Adventure Pinball: Forgotten Island

May 1, 2002

Price: $10 (Jewel case)

The split in the logo graphic is due to it being
constructed of two smaller textures for older
video cards, limited to 128x128 pixel textures

Because of the glut of pinball games on the market, it is often hard to narrow down the field and choose just one. Sticker price is usually the prime concern: the genre of pinball is often seen as more of a diversionary type of game, more akin to a Minesweeper or a FreeCell than a genuine form of entertainment to which someone commits him or herself--such as how the latest first-person shooter or role-playing games are increasingly seen.

The market has fragmented because of this perception. Many developers have forsaken the title of "game" for their products, preferring "pinball simulations" and instead cater to actual pinball hobbyist with exact representations of historical tables (which, despite their significance, are often little fun for casual fans of the genre). Even so, lighter weight games still abound, but because of how pinball is seen, publishers dare not ask more than $20 or so for their titles.

The camera makes for dramatic action on ramps

This puts the shareware market (where scores of new pinball games are released every year) in an ever increasing bind. Forced to compete at the same price point with their bigger siblings, the work of often the most talented shareware artists often pales before the advantages (not only distributional, but technological) that the retail companies possess.

Digital Extremes, backed by Electronic Arts, demonstrates this in spades with their Adventure Pinball: Forgotten Island. While many smaller companies have tried their hand at creating a pinball game in full 3D, they have tended to be well behind the technology curve in comparison to other genres. On the other hand, Forgotten Island is powered by the famous Unreal Tournament engine, a license that would be impractical to impossible for a shareware artist to use in a commercial product.

The motion-blur on the ball is simple yet effective

It certainly looks good. The virtual camera shifts to follow the ball down a ramp and changes to a bird's eye view when dropping from a steep overhang. The prehistoric theme is represented well--vaguely realistic tyrannosaurs stalk the landscape and pterodactyls can even snatch and fly off with the ball. Everything is smoothly edited and moves naturally from one scene to the next.

Play is fluid, with little penalty in speed at high resolutions (the Unreal Tournament engine has always been more taxing on CPUs than video cards), though FSAA helps a lot by making things such as the flippers and the ball appear more solidly three-dimensional. There are a variety of boards, though they tend to be largely monochromatic, featuring bright green grass or dark sediment, punctuated by rippling water or lava, things that have always been the strong suit of the engine.

Play consists of nine progressive boards, which remain locked from use until the successful completion of the previous level. Because of that, each pinball table has a theme of advancement, where striking targets unlocks secondary levels within each table (and sometimes tertiary as well) moving the player towards the eventual exit and on to the next table or board. This means that play is substantially different than more traditional tables which tend to stress focus only on score.

Before a table begins, the rules are
laid out in story-board format

Although players can decline to exit a level, especially after they have already completed it, intra-level "missions" tend to be less entertaining than those of more traditional machines and the focus of increasing various point multipliers is diminished as well. Pinball for beginners is a game of survival. Pinball for professionals is a game of risk--as completing choice runs in succession can net a staggering number of points that mere survival (by keeping the ball in play) for hours or even days could never hope to accomplish.

Purchasing Adventure Island was a curious experience. While I found the Jewel case on the bargain rack for $10, it was selling in a box for $20 only a few feet away. I then began to eye my new found prize with suspicion, thinking it a limited or trial edition--or worse, merely the demo available for free on the internet. But each advertised the same nine levels (there is an additional level for download on the internet from Digital Extremes, "Monkey Marsh"), which it delivered, so it appears that those who did not take the time to look through the bargain bin must have paid an extra $10 for a cardboard box, and not a particularly glamorous one, at that. It must be noted that I encountered sound errors on occasion, but attempting to run the game in compatibility mode (Windows 98 / ME) resulted in it not recognizing the CD-key.

Adventure Island is not good pinball. It is, however, a good game. Even hardened pinball zealots are likely to be won by the bright graphics and the limitless energy it possesses--at least for a while; and at least for $10 worth. After which, it can be just as easily passed on to friends or family, whom are likely to enjoy it as much or even more.

by Richard Leader

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