3D Pinball Space Cadet (from Windows XP)

Pinball arcade games were and still tend to be popular between games enthusiasts. They’re based on a simple principle, keep your reflexes sharp and put a smile on your face whenever you manage a combo that brings tons of extra points.

Though you can’t really compare it to the real thing, Microsoft Windows Pinball - Space Cadet still brought decent doses of entertainment whenever you played it. The game came bundled into earlier versions of Microsoft Windows such as NT and XP meaning it was practically present in every house that had a computer.

By today’s standards the graphics are fairly bad and the fact that you can’t resize the game for a larger fit is a downside. The controls are easy to manage and the flippers used to hit the ball are very responsive.

Throughout the game you need to score enough to achieve multiple titles such as ‘Cadet’, ‘Lieutenant’, ‘Admiral’ and so on. Completing each mission grants you lots of bonus points that take you closer to the top of the leaderboard.

Microsoft Windows Pinball - Space Cadet tries to emulate the analog experience as much as possible through the actual design of the board, ball behavior and physics, while even offering the option to ‘bump’ the table as you would do in real-life now and again.

The controls are fully customizable and you can even choose whether you want to enable or disable music or audio effects for the game. It’s also possible to choose multiple players but unfortunately, you will all have to play the same board over and over again as the game does not offer you the pleasure of switching between others.

All-in-all, there are certainly plenty of other better options but Microsoft Windows Pinball - Space Cadet is the one that has stuck over the years and is still playable.