Adventure Pinball: Forgotten Island Demo

Pinball simulations were quite popular on the PC a few years ago, especially since they did not require actual 3D models most of the time and the gameplay was quite easy to replicate. Naturally, the accurate ball motion required a bit of work, as did the various gimmicks and power-ups placed on the table, but that is how good pinball games distinguished themselves from the rest of the releases.

Adventure Pinball: Forgotten Island took a look at the script and threw all the pages away, keeping the cover alone, just to be able to call itself a pinball simulator. Hence, the story mode consists of no actual tables, but it is actually a free-roam map on which you get to control the ball and collect various power-ups, or even defeat a wide range of enemies that might be blocking your way.

Moreover, the Unreal Engine was chosen to render the environment, which is indeed an odd choice for a pinball simulator. However, the 3D graphics somehow integrated quite well with the genre, despite the fact that not many other titles were bold enough to make use of them. Thanks to the creative level design and the variety of different landscapes that are explorable throughout your adventure, the 3D models proved to be quite the inspired choice, in the end.

There is also a background story that talks about the events unfolding on the screen, although it is not very present most of the time and it certainly doesn't make too much sense if you do not take the time to actually read about it in the game's manual. However, you can clearly see that the events take place in the prehistoric era, given the fact that dinosaurs and various other scary creatures are a constant sight around the landscapes.

Although the story mode does not feature any pinball tables per se, they are available in the arcade mode, which features classic tables on which you have to score as many points as you can, without dropping the ball in the process. Naturally, the 3D graphics are present in this mode as well, although they do not quite have the same impact as they do in the campaign.

Adventure Pinball: Forgotten Island is almost a one-of-a-kind game, although there have been others like it since. Despite that, there is plenty of originality at work in this title, especially when it comes to the gameplay mechanics and the level design itself, which is quite the achievement for a pinball game.