Pinball

As I've aged Pinball, for some reason, has become more interesting. As a kid I though the game was pointless most likely because of it's simplicity. What could be hard about pressing a button as the ball approaches a flipper? And there's a Who song about this?? Now I see that the game coupled with the complexities introduced with new tables is far from that and it's become quite interesting. Lately I've been playing a lot of 'The Deep' on my iPod Touch which is an outstanding video pinball simulator... the ball physics is beautiful and the table is so detailed. Then it occurred to me... I should be playing this on my Droid! Well, 'The Deep' isn't available, but a free game called (and this is genius) Pinball IS available.

Pinball is free courtesy of ads placed at the top of the screen. It offers several differently themed tables based on themes like bowling, water, soccer, ...etc. Simply hold down to release the plunger and then tap to trigger the flippers. The varied themes are quite nice... in bowling you have to bowl down pins and in soccer you have to flip the ball into the net at the top of the screen (with two sets of flippers).

The game's physics are ok, but not on par with 'The Deep' and I don't like the fact that I can't trigger the left flipper or the right flipper alone... it's all or nothing. Consequently, all too often, I seem to have the ball roll across the flippers as I'm flipping and then get trapped under the other flipper only to lose the ball as the flipper fall back down. Hard to express in words, but let's just say it's frustrating.

Still I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth given that it's a freebie and while there isn't enough competition for this to mean much this is the best set of pinball games available so far. It also is enjoyable to play and thus has earned some storage space on my phone, but after playing 'The Deep' I am also hopeful that better comes soon. 3/5 stars and certainly worth a look for pinball fans and cheapskates alike.