[typing]
In 1992, a pinball game for the Commodore Amiga came along and made a huge impact.
Pinball Dreams, developed by Digital Illusions CE,
later known simply as DICE.
Sure, there were plenty of pinball games before this,
but Pinball Dreams was a new standard of graphics, sound and playability.
It was also a point of pride for Amiga users
once the MS-DOS port arrived the following year
and promptly disappointed with its shoddy presentation.
However, a game designer named James Schmalz
knew he could do better on the PC,
and decided to build a game from the ground up in x86 assembly
in order to make the best use of the hardware.
Ten months later, the result was Epic Pinball,
a game that went on to become one of the most popular Shareware titles around
and proved once and for all that MS-DOS machines
were capable of excellent pinball.
A simple enough story.
However, things get a little more intriguing when you look deeper
and something called Silverball makes an appearance.
This was a game that was developed by Schmalz during the same period,
although instead of being published by Epic MegaGames,
it was published by Microleague Multimedia.
Records show that this was released several months after Epic Pinball,
but this was not a sequel.
Rather, it was a technical precursor
using an earlier version of the same engine.
From what I can put together,
Epic got first dibs to publish what would become Epic Pinball,
seeing as Schmalz had an existing relationship with them
from when they published another game of his, Solar Winds.
But there were still several tables and other playable assets
that didn't make the cut,
and this is where publishers like Microleague came in.
Since Epic Pinball was only sold by phone or mail order,
and Microleague had a retail presence,
a totally separate deal was made to sell these older game assets on store shelves.
This would become Silverball and Silverball Plus 2,
the latter of which I own here.
The original game came in a box
but this Plus 2 version added some stuff,
and was available by contacting Microleague.
It also came with a quick start guide,
a Microleague order form,
and a sweet manual
containing rules and tips on how to get the most out of each table.
It's not quite as slick as manuals from Epic,
but hey, I guess that's why they were called Microleague, not Macroleague.
Okay, so that–that doesn't make any sense.
If you are familiar with Epic Pinball,
then Silverball begins with a very familiar intro,
followed by a very familiar menu.
Right down to the hotseat multiplayer and other options available here,
you get familiarity.
Familiarity, but not duplication,
because things start to change once you dive into the tables themselves.
There were four tables to choose from in the original release,
but as the title suggests, this Plus 2 version
contains two more that were yanked from the bowels of Epic Pinball,
as well as a seventh one if you ordered an add-on disk from the publisher.
Before playing a table,
you can choose from traditional three-ball play or add two more,
and select three angles of the cabinet
to adjust the gravity of the simulation.
Then it's onto some proper pinball playing perfection.
Er... wait, no it's not,
because Silverball is a notable step backwards
from its more well-known sibling.
And that only makes sense, knowing that it technically came before,
but, man, I can imagine if you didn't know that, you'd be thinking,
Wow, what happened?
First of all, the good,
and that is that the graphics and sound are all... fine!
Its crispy VGA graphics
run at a smooth 60 frames per second,
and the music is all composed by Robert Allen
in S3M tracker goodness.
♪♪
It also controls using the two Shift keys for flippers,
just like I prefer,
and you have keys for nudging the table in multiple directions,
at least in this Plus 2 version.
But there are two major problems with Silverball
that really make it obvious that this game is a predecessor.
The first is the tabes themselves,
and more specifically, their layout and targets.
Let's just take a look at them all briefly here.
The first table is the generically titled "Fantasy,"
and contains a wide-open play field with very few targets,
bumpers you usually overshoot,
and holes that jarringly teleport your ball.
"Blood" is another unimaginative table
with a lack of interesting targets,
but at least it has some additional ramps to take
and some lightable lanes and bumpers that are fun to play with.
"Snooker Champ" is an old school-style table
with a bunch of rollover switches and drop targets everywhere.
"Odyssey" features a mythological theme
and some attempts at interesting ramps and lanes
that just fall flat in practice.
Then you have "Warbot,"
which is just a cheaply-reskinned version of Epic Pinball's "Excalibur" table,
with less-fancy effects and slightly lamer music.
And finally, there's "Duel,"
which is a variant on Epic Pinball's "Magic" table,
although with a default high score of 100,000
that makes it stupidly hard to get on the board
because the points that it doles out are so low.
Even more finally, there's the extra table "Nova,"
which uses the music from Epic Pinball's "Space Journey" table
and themes from Solar Winds.
But features outlanes that are entirely too easy to fall into
and, uh...
an "aste-oid" belt.
So, yeah, the lineup of tables disappoints in a major kind of way
and it's telling that the most decent ones
are those more or less ripped directly from Epic Pinball.
The second major problem is the game's physics in general.
And as I've said in previous reviews,
a pinball game with wonky physics
is about as useful as a mint-flavored suppository.
It's a nice thought, but what's the point?
The ball just kind of does what it wants to at times
floating around the play field like a helium-infused turd.
I never really feel connected to what's going on
and in a simulation that's trying to mimic a game
that's all ABOUT physicality,
that's just not good.
When I smack the ball with a flipper
or perform a tap pass or a drop catch,
I should be able to FEEL like I have control over the ball.
But here, it's just so obvious that I'm playing a weird PC pinball game,
and not any semblance of a real table
and it's incredibly off-putting.
It also just feels inconsistent,
like some tables have a different set of physical rules than the others.
Who knows, maybe that's why "Fantasy" is called "Fantasy,"
and... not "Reality,"
because the table exists in a universe where normal pinball physics don't apply.
Now, I know this game was a stepping stone on the way to greatness
and maybe was never even intended to see the light of day,
but when you isolate it and look at it on its own merits,
Silverball just doesn't impress.
Combine all this with play field artwork that fails to inspire,
and occasional glitches involving collision detection,
and it's easy to see why Silverball is all but forgotten,
and Epic Pinball is still remembered fondly by many.
That's not to say it's not worth your time at all,
because if you're a hardcore fan of this series of pinball games, then it is!
I looked for Silverball for years
and was absolutely psyched to track down an original copy,
but that's not because it was really good,
it's because it's really rare
and I like owning weird pieces of gaming history.
If you're as passionate about this stuff as I am,
it's wonderful to have this.
But if you're looking for a great DOS pinball game,
there are several others that will provide tons of fun.
If you're looking for a pinball title that no one remembers
and will probably annoy you to no end,
then Silverball is perfect.
♪♪
And if you're curious about Epic Pinball
or other pinball games, or just whatever,
because I cover a lot of whatever here on this channel,
then you are in the right place.
Congratulations!
You've accomplished something, I guess.
You can click on some more videos here,
or you can subscribe and go to my channel
and check out those that are coming in the future.
There are a lot on the way.
You can also interact with and follow me on Twitter and Facebook,
as well as support the show on Patreon for some extra goodies,
and also help support the show continuing financially.
And as always, thank you very much for watching.