Recreation of the Atari ST Starball pinball
Some would think that in order to create a good enough pinball sim you need only follow the rules set by the classic arcade pinball games, the mechanical one; however, some games just can't go that road, on one had because it has already been walked before, some would argue, a bit too many times, and because designers might be looking to remake a pinball game that was not designed for real arcades but for consoles. At any rate, this DOS recreation of an old Atari game does a good enough job of emulating that game, but that doesn't make this game here something to go crazy about. So, you'll ask what are its problems then, if it is such a letdown? Well, the original game as well as this one doesn't really try that hard to create an immersive experience. The staples of pinball were most of tehm replaced by other game mechanics, but neither of tehm really manage to be interesting enough. Yap, mechanical pinball uses serpentines, uses flippers, and all srt of theor electric thngies to animate the game, and for a good reason: without them the pinball game is too static and not too interesting. And, in my opinion this is the trouble with Starball as well: it's a smart digital game but it just doesn't feel like pinball. That is why I love Hyper 3-D Pinball and Pinball Mania because they are about pinball, however lame or interesting that mechanical type game might be.
