The cover of Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection—a game for PS2, Wii, and PSP that recreates a bunch of classic pinball machines from the late 1970s to the early ’90s—depicts action on Williams’ 1990 Funhouse machine. It’s the right choice: Of all the pinball machines in this game, Funhouse is the most beloved. The reason is Rudy, the smartass carnival barker whose head pokes through the upper playfield. Rudy’s eyes and mouth move as he speaks, he screams when the ball hits him, and if you time it correctly, you can shoot the ball down his gullet to shut him up.

A Williams promo flyer for Funhouse, issued in advance of the machine’s original release, boasted that “Pin-Mation makes pinball come alive!” and the claim was accurate insofar as the mechanical Rudy toy imbued the game with a memorable personality. Rudy was marvelous as a flesh-and-blood (i.e., steel-and-plastic) machine, but is that tangibility crucial to his “wow” factor? Does his appeal translate to a 3-D replica on a TV screen?

Of course, it’s not just about Rudy. The overriding question of Pinball Hall of Fame: TWC is whether or not pinball, the ultimate kinetic arcade game, can make the jump to video without losing its soul. I was skeptical. There have been good pinball video games—I cut my teeth on LittleWing’s Crystal Caliburn and Loony Labyrinth—but none that I would call especially realistic. The ball is always too floaty, or too big, or just not quite right.

After a few weeks of play, I will grudgingly admit that the ball in TWC acts truer to life than any other pinball game I’ve played. It is superb. And that’s not all they got right. What most delights me about TWC is that they nailed the oft-ignored flipper feel, too. Flipper technology has changed through the decades, and while Williams was renowned for having the smoothest flipper mechanics, there is still a wide range of “feel” across their games historically. (To learn more, do a Google search for Williams Fliptronics.) The Black Knight flippers feel leaner and a touch snappier than the Funhouse flippers, just like they do on real, well-maintained machines.

The tables have been so painstakingly replicated that when I have a high-scoring game going, I get some vestige of the rush I’d get in the arcade. My pulse quickens to match the rhythm of the machine, my finger wobbles on the flipper button before that jackpot shot—it’s exciting. (The spot-on “nudge” controls help a lot with this.)

The strongest sensation I get from TWC, though, is a renewed urge to play the real machines. That’s perfect. People should be playing the real machines. So if you have an itch for pinball, TWC half-scratches it. I wouldn’t ask for anything more or less.

And yes, CGI Rudy is almost as delightful as the original.

The Machines

TWC reproduces eight classic Williams machines.¹ Here’s a rundown in order of original release. Titles and photos are linked to the corresponding pages in the Internet Pinball Database.

Gorgar (1979): This was the first widely available pinball machine whose main character talked. He couldn’t say much, so Williams wisely decided to make him a demon character. That way, phrases like “ME GORGAR!” would sound evil rather than stupid. The playfield has a pretty standard layout—a couple banks of drop targets, pop bumpers at top center—but the camp value of the art and sound make the overall package something special. (The backglass is particularly sweet.) Gorgar comes at the tail end an era that placed an emphasis on racking up bonus points (which are tallied after the ball drains). That’s always a change for somebody like me, brought up on the games of the late ’80s and ’90s, where you score the vast bulk of your points while the ball is in play.

Firepower (1980): Of the eight machines in this list, Firepower was the best selling, but it’s my least favorite. It’s a good machine, but the wide-open playfield doesn’t match my tastes, and the art hasn’t aged well. Extenuating good points: When you activate multiball, this machine features an understated countdown to “launch” that still gets the adrenaline flowing. Firepower was the first machine to feature the lane change feature, a minor but immensely helpful innovation.

Black Knight (1980): Created by legendary pinball designer Steve Ritchie (who also designed Firepower), Black Knight has a fantastic flow to it. It’s a pleasure to get a good rhythm going, weaving balls through the split-level playfield. The hallmark gizmo on BK is Magna-Save, a pair of player-activated magnets that can keep your ball from slipping down the outlanes. The speech synthesis is borderline incomprehensible, but my compliments to the developers of TWC for resisting the temptation to clean up the distorted dialogue. Like Funhouse, this is a game remembered by many former arcade rats who wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Space Shuttle (1984): When I was playing this one with my wife, I felt obligated to say, “Remember, this was when space was cool.” I love the clean, 1980s hi-tech styling on this game and its unabashed “USA! USA!” spirit. The sequence of play if smart: The player is forced to make dangerous side shots to lock balls for multiball, and if you survive this part, you get a gratifying, easy shot straight up the middle to blast off. I don’t know why this machine never matched the popularity of Firepower. I guess people find it more exciting to fire off a rocket than to launch the cute little shuttle.

PIN-BOT (1986): Great, great machine. You use the ball to activate a robot and collect energy and by the way, you’re exploring the solar system, too. They were too busy packing robot-space coolness into this pin to bother making any sense. This is the only table that I noticed playing much differently than it does in the arcade. The sensors on Pin-Bot’s teeth are typically a little twitchier in real life than in TWC’s simulation, so in an arcade, it’s easier to open Pin-Bot’s visor and install his eyes. See what I mean about not making sense?

Taxi (1988): A fun pin with two swooping, easy-to-shoot ramps near the middle of the playfield and two small, very difficult ramps on the edges. The only pinball machine to my knowledge that prominently features Mikhail Gorbachev. (Gorbie is one of the passengers you pick up, along with Dracula, Santa Claus, Pin-Bot, and Lola, a Marilyn Monroe type.)

Whirlwind (1990): Pat Lawlor created Whirlwind and Funhouse. He then created the best-selling pinball machine of all time, The Addams Family. After that, he created what many pinheads think is the greatest machine ever, The Twilight Zone. Pat Lawlor is deserving of your worship. Whirlwind’s gimmick is a set of three plastic discs embedded in the playfield that spin rapidly when you achieve certain goals, diverting your ball in a tornado-like fashion. Classic Lawlor chicanery.

Funhouse (1990): I made my love for Funhouse clear up top, so I’ll just say that the little ditty that plays during Superdog mode is one of my favorite pinball tunes of all time. Catchy.

Now go play pinball!

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1. The Wii and PSP versions have ten tables—Jive Time and Sorcerer are only available on these platforms—but I bought the PS2 version. I don’t know why the developers didn’t include all the tables in the PS2 version, but they picked the right ones to leave out, at least. ↑