WildSnake Pinball: Soccer *****	WildSnake Software
Reviewed: 2003-06-19

- The pinball

This is the first title in what will hopefully be a series. The series is WildSnake Pinball and the title is WildSnake Pinball: Soccer ***** (Soccer Stars). The company that have made this pinball are some of the same people that made Microsoft Pinball Arcade, the physics engine has however been advanced quite a bit since then.

The table is a head-to-head table where you play against either a computer opponent or a human opponent. So far I've only played against the computer, when playing against a human opponent both players need to be at the same computer since there is no LAN support.


- The Table

The table layout is simple, the table tilts upwards towards the middle from both sides like a triangle. As mention this is a head-to-head table meaning you have a player on either side of the table, thus the slope up towards the middle, your aim is to manouver the ball to the opponents side and there shoot the ball down his drain.

Both sides are mirror images (in different color) of each other and feature:

• A drain, which is your goal. The opponent must get the ball in it!
• A ball stopper that can be raised between the flippers.
• Two flippers placed as traditional on either side of the drain.
• Two slingshots connecting directly with the flippers (no inlanes, but you can still catch the ball).
• Two drop targets on each side of the table above the slingshots.
• Two ramps along the long edge of the table leading to the other players' side.
• A set of reversed flippers that flip towards your drain, these are controlled by your opponent and are used by him to shoot the ball down your drain. Under these flippers, e.g. under the table, there are a set of magnets that will hold the ball in place so that your opponent gets a real chance to shoot the ball into your goal.
• Another pair of flippers controlled by you that are used to shoot the ball to the opponents side.
• A pair of bumpers.

The rules then. Get the ball into the opponents goal (down his drain) 10 times and you win a round, if you play a tournament against the computer you will have to win 8 rounds against different computer opponents. At the end of a round you are awarded points as: 1000*(round number) + 100*(round number)*(goal difference). If you win 8 rounds you get to play a bonus round called golden ball (which is similar to golden goal in real soccer, first goal wins!).

During play you need to keep your own ball stopper raised and the opponents down (how else can you get your ball in his score?). To raise your own stopper, hit the blue bumpers (the bumpers on the opponents side). To lower the oppents stopper you need to hit the drop targets on his side. The ramps are powerfull but difficult and dangerous to try to hit, if you get the ball up the ramp over to the opponents side you will find that your own stopper is raised and the opponents lowered (also the magnets are enabled for magnoshots, see next paragraph).

The final thing to note is that to activate the magnets beneath your pair of flippers on the opponents side (when the magnets are active the ball is held in place in front of your flippers allowing you to setup your shot) you need to hit the blue colored bumpers (again the bumpers on your opponents side). When the ball is held in place in front of your pair of flippers on the opponents side you press your flipper keys, this makes the ball "roll" (it moves towards another magnet) up your flipper and then you flip ("magnoshot")!

Now that was some tricky rules. ;) They take a while to figure out but are easy once learned, still this all allows for some challenging play and imho quite fun play!

The computer opponents are quite and at times very good and behave quite realistic, they do seem to have a better view of my playfield than I have of theirs at times though. ;) The computer opponents naturally get progressively more difficult and challenging as you play more rounds. In all they offer a very good challenge and really makes it feel rewarding when you beat them!

The music isn't much to cheer about, there isn't really any, there's only some sound effects which include an annoying cheering football crowd and some whistles blowing etc. I keep the music at a barely audiable level and instead turn up the mechanical effects which are great!


- The Feeling

The physics of the table are simply excellent, I love them! I relly like how the flipper will sometimes rebound a little to an fast incoming ball, I really don't know what to complain or remark about here so I wont bother! ;)


- The Whole:

A not especially action packed pinball, instead a very simplisticly layed out table that offers some great hours of fun trying to win the tournament against the computer opponents. The physics are great and really makes playing this table a joy. I like it and have no problems of recommending it!

Platform: PC
Operating System: Windows 98/NT/Me/XP/2000 operating system or later
200 MHz equivalent or higher processor
32 MB of RAM
20 MB available hard disk space
Microsoft DirectX® 3.0 or later
Microsoft DirectX® 3.0 compatible 1MB PCI video card capable of at least 640 x 480 256-color display
Microsoft DirectX® 3.0 compatible sound card (optional)
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device (optional)
Microsoft DirectX® 3.0 compatible joystick or game pad (optional)

Also available for: -

Soccer Stars (big picture)

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