Advanced Pinball Simulator
Advanced Pinball Simulator, original developed by The Oliver Twins. C64 conversion by Chris Shrigley and published by Codemasters in 1988.
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Player's Review
"A fast, furious and incredibly addictive pinball game featuring- Trapdoors, Rollover Lanes, Mega-bumpers, 4 flippers,Bonus Lanes, extra balls, Ball Trap, Mystery Tube, realistic movement and MUCH MORE!!!"
The game contains only a single table but it is a 2.99 budget game after all. There is a plot to give some incentive to play which involve completing certain tasks in the story to reach the end. The table seems to be a bit compressed in this version making it near impossible to Spell cast as the ball cant get under the flipper whilst also super easy to get to the forest area which is more challenging in the other versions.
First we need to spell magic to collect the Magic Almanac spell book, and spell it again to cast the spell to banish the evil wizard. Then we can seek out the weather potion and boil it to get rid of the drought. Destroy the wizards castle and then we need to rebuild the destroyed cottage. Finally we need to spell cast twice in order to extinguish the volcano that threatens the village. Once all these tasks are done, we can exit through the volcano. Note that you cant enter a high score if you complete the game as you cant leave the end screen.
Overall, this is a terrible conversion of the Amstrad/Spectrum game. Sure, those versions have there own quirks, but the C64 game is near unplayable do to some crazy bugs that have the ball flying all over and through the scenery. The game is a bit faster, a bit more responsive but that doesnt mean much if the ball can clip right through the flippers. The lower left area is near imposable to get to and requires some flipper manipulation by holding them on whilst the ball is bouncing around on the bumpers. You still never know where the ball will go but it will go a different direction depending on having the left or right flipper on or both on. It just adds to the frustration as you can rack up high scores just bouncing the ball but its highly unlikely you will complete the table. If the right lane hole is open and you lose the ball, it may as will be game over as it will be difficult to get the ball back into the play area, and If I recall, this was an issue in the spectrum game too.
The game contains only a single table but it is a 2.99 budget game after all. There is a plot to give some incentive to play which involve completing certain tasks in the story to reach the end. The table seems to be a bit compressed in this version making it near impossible to Spell cast as the ball cant get under the flipper whilst also super easy to get to the forest area which is more challenging in the other versions.
First we need to spell magic to collect the Magic Almanac spell book, and spell it again to cast the spell to banish the evil wizard. Then we can seek out the weather potion and boil it to get rid of the drought. Destroy the wizards castle and then we need to rebuild the destroyed cottage. Finally we need to spell cast twice in order to extinguish the volcano that threatens the village. Once all these tasks are done, we can exit through the volcano. Note that you cant enter a high score if you complete the game as you cant leave the end screen.
Overall, this is a terrible conversion of the Amstrad/Spectrum game. Sure, those versions have there own quirks, but the C64 game is near unplayable do to some crazy bugs that have the ball flying all over and through the scenery. The game is a bit faster, a bit more responsive but that doesnt mean much if the ball can clip right through the flippers. The lower left area is near imposable to get to and requires some flipper manipulation by holding them on whilst the ball is bouncing around on the bumpers. You still never know where the ball will go but it will go a different direction depending on having the left or right flipper on or both on. It just adds to the frustration as you can rack up high scores just bouncing the ball but its highly unlikely you will complete the table. If the right lane hole is open and you lose the ball, it may as will be game over as it will be difficult to get the ball back into the play area, and If I recall, this was an issue in the spectrum game too.
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