Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jun 26, 2015

  The WORST ever. As an owner of EVERY FX2 and The Pinball Arcade table, this is just SO bad. Bad design, dreadful layout, horrible physics. Three tables, less than 35 MB. Just DON'T! (Obviously I HAVE played 5 minutes, or this review wouldn't be accepted.....OK?)
• gamedeal user

  Jun 29, 2015

  I've loved pinball, both the real mechanical ones and computer simulations for as long as I can remember. This together with the other two games in the Thrills set ([i]not to be confused with the excellent 3-D Ultra Pinball Thrillride by Sierra Entertainment[/i]) are the worst pinball games I've ever played. The Steam description says: [quote]'They are the ultimate joy for fans of action packed arcade rounds. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology you’ll experience a premium physics simulation. Amazingly detailed, right down to realistic reflections, this game delivers the most intense pinball experience.'[/quote] What a load of twaddle, though to be fair, the physics simulation is about right ([i]apart from the ball feeling sluggish at times[/i]). There's little animation, most of the targets, of which there are only a few on each table are mainly boring and static. You'd be much better investing in Pinball Arcade or Pinball FX. Both of those games have a free table. Just watch the video on the Steam shop page for Hot Pinball Thrills and compare it to the ones I mention above. http://store.steampowered.com/app/373810/ Basically all thee tables are similar, with little of interest in any one of them. Apart from what I've already mentioned above, you can't control the initial ball strength, there appears to be no additional features or hidden puzzles, the ramps, rails and switches are similar throughout not only this set, but the whole series of 12 tables ([i]from 3 games[/i]). There are no or little in the way of lighting effects around the targets, The graphics are not what you'd expect from a game created in 2015. This series of tables is a turn off for me and I very much doubt I'll ever play it again. I cannot recommend this game, even to pinball aficionado's. If you are determined to buy the game I'd seriously wait till its on sale before you waste your money. I'm sure it will be on sale soon, once the negative reviews stack up, and sales dry up. I don't like knocking games because I think the work that goes into them is intense, with many working hours going into the creation of even the simplest of games; unfortunately for me this game ([i]and the others in the series[/i]), were a real disappointment. I will be writing separate reviews for the other two sets in the series, but they will not be very different from this one as they use the same basic targets, the same ramps, the same bumpers etc. The main difference is the art work and slight changes to the look of the tables.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 1, 2016

  Middle-of-the-road budget pinball game, part of a series which also includes football- and fantasy-themed sets. The problem is not so much that it offers three tables - that's already more than the likes of Worms Pinball offer - but that the tables on offer are really not very good. Hitting ramps - the most basic thrill of a game of pinball - is so rare as to be a happening, and most of the rest of the time, the ball just flounces around not hitting a whole lot of stuff. The physics don't help matters, as the ball and flippers feel heavy and wooden, rather than smooth, as should be the case in a computerised pinball simulation. The rest of the game is equally as unremarkable - the soundtrack is limited to a single, Z-tier Playboy Channel soundalike, while table graphics revolve around the sort of imagery no one over the age of 15 will really be enticed by. What a mature gamer is left with is an extremely pedestrian, if competent, pinball simulation - good to kill 10 minutes, but instantly discardable the minute something better is available. Much like Playboy magazine itself, actually... Not a hearty disrecommendation, but a thumbs-down nonetheless. If you're after a solid, budget pinball title, seek out Dream Pinball 3D instead. Best table: Car Wash Worst table: Moulin Rouge (good luck getting more than 2.5 million or so on that one, even if you're a veteran PC pinball player!)
• gamedeal user

  Jun 4, 2023

  Hot Pinball Thrills is a set of three pinball tables laid out on an ancient pinball simulator. The release date says 2015 but the game seems much older than that. While you get 4K support, the game assets are so low poly and the textures so low resolution that this still somehow looks like it's running at 640x480 or something. You can even see the edges of the polys on the ball! Likewise, choosing 4K resolution doesn't help the aspect ratio for the game... it looks squashed somehow, like it's 4:3 stretched (it may very well be). This game just doesn't look right on modern displays. Putting the substandard visuals aside, the gameplay is equally poor... the pinball physics are just off. The ball will bounce at angles you don't expect. It bounces a little too high and too fast. Catching and trapping the ball is equally ineptly done and just doesn't feel right or play right. The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 3 players. This is a remarkably low number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 50,000 games for gamers to choose from (over 9,000 completely free titles), the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected. Hot Pinball Thrills is relatively cheap at $3 USD, but it's not worth it. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, this is impossible to recommend. There's free pinball sims on Steam that are higher quality than this, so if pinball emulation is your thing, look elsewhere.