Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App from Ginger Labs, Inc, US$0.99
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful from Scosche, US$129.99
- IPEVO’s Typi Folio Case & Keyboard for iPad is First-rate from IPEVO, US$79.99
- Scosche’s boomSTREAM BT Speaker: Features & Compromises from Scosche, US$99.95
- FX Photo Studio HD: iPad Painting of Effects Made Easy from MacPhun LLC, US1.99
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More, with Feeling
- Various Artists
Most musical episodes of TV shows frankly stink. They are usually little more than ill-conceived vehicles intended to let the stars show off what musical talent they have. Once More, With Feeling,
- Mystics Anonymous
- Mystics Anonymous is the brainchild project of Jeff Steblea, a fantastic songwriter and good friend of mine, as well. In fact, I even played the drums on all but one of the tracks on this album. Jef
- Miles Davis
- The jazz album to end all jazz albums. Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly and the list goes on. The who's who of who's who in jazz have assembled for this monumental record. Get this
- Led Zeppelin
- This album bears every flavor of genius from the five records that came before. It is, I believe, the band's finest. With Physical Graffiti, Zep came raging back to their musical home territory -- har
- The Church
Another of my all-time favorites, Priest = Aura is one of those rare albums where every song is simply fantastic, and a testament to how good pop-rock can be.
Each song immediatel
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
In-Depth Review
Pinball Dreams is Not so Dreamy
Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 3:30 PM - by John Martellaro
Pinball Dreams from Cowboy Rodeo for iPhone and iPod touch is based on a port of the Commodore Amiga Pinball Dreams trilogy from the 1990s. It's an impressive piece of programming for the iPhone and iPod touch, but has some major UI problems.
At first blush, the game looks cool and promising. I spent my fair share of time on pinball machines as a youth, so that's what caught my attention. According to the publisher, over a million copies have been sold for most major gaming platforms, a bestseller for its time.
After the initial giddiness wears off, one discovers that the developer forgot to use some basic, good user interface principles and common sense.
At launch, there are scrolling credits that go on and on forever and distract the user from starting. The first impulse is then to make the credits stop, so one touches the screen and fails to realize that different game themes can be selected by swiping a finger to select the theme, aka Cover Flow.
Once into the game, it's fairly obvious how to launch a ball, but that's about all. Instructions go flashing by, Times Square Marquee style, at light speed. I searched in vain for the info button to bring up a static description or perhaps preferences, but it's not there. Nothing on the Website either.
For whatever reason, the screen slides up and down in an annoying fashion. It's an effect, but not a very useful one.
The sound effects are cool, but likely to tire one after awhile. That could lead to the novelty of the game wearing off quickly.
Finally, the game is on the expensive side, as iPhone/touch games go, and while I fully appreciate the skill and effort in porting to the iPhone, it's possible that, after a few playful sessions, the game will be pushed to the back page of the iPhone -- six dollars gone.
Every kid enjoys pinball machines, and playing them in person with friends, rocking the machine, and physically interacting is a fun experience. Sitting around with an iPhone or iPod touch, punching a virtual steel ball may provide endless hours for some, but seems lacking in the essentials.
For those who do want to enjoy the game, it would be far more enjoyable with a standard info page of instructions for player selection, scoring, and how to chose themes. The splash page should also time out with a quick note on how to select a theme.
Just The Facts
Pros:
Detailed, flashy graphics. Pinball quality sound.
Cons:
Incomplete, difficult user interface. Expensive.
Recent Headlines
- Reading, Writing, & Saving the World
- Free Retro Gaming for iOS - Activision’s Kaboom!
- Apple Adds Chomp Bits to iOS 6 App Store Discovery
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful
- Tim Cook & Larry Page Reportedly Discuss Patents
- Analysis: Amazon Kindle Fire Sold Out, Kindle Fire 2 Pic Leaked
2 comments from the community.
You can post your own below.
Vesuri said:
Quote
kt said:
Quote
Post Your Comments