Customer Reviews:
 Just like the real thing May 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Growing up in the 70's and 80's, a good deal of my youth was spent in arcades. And while I always like video games, my favorite was always pinball. The behavior of the ball wasn't controlled by some algorithm that you could figure out, and you couldn't beat the game with a pattern you got from a game guide, it was just gravity, friction and luck vs. you and your two (or three or four) flippers. I was never a pinball wizard, but I always considered them a better investment of my quarter than their video cousins.
Naturally, I've always dreamed of owning my own pinball machine, but could never justify the cost, not to mention the maintenance headaches. Sure, there were video game versions of pinball, but they pretty universally...what's the word I'm looking for...oh, yeah, sucked. Well, that era is now at an end. PHF: Williams Collection is like owning ten real pinball machines. That's it, I could end my review right there. The lights, sounds and feel of real pinball for the cost of a Wii + $20. At some point, I've actually played each of the tables in this collection in real life, and playing this game took me right back to Celebrity Sports Center (shout out to everyone from Denver who remembers that place) with the sounds of bowling in the background and the smell of chlorine drifting from the pool.
I really like the instructional tutorials that take you step by step through all the scoring options on each table, in a way those little confusing cards never could. The Wiimote, numchuk combo controls feel perfect, especially how the Wiimote vibrates with the action. I do wish you could manually zoom in to see some of the fine details of the playing field. For example, there's no way to see what the S-H-U-T-T-L-E reward is in Space Shuttle - I only know what they are from memory of the original game (the two red rewards on the right are "Extra Ball" and "Extra Game" BTW). One thing I don't miss is broken flippers and bumpers that don't work.
My big hope is that these guys are in talks with Bally/Midway to bring some of their classics to the Wii. Addams Family alone would be worth whatever they wanted to charge, but Twilight Zone, Attack from Mars, Doctor Who - I would love to play those again. Not to mention there are still scores of Williams machines (Elvira and the Party Monsters anyone?) available for a sequel.
I could not ask for more. May 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think this game is a blast and feels like real pinball. The Wii controllers do make a difference. I did not notice the lag that was reported by one reviewer. I love this game.
Great Game, good use of Wii controls April 24, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I don't usually write recommendations, but a good pinball game is so rare this deserves mention.
The games are extremely accurate to the originals. Fun House, Taxi are 2 great games to play.
The Wii controls were spot on. If you can imagine holding the controls about where you'd be on a real table the triggers are your flippers and if you shake your hands - you guessed it - the table shakes, and if you continue shaking the table - you tilt. Like I said, very real.
If you like pinball and you have a Wii, get this game!
I only hope they come out with more based on this engine. Very smooth game play, lots of fun!
A must own for pinball fanatics April 23, 2008
34 out of 36 found this review helpful
Emulating pinball in the world of video games has never been an easy thing, but somehow, someway; all of the games included in Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, are emulated nearly perfectly, and perfectly capture the feel and enjoyment of the classic game. Featuring tables including Taxi, Gorgar, Black Knight, Funhouse, and Pinbot among others; Pinball Hall of Fame also features a variety of modes, unlockables, and goals to achieve to hold your interest. The pinball physics are dead-on as well, and the game's overall presentation is a pleasent surprise as well. The only real flaws with Pinball Hall of Fame is that more games weren't included on the disc. It just feels like more tables should have been included here, or at least something else. Other than that, the Wii motion controls work very well here, although one may wonder if that is reason enough to justify the price tag of the Wii version of the game being doubled. All that aside, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is a sheer blast, and for Wii owning pinball fans, you can't go wrong here at all.
Best Virtual Pinball Game Ever Made.... April 19, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I used to love pinball "back in the day", and I've tried a lot of virtual pinball games, but never really found one I've thought was "great". A few have been pretty good, but overall there hasn't been a standout. Pinball in VG's has been mostly disposable in the VG market to me at best.
I saw this realeased for the Wii (and PS2/P) and started looking for it upon release. I finally picked this up from Amazon a few weeks back (couldn't find it anywhere locally) and had to post something about it.
The Good :
$29.99
Best virtual pinball game I've ever played period. If you like Pinball, this is a must own (Wii version only)
The Wii controls "feel" like pinball. The B Button on the Wiimote and Z button on the nunchuck are the flippers.
You can shake the machine a bit, tilt is very close to the actually amount of shake it would take to tilt a real machine.
Visually looks exactly like all the original machines.
Way beyond the first entry in the series, the Gottlieb collection (looked good but was really boring).
Actually has a game mode where you go through all the machines and get certain scores or achievements to get points and unlockables.
One of the Top 15 rated games for the Wii on Metacritic.
Has 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon's customer reviews.
Includes Funhouse, Taxi, Gorgar, Black Knight, Pinbot, Whirlwind, Space Shuttle, and several others.
The Bad :
Made by Crave, master of Shovelware. But this is far from shovelware.
Hard to find, I found from a GameStop employee that it might be exclusive to Best Buy, Target & Amazon.
They COULD have used the Wiimote as the ball plunger, but used the stick on the nunchuck instead.
No national or international online leaderboard. Not the end of the world, but would have been a nice touch.
No other con's I can think of.
Pick this up if you like pinball, you won't regret it. (If you don't like pinball get Okami!)
From Metacritic:
Wii : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (2008) 81
PSP : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (2008) 76
PS2 : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (2008) 72
Thew Wii controls really make the game. Pinball games don't usually get 81's from game critics. This title did, to read the reviews visit meta critic
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