree with my views, I hope you can
dig through the game description and draw your own conclusions.

                                                --R.J.
                                                B-)

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   Send whatevers to rjung@usc.edu    |      If it has pixels, I'm for it.
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"You weren't chosen because you are the best pilot in the Air Force. You were
    chosen because you are the class clown and frankly, you're expendable."