It was a game that I was crazy about when it first appeared on the Mac produced by Amtex/Littlewing. After the game was resurrected for the Pinball Arcade I wrote two different posts on the frustrations caused by the Eight Ball Pinball. My friend Marco chimed in pointing out that a) 8-ball is a tough game and b) the pro version did allow one to play with 4 or 5 balls. I did give the pro version a try playing with 4 balls but I decided that it was too much hassle and went back to the basic one. And then I noticed something. The pinball is a faithful reproduction of the original and in low left corner one could see the card with the minimum scores for a replay.
There was the answer! Eight Ball Deluxe was indeed a tough game and when playing on the real pinball one could get a free play for just 600 thousand points (and a second free play for 1.1 million). Now, while 600 k does ask for some careful play it is something that one can reach rather easily (and 1.1 M is also a realistic target). So, I forgot about multi-million scores and I started playing 8-ball again with more modest objectives. And I keep improving. I have still to beat the highest high-score but I am getting closer and closer and in fact I have fun playing this great classical pinball game. The morale of this story is that playing pinball is also a question of attitude. You have to acknowledge the difficulty of a game and accept to spend the time necessary in order to master it. Also, do not aim for the top score from the outset, high scores will come after some time.
There was the answer! Eight Ball Deluxe was indeed a tough game and when playing on the real pinball one could get a free play for just 600 thousand points (and a second free play for 1.1 million). Now, while 600 k does ask for some careful play it is something that one can reach rather easily (and 1.1 M is also a realistic target). So, I forgot about multi-million scores and I started playing 8-ball again with more modest objectives. And I keep improving. I have still to beat the highest high-score but I am getting closer and closer and in fact I have fun playing this great classical pinball game. The morale of this story is that playing pinball is also a question of attitude. You have to acknowledge the difficulty of a game and accept to spend the time necessary in order to master it. Also, do not aim for the top score from the outset, high scores will come after some time.
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