Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon

Espy

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Sep 9, 2013
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Apologies if there is already a thread for this, I couldn't find one.

Probably one of the hidden gems of pinball video games of the last few years. It's a DSi title (and can also be downloaded on 3DS), and is by Silverball Studios (now Barnstorm Games), who you'll know as the creators of the Pro Pinball series (when they were Cunning Developments - confusing!), and more comparatively, Metroid Prime Pinball. It's a pre-rendered table that takes up both screens, based on Roman myth. It is a really fun table - I have all the Zen tables on 3DS, but if I want to play pinball I'll go to this one. Good visuals, even for a DSi game, as it's pre-rendered (and as such has an old school vibe that harkens back to 90s games like Pro Pinball), theme is well implemented, and ball physics are fine. It has a fun one-ball mode that you can only play once a day, similar to the one-ball challenge we had here a while ago. Minor nitpicks are it's a bit easy - no really dangerous shots to speak of, and the flippers are quite big compared to the ball. But it's quite low scoring so there's a lot of satisfaction in getting an eight-figure score. And nudging isn't instinctive, as you need to swipe the screen. I'm hardwired to thinking you use the left stick (or circle pad) to nudge, so often I mess up by using that impulsively. Also you're paying for one table what you would for two on TPA or ZP, but as it's a few years old that pricing standard hadn't come into play yet.

It's a shame there is only one table as the name implies there was more to come. It could have been a spiritual successor to Pro Pinball. But it wasn't to be. Part of me hopes that the new Pro Pinball is really popular and they eventually run out of tables to remake, then do this one!
 
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LanceBoyle

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Jul 5, 2013
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Haven't played this one, but I did hear great things about it, and similarly Metroid Prime Pinball is a great one.

Sure, it may be rather rage-inducing at times, but not to the level of Rare's NES versions of Pin*Bot and High Speed, especially the latter.
 

Espy

New member
Sep 9, 2013
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Clearly not many people have heard about it. All the more reason to raise awareness.

If you have a DSi or 3DS, check it out!
 

Freelance

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Feb 28, 2012
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I like the game, but I really hate the touch screen nudging. If they had implemented button nudging, I'd play it a lot more.
 

mystman12

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Apr 21, 2013
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This is one of my most favorite pinball games of all time! It's definitely worth $5. In fact, I play it more than all the Zen Pinball 3D games combined. The game is a bit on the easy side, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Plus, wizard mode is still pretty hard to get, unless you spend credits. (For comparison, the wizard mode in this game isn't nearly as easy to reach as TPA version of TZ.) The daily mode is really nice, and while usually get a ball that drains really quickly, occasionally I get a really satisfactory games. (In fact just a few days ago Inset a new high score for my daily game!) the tilting certainly isn't the best, but it still works and it just feels awesome when you manage to bang back the ball! If any one has a 3DS or a DSi should definitely give this game a shot.
 

Zorgwon

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Sep 14, 2013
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This was made by the Cunning Development people (Pro Pinball Timeshock). They say that the rights belong to Nintendo and they cant make an update or a platform change because of that.
 
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Slam23

Active member
Jul 21, 2012
1,279
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This was made by the Cunning Development people (Pro Pinball Timeshock). They say that the rights belong to Nintendo and they cant make an update or a platform change because of that.

Too bad, because I had a blast with it on my DSi. It reminded me (fondly) of earler Pro Pinball tables and it has surprising depth to it considering the platform it was made for. Although I'm mostly only playing TPA these days, I do like computer generated pinball tables in addition to real life emulation because of the possibilities to include all kinds of impossible toys, playfield modifications, animations and so forth. The Ancients table also has this in moderate amount, but still somewhat grounded in what IRL would be possible unlike Zen tables that sometimes go over the top with this. Anyway, I can recommend this table, you just need yourself a Nintendo machine to play it!
 

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