SUPER PINBALL MAGIC
Publisher : Loriciel
Release date : 1991
Genre : Pinball
Players : 1
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"Put a flipper in your console! This super pinball simulation will really make you "tilt" with pleasure! With its 12 levels, some of which are break outs, with plenty of bonuses and extra balls, "SUPER" PINBAL MAGIC is a must for all GX4000 and CPC+ owners!!"
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Programming :
N.Massonnat & D.Arnaud
Graphics :
???
Music/Sounds :
???
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Download ROM
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Download Manual
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Editors review...
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Pinball is a tough sell on a home computer or console, it can't compete with the 'real thing'. So programmers have to throw in lots of stuff that you would never get on a real machine, shame then that Super Pinball Magic is just a very basic implementation of this.
What kind of things could it have thrown in?
Well for example let's look at Revenge Of The Gator on the humble Gameboy (YouTube vid)...
1) It was a very simple pinball game like this one, except it had multiple levels of a table in one that when the ball left the screen would flick up or down to the next section - Pinball Magic restricts you to one screen at a time until you clear everything to open the exit gate
2) Gator had bosses and enemy sprites to zapp, Pinball Magic has none.
3) Gator had sub level bonus rounds (eg a Breakout/Arkanoid smash the blocks type thing), Pinball Magic has none.
etc
So we've established Super Pinball Magic has none of these cool things that could have been done, but as it stands - its still a decent pinball game. The physics and collision detection is spot on, tilt controls are there, and the graphics and music are to a high standard. They've kept things simple but done it well.
If you're wondering why it has "Super" in the title, well it's actually a port of "Pinball Magic" that appeared on the CPC computers - which is the same game, but done in the 4 colour Mode1 system, here the programmers have souped it up to use the full Plus/GX palette but kept the high resolution to lovely effect. I do have to mention the controls which are rather bizarre - the left flipper is the DOWN key, but the right flipper is the fire button? It's annoying they can't be reconfigured to use for example the two fire buttons, meaning when I play this emulated I either have to re-configure the key mappings in the emulator or turn the keyboard the other way around!
So in summary - looks and plays great, very simple and won't hold your interest for too long, but you'll return to it for a quick go every now and then.
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Graphics
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Actually pretty nice graphics - well defined and good use of the Plus/GX4000 colours, very pleasing on the eye. Good for what the game is.
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Music
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Great title tune, and nice jingles between levels.
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Sounds
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Again, great quality and definitely suitable pinball style sounds well implemented.
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Presentation
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Rather bare bones, but for what's there is well done. Funky title screen, nice fade effects, and decent enough table design. I just wish the tables were more elaborate with ramps and rails to travel along, feels a little squashed into the playing area.
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Programming
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Pin point accuracy and collision detection, the physics of the ball very well implemented as are the tilt controls. They've kept it simple and done the very best job they could, I just wish as before the programmer was more daring and implemented longer tables that scrolled up and down - I think even on the GX4000 and Plus machines the speed of which the screen would need to scroll for this would not be possible, and that's just the limitations of the machine here.
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Playability
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Stripped down simple pinball game, executed as best it can and good fun for short blasts.
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Lastability
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You will get bored after a while, you'll want to see later tables but I struggled getting past the third table and after dieing was sent back to the start despite having continues there. I guess maybe the continue option only works from certain tables being a restart point (table 4?). 12 tables to visit though in total - who knows, maybe the later tables are fantastic?
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Concept
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Pinball as a game is never as good as the real thing of course, so computer versions have to throw in lots of cool stuff that could never happen on a real pinball table to make it worthwhile. Pinball Magic doesn't and is a very simple implementation.
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AI & Challenge
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No real AI to speak of apart from the icons that randomly appear you have to hit, but the game represents a strong challenge and most people won't get beyond the first few tables.
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GX4000 Features
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The GX has been put to good use here! Yet again another CPC original game ported here, but the graphics have been redone and the GX/Plus palette used as much as possible here!
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Summary
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Overall a fun but very simple implementation of pinball - it represents a good challenge but you will probably get bored of it very quickly, but fun to return back to after a while for a quick blast of fun!
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Final Score
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72%
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Cheats...
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No cheats found.
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Further more...
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Amstrad Action final score : 80%
GX4000.CO.UK game ranking : #
Game value (boxed + instructions) : £60 - £120
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Credits...
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Manuals and some sleeve scans by mochilote at cpcmania.com
ROMS taken from NVG FTP Site maintained by Nich Campbell, see his other site - CPC Game Reviews
Cheats (various) taken from CPC Zone contributed by Hermol, cpc4eva, Malc and others
Inspiration generally taken from John King's PCW King GX4000 site
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