Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey PC

Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey is the fourth installment of the Pro Pinball series, created by Adrian Barritt duo Richard Horrocks and Cunning Development. In this case, the Fantastic Journey title table was put at the disposal of the players, using numerous motifs from Juliusz Verne's rich work.

Flipper is characterized by a quite interesting plot. Ruthless General Yagov has settled on an island protected by a special force field, and if his absurd demands are not met, he risks destroying the moon. We need to break through the many safeguards and deal with the brutal once and for all. However, before we enter the final game, we go on four long, adventurous journeys and construct a similar number of special steam devices that will allow us to neutralize Yagov's defense systems and lead to direct confrontation. The entire table is maintained in a unique, distinctive retro science fiction convention and, in addition to missions directly related to the storyline layer, offers a significant number of additional ramps, bumpers and bonuses.

The most significant feature of the Pro Pinball games is the photorealistic, pre-rendered visual setting, based on the previously created, fully three-dimensional model of the table. Such a technical procedure allowed graphic designers and programmers to create a very detailed and refined layout, while maintaining smooth gameplay even on weaker PCs. In addition, the program has support for a very large range of image resolution (up to 1600x1200 pixels), which will certainly satisfy the owners of very large monitors. A configurable camera system, offering three different shots, provides a good view of the machine (however, there is no possibility of scrolling the image, as in the old, classic pinball from the nineties of the last century). Noteworthy is also the colorful play of lights and various animations on the results display. All this means that this item still looks pretty good, despite the fact that it was published at the turn of 1999/2000.

Fantastic Journey has a wide range of operator options. Thanks to them we can intervene in the table settings to a very large extent, from determining the point thresholds and the number of balls available (up to ten), through changing the angle of inclination of the table or reflector force, to the degree of wear and tear of the machine. All of this, of course, has a measurable impact on the gameplay. However, due to the complexity of the table and the relative difficulty in positioning many of its key elements, Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey is aimed at experienced players, who will not be discouraged by the need to make multiple attempts to place the ball in a specific location.

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Last updated on 10 December 2007