Reviewed: 08/1996
Medieval Knights, Rock Fantasy, Urban Chaos, Monkey Mayhem
Multi-table package with four themes. Scrolling 2D planview. 1 to 4 players and 3, 5 or 7 balls. Top ten highscores recorded. Keys not configurable but options for score display and sound. Fast-paced, action-oriented with good graphics, fun sound effects (though the basic pinball sounds are unrealistic) and driving stereo soundtracks, excellent animations on dot-matrix score display and varying features among individual tables. Medieval Knights includes a video mode and each of the tables features an animated object. Uniquely rotating balls change into different colors and patterns. Too predictable and restrictive ball movement patterns (you know it's always gonna go down if it hits certain spots). Scrolling makes ball estimation hard and inaccurate and it's impossible to calm or stop the ball with the flippers or do much trickery with them. Add to this that slingshots and bumpers are explosive and there is hardly time to plan a strategy, aim or enjoy the visuals. Multiball (up to six in Urban Chaos) disables table scrolling leaving only the bottom half of the playfield visible. Matching the end digits at end-of-game awards an extra ball. Fun successor to the Epic Pinball Packs but action only, not for the simulation enthusiast. Besides the obvious technological advancements over Epic Pinball, the tables are now larger and more intricate, the flipper tips are more sensitive, the plunger is no longer shared with the nudge and the balls are less likely to drain right after plunging. An annoyance is that many features stay on only during the current ball (e.g. locked balls in Rock Fantasy or the lair in Medieval Knights) and it's hard to build a play over several balls. Distributed on CD-ROM by Electronic Arts (full install will not require CD later on but you can also run directly off the CD).
Where Found: Epic MegaGames mail order, 11/1995
Released/Copyright: 1995, Epic MegaGames Inc.