Eight Williams tables from pinball’s golden age, rebuilt in 3D for Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS. That is the pitch for Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, and FarSight Studios mostly delivers on it.
Trailer, via domino866 gameplay.
Gorgar, Black Knight and Space Shuttle
The collection recreates eight Williams machines. FarSight worked with Williams to get them right, and the marquee names carry the package: Gorgar, the first talking pinball machine; Black Knight, which introduced Magna-Save and Bonus Ball; and Space Shuttle, which took the industry by storm in 1984.
Each table is rebuilt in photorealistic 3D with the original visuals, sound effects and gameplay. That fidelity is the whole point. A pinball collection lives or dies on whether the ball feels like it obeys the table, and FarSight built this one around the machines rather than around a gimmick layered on top of them.
The structure is straightforward. Four tables are open from the start. The other four unlock as you progress. A quick challenge can take as little as two minutes, and a token-based reward system gives a longer session something to chase. Arcade and Challenge modes cover solo play, and a split-screen multiplayer mode puts two players head-to-head.
20 Credits, 100 for Free Play
The game’s documented rules lay out the economy in more detail than the publisher’s summary does. All machines are visible at the start, but four are locked and require credits to play. Players begin with 20 and earn more by hitting specials and completing goals on each machine.
For 100 credits, any locked machine can be bought into free-play mode. Completing five goals on a machine also unlocks a locked one. Other unlockables include additional pinball skins, a left-to-right inverted Mirror Mode, and the removal of tilt detection.
Mirror Mode is the interesting one. Flipper control stays intuitive — the left trigger still drives the left on-screen flipper — while side-specific features like Lane Change move to the opposite side. On Wii, the Remote and Nunchuk triggers fire the flippers, and the motion sensors let you bump the machine. The resulting motion is proportional in magnitude and identical in direction to the controller’s motion, which means a skilled player can perform advanced ball saves without tripping the tilt mechanism. That is the same trick a physical machine rewards. Detailed instructions are included for every table.
What the Collection Gets Right
The Williams Collection followed Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection. The earlier set proved FarSight could model a table; this one, in this paper’s view, shows the studio could pick them. Gorgar, Black Knight and Space Shuttle are not filler. Each one marks a step in what pinball machines could do, and putting them in one package makes the case better than any history lesson would.
System 3 released the game in PAL territories on June 17, 2011 under the name Williams Pinball Classics. The game was published by Crave Entertainment and System 3 Software. Do not confuse it with Williams Pinball Classics from 2001, published by Encore, Inc., which packed four different machines — Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Black Rose and Lost World — for Windows. Same idea, different game, different tables.
The credit system is the weakest part. Gating machines behind 100 credits or five completed goals adds a grind to a package whose appeal is instant access to eight classics. It is a small complaint against a collection that otherwise trusts the tables to speak for themselves.
KEY FACTS
– Score: 8.1/10 (IGDB critic aggregate, 6 outlets)
– Developer: FarSight Studios
– Publisher: Crave Entertainment; System 3 Software
– Platforms: Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS
– Tables: 8 Williams machines; 4 open at start, 4 locked behind credits
– Starting credits: 20; locked machine costs 100
– PAL release: June 17, 2011, as Williams Pinball Classics
Eight tables, modeled with care, on hardware that spans two generations. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is the rare licensed collection that treats its source as worth preserving rather than merely selling.
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