Pro Pinball Big Race USA (PS1) Quick Review
So, for those of you that don't follow me on Facebook, this past week there was a late-season snow storm that rolled through. It was predicted to dump almost 2' of snow in my area. I didn't want to get stranded in the middle of a project so I decided to take a casual week. The end result? Maybe half a foot of snow and the only time lights went out was when it was under my control. Since I wasn't left stranded, I still wanted to get a review up this week, but I wasn't left with enough time to play through an entire game, so here we are with a Quick Review.
The day after "snowpocalypse" hit, I went out on a bit of a retro run to pick some stuff up, and I ended up finding a game that I had as a kid. I had a ton of fun with it back then but wanted to see if it would hold up today for me. The goal in it is to make it across the country and back, in the titular Big Race across the USA.
Let's see if this game still has balls.
The Good
- TONS of Mini-Games. The game is "split" into two modes on the table. There's "In the city" and "On the road". While for the most part, nothing really changes between the two, there is one spot on the table that you must shoot the ball into in order to travel across the country. While in city mode, shooting the ball here triggers one of a number of mini-games. After completing (or not completing) the mini-game, you can shoot back into the same hole to activate "On the road". Now, it's all taking place on a pinball table so the mini-games aren't too eccentric. They all involve you hitting a precise shot on any number of the loops or switches, and even though you aren't required to win the game, they manage to be challenging yet fun, and it makes you want to try.
- 4 Player By Yourself. Big Race USA has an option for playing as 4-players on the table. After the completion of each turn it tallies up your score and passes the ball to the next player. What's cool though is you can do this all off of one controller by yourself. So maybe you want to practice and try your best to make it across the country and back and give yourself the maximum potential to do so, or maybe you just want to try and set a ridiculous score. You can either test yourself and do it as just one player, or fill up the board and go crazy.
The Bad
- The Table Can Be A D**k. One thing this game does a few times is screw you over. There are moments where you'll get the ball in one of the spots that will hold it for a few moments and spit it back out at you. These "spits" are randomly aimed, and with different power levels, and on occasion it'll throw the ball into one of the bumpers, and then it'll bounce directly out. Or, it'll toss it into the sweet spot between the two lower flippers where neither one can make any contact. Sometimes, it'll be nice to you and give you a "Ball Saved" but other times, after making a really strong run through a ton of challenges, your reward is to lose a turn.
- Dot Matrix Placement. At the top of the screen, there's a thin dot matrix that acts as your scoreboard, just like it would on a traditional pinball machine. Since the majority of the screen is taken up by the table itself, the only place for the matrix is to be placed over the top of the table. You're given a few options of where to place it and how opaque it can be, but it still blocks a decent chunk of the upper portion of the table. This wouldn't be so bad, but the area in question is where a lot of the loops run into, and depending on the speed of your shot, you might only make it through a portion of the loop, or the whole thing, so your ball can come out anywhere. This placement of the dot matrix essentially makes it a guessing game for you, unless you can perfectly read the physics behind your shot and the ball and calculate which loop you'll exit from.
Is it Worth it?
When a games value is peaked at just over $2 for a sealed copy, and lower for CIB or loose, it's not a question of if the game can hold it's value. There are plenty of games over even the $20 range that hold no gameplay value at all. So in this situation, it's not whether you'll get your $2 worth. It's more of a question of should I even bother to pick this one up?
For Big Race USA, the answer is yes. While it's only a pinball game, it is a whole lot of fun. Despite the annoyances that occur in this game, they don't take away from the enjoyability of it. What's even cooler is the company that developed this game dedicated it to being as realistic of a pinball simulator as possible, and it genuinely is. You can change a few factors such as how worn the table is (this will change how fast and clean the ball rolls), how strong the flippers shoot, and a couple other things to tweak the experience. The Pro-Pinball series encompassed four different games, and I had a few of them growing up, but this one is the only one I really enjoyed. The trek across the country can be a real test to your skill, but even if you fail, just setting a high score in this one is a lot of fun as well.
I haven't beaten this one in the sense of completing the Big Race. It actually is pretty challenging. However, I took a different approach to this one and when I play it I try to get to EVERY city on the map. I have come close to doing the actual race though, but I usually end up losing the game on the return trip back from SanFran. But, when I was a kid I couldn't stop playing this one, and after I picked this one up recently I fell right back in. I bought this one on the Monday before writing this, and in the 6 days since I probably put in at least a dozen hours, and that's in addition to the other streams I've done, as well as spending time out with my family. It won't be the shining star of your collection, but it'll be a lot of fun to play. Definitely give this one a try.
The day after "snowpocalypse" hit, I went out on a bit of a retro run to pick some stuff up, and I ended up finding a game that I had as a kid. I had a ton of fun with it back then but wanted to see if it would hold up today for me. The goal in it is to make it across the country and back, in the titular Big Race across the USA.
Let's see if this game still has balls.
The Good
- TONS of Mini-Games. The game is "split" into two modes on the table. There's "In the city" and "On the road". While for the most part, nothing really changes between the two, there is one spot on the table that you must shoot the ball into in order to travel across the country. While in city mode, shooting the ball here triggers one of a number of mini-games. After completing (or not completing) the mini-game, you can shoot back into the same hole to activate "On the road". Now, it's all taking place on a pinball table so the mini-games aren't too eccentric. They all involve you hitting a precise shot on any number of the loops or switches, and even though you aren't required to win the game, they manage to be challenging yet fun, and it makes you want to try.
- 4 Player By Yourself. Big Race USA has an option for playing as 4-players on the table. After the completion of each turn it tallies up your score and passes the ball to the next player. What's cool though is you can do this all off of one controller by yourself. So maybe you want to practice and try your best to make it across the country and back and give yourself the maximum potential to do so, or maybe you just want to try and set a ridiculous score. You can either test yourself and do it as just one player, or fill up the board and go crazy.
The Bad
- The Table Can Be A D**k. One thing this game does a few times is screw you over. There are moments where you'll get the ball in one of the spots that will hold it for a few moments and spit it back out at you. These "spits" are randomly aimed, and with different power levels, and on occasion it'll throw the ball into one of the bumpers, and then it'll bounce directly out. Or, it'll toss it into the sweet spot between the two lower flippers where neither one can make any contact. Sometimes, it'll be nice to you and give you a "Ball Saved" but other times, after making a really strong run through a ton of challenges, your reward is to lose a turn.
- Dot Matrix Placement. At the top of the screen, there's a thin dot matrix that acts as your scoreboard, just like it would on a traditional pinball machine. Since the majority of the screen is taken up by the table itself, the only place for the matrix is to be placed over the top of the table. You're given a few options of where to place it and how opaque it can be, but it still blocks a decent chunk of the upper portion of the table. This wouldn't be so bad, but the area in question is where a lot of the loops run into, and depending on the speed of your shot, you might only make it through a portion of the loop, or the whole thing, so your ball can come out anywhere. This placement of the dot matrix essentially makes it a guessing game for you, unless you can perfectly read the physics behind your shot and the ball and calculate which loop you'll exit from.
Is it Worth it?
When a games value is peaked at just over $2 for a sealed copy, and lower for CIB or loose, it's not a question of if the game can hold it's value. There are plenty of games over even the $20 range that hold no gameplay value at all. So in this situation, it's not whether you'll get your $2 worth. It's more of a question of should I even bother to pick this one up?
For Big Race USA, the answer is yes. While it's only a pinball game, it is a whole lot of fun. Despite the annoyances that occur in this game, they don't take away from the enjoyability of it. What's even cooler is the company that developed this game dedicated it to being as realistic of a pinball simulator as possible, and it genuinely is. You can change a few factors such as how worn the table is (this will change how fast and clean the ball rolls), how strong the flippers shoot, and a couple other things to tweak the experience. The Pro-Pinball series encompassed four different games, and I had a few of them growing up, but this one is the only one I really enjoyed. The trek across the country can be a real test to your skill, but even if you fail, just setting a high score in this one is a lot of fun as well.
I haven't beaten this one in the sense of completing the Big Race. It actually is pretty challenging. However, I took a different approach to this one and when I play it I try to get to EVERY city on the map. I have come close to doing the actual race though, but I usually end up losing the game on the return trip back from SanFran. But, when I was a kid I couldn't stop playing this one, and after I picked this one up recently I fell right back in. I bought this one on the Monday before writing this, and in the 6 days since I probably put in at least a dozen hours, and that's in addition to the other streams I've done, as well as spending time out with my family. It won't be the shining star of your collection, but it'll be a lot of fun to play. Definitely give this one a try.
