White knucklin in the black hole!

[RetroBlast]

My favorite table! As my signature states, I am a 1st generation gamer - yep, I played video games on a black and white TV before VCRs and CELL PHONES were invented! Having said that, this collection of pinball tables brings back the feel of the original video games ... but with modern graphics. All the elements are there ... unlike many video games today that hold your hand and walk you past and around death, death is ever present in pinball and the fear that comes with it is real ... its unforgiving! Its twitch gameplay at its best, its just a panic! and its fun!

Not having played pinball that much in real life, I looked at all the tables for a moment or two and thought, BLACK HOLE, looks like the simplest and easiest table to play so I started there. I read the rule sheet and said, now that sounds easy .... I quickly realized I was wrong! I had to keep going back to the rule sheet and leaning how to play it bit by bit and it made all the difference, knowing what to do. Doing it is another story! This is one tough table gang and it is fun, its a panic, and it does not give away millions of points at the drop of a hat, nope, you have to fight for those points. Today I broke 1,000,000 points and I felt better than I did when I finished Resistance 1 and 2 or Killzone 2 ... In my eyes, it was a major accomplishment! So check out the rule sheet and revisit the table if you neglected it, in my eyes, its the most difficult and fun of all the 4 tables offered.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Right on! I'm right there with you, both in my love for the Hole that is Black, and I also started out with Atari on a black and white TV. Your first paragraph is a fantastically awesome summary of why pinball is so great....and TPA is one of the few video games that still gives me an adrenaline rush.

Black Hole is the table that keeps calling me back for more. My best scores hover in between the 1-2 million range.....I'm still trying to break the 2 million barrier, but it will be a day of great rejoicing when that moment comes.

 

[HOW]

I came across this today:
Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKzh0zJEcoc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Hope link works

 

[superballs]

I love Black Hole...I tend to focus on a table for a while and move on. I'm working on ToM but i bounce between Tom and Black Hole to mix it up and once in a while go over to TOTAN.

It is a great and demanding table...every shot is a gamble if you're not in perfect control and every shot to the bottom playfield is a harrowing experience as it can spell certain doom if you don't open the gate, or open the gate and take a bad bounce.

 

[RetroBlast]

Thanks HOW Strong superballs ! Wait a minute? What did I just say? Well, how strong were my superballs today? I finally broke the million mark and this time I was connected to the Internet so my score posted to the Leaderboards! Yippee! As of this posting, I ranked 434 on the All Time Leaderboard with a score of 1,052,220 ... its not my best score, but its the best to me because it made the leaderboards!

Thanks for you compliment on my description Jeff Strong! Who will make it to the 2 million club 1st, you or me? Only time will tell!

Great Video How, God I would love to play this table in real life!

You know superballs, I am currently trapped in the BLACK HOLE, and when I get out, I am not sure what table I will concentrate on ... perhaps Theatre of Magic, it seems to have captivated so many here ...

 

[superballs]

ToM is a great table...lots to do without being too much...forgiving but challenging at the same time.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Thanks HOW Strong superballs ! Wait a minute? What did I just say? Well, how strong were my superballs today? I finally broke the million mark and this time I was connected to the Internet so my score posted to the Leaderboards! Yippee! As of this posting, I ranked 434 on the All Time Leaderboard with a score of 1,052,220 ... its not my best score, but its the best to me because it made the leaderboards!

Thanks for you compliment on my description Jeff Strong! Who will make it to the 2 million club 1st, you or me? Only time will tell!

Great Video How, God I would love to play this table in real life!

You know superballs, I am currently trapped in the BLACK HOLE, and when I get out, I am not sure what table I will concentrate on ... perhaps Theatre of Magic, it seems to have captivated so many here ...

I like your style, RB.

I sense 2 million in your not so distant future......and hopefully mine too.

 

[c-dub]

Not having played pinball that much in real life, I looked at all the tables for a moment or two and thought, BLACK HOLE, looks like the simplest and easiest table to play so I started there.

Funnily enough, my first impression after a free-play of Black Hole was that it was too plain and staid for me, I hated the wide-open playfield, and I didn't get around to actually trying it properly until I'd drained a whole lot of balls on the other three launch tables.

And yet now it's easily the table I've spent most time on! I love it! It feels the least capricious of the tables in the game; whenever I lose a ball I feel like it's completely my fault. Which makes it even more frustrating the way it happens continually! (Did I mention I suck at pinball? I suck at pinball.)

I've only cracked 1m three times, and both of the two times I've got multiball going I've immediately experienced a bad case of post climactic ball drain pain. But I just keep hitting that Start button!

(Although I have to admit, when I post a run of sub 200k scores--or don't even break 6 figures!--sometimes I like a change of pace with ToTAN or MM--that table hands out multiballs like candy!)

 

[Jeff Strong]

And yet now it's easily the table I've spent most time on! I love it! It feels the least capricious of the tables in the game; whenever I lose a ball I feel like it's completely my fault.

That's what I love about BH, too. Rarely ever is there a cheap drain.

 

[Tabe]

I haven't come around yet to loving Black Hole. I haven't studied the rules super-thoroughly yet and have struggled to get scores over 300,000. Bugs with the ball phasing through the flippers have also detracted from the experience. The couple times I've managed to have good games going, I've lost balls that went right through the flippers, killing my game That said, I'm not deterred - I plan on sticking with it to complete all the goals. Right now, though, this is definitely my least favorite of the four launch titles.

Tabe

 

[RetroBlast]

Hey tabe, what system are you playing it on? I am an avid player of the table and only had the ball go through the flippers once in God knows how many games I have played. As far as points go, you do have to work for them, It took me a while to break the 500,000 mark and at that time I had already learned some of the rules. You especailly really need to learn the rules for this table, because if you do not, you will not know what sequence of events causes things to happen and you will not really know what you should be aiming for. Because there are not many targets on the table, it is especially important to learn what to do. Things you do on the top play field affect the bottom play field (or lower black hole) and vise versa. For example, in order to earn an extra ball, you must do something on the bottom play field and the top play field, the same goes for earning specials as well. I do not know about you, but reading through the rule sheet once didn't do it for me, I had to keep going back and checking the rules ... now I know the rules and my games are usually between 500,000 to 1,000,000... but now I have to learn the best point combos and how to accomplish them .... there is someone on the leaderboard with over 1 Billion Points !!!! can you Imagine that? your next goal after learning some the rules is to get 500,000 and if you do, consider that an accomplishment ... all I can say is that when I break 1 Mil I am very happy ... now my target score is 2 Mil and I will not rest until I reach it!

 

[c-dub]

Hey tabe, what system are you playing it on? I am an avid player of the table and only had the ball go through the flippers once in God knows how many games I have played.

I've never had the ball go through the flipper either, touch wood! (I'm on iOS.)

You especailly really need to learn the rules for this table,

Seconded. The table only became fun for me once I knew what I was doing. My current tactic is to start every game by getting the top rollunder extra ball light lit. Once that's lit, it's much easier to get a respectable score, because you can keep hitting it each time you lose a ball.

You probably shouldn't be taking advice from me, though; I'm miles down the leaderboards...

 

[Tabe]

Hey tabe, what system are you playing it on? I am an avid player of the table and only had the ball go through the flippers once in God knows how many games I have played. As far as points go, you do have to work for them, It took me a while to break the 500,000 mark and at that time I had already learned some of the rules. You especailly really need to learn the rules for this table, because if you do not, you will not know what sequence of events causes things to happen and you will not really know what you should be aiming for. Because there are not many targets on the table, it is especially important to learn what to do. Things you do on the top play field affect the bottom play field (or lower black hole) and vise versa. For example, in order to earn an extra ball, you must do something on the bottom play field and the top play field, the same goes for earning specials as well. I do not know about you, but reading through the rule sheet once didn't do it for me, I had to keep going back and checking the rules ... now I know the rules and my games are usually between 500,000 to 1,000,000... but now I have to learn the best point combos and how to accomplish them .... there is someone on the leaderboard with over 1 Billion Points !!!! can you Imagine that? your next goal after learning some the rules is to get 500,000 and if you do, consider that an accomplishment ... all I can say is that when I break 1 Mil I am very happy ... now my target score is 2 Mil and I will not rest until I reach it!

I'm playing on a PS3.

I did read through the rules some more and finally topped 500,000 last night. I think I ended up at like 650,000. I have a little better handle on the lower level now and the ordering of some of the targets and so on. I knocked out a couple more of the standard goals last night and am only missing the 250,000 lower level bonus goal of the standard ones. I played for about 45 minutes and definitely enjoyed the table more than I had in the past but I'm still not 100% sold

Tabe

 

[Brian Clark]

I managed to break a million a couple times, but I still haven't reached 2 million. I love Black Hole!

 

[RetroBlast]

Awesome! I'm shooting for 2 Mil now without any luck so far , who knows maybe tomorrow I'll nail it! Tebe, when I broke that final standard goal of 250,000, I had the multiplier on 5x and both G force accelerators lit ... When multiball kicked in, I managed to keep both balls down there for a bit and nailed it ... I wasn't down there forever, that is for sure ... Now with the Wizard Goals, I have to break 500,000 in the black hole portion ... I really need to not spend time down there unless at least one G Force is lit, otherwise, its probably just a waste of time. Extra balls are key on this table and pretty easy to get once you know how. What you said about the balls going through the flippers, If you are hooked up to a TV screen via the cables, this could be causing it, I am hooked up to PC monitor with an HDMI cable and that lowers the amount of glitches. Don't feel bad about not being sold on the Black Hole, I am not sold on ToM, so I am in the minority around here.

 

[Tabe]

If you are hooked up to a TV screen via the cables, this could be causing it, I am hooked up to PC monitor with an HDMI cable and that lowers the amount of glitches.

I'm using an HDMI connection to a plasma TV and if that's responsible for a ball going through the flippers, the developers are incompetent.

Tabe

 

[RetroBlast]

Haha well its a theory based on other posts

 

[RetroBlast]

I finally managed to break the 2 MIL mark while playing on the PS Vita, it didn't advance me in the friends leaderboard but it sure felt great ........

 

[Jeff Strong]

I finally managed to break the 2 MIL mark while playing on the PS Vita, it didn't advance me in the friends leaderboard but it sure felt great ........

You beat me! Nice work, man

 

[RetroBlast]

You know, I keep saying, I'll concentrate on another table when I reach xxx score on BLACK HOLE, and each time I reach the set goal, I immediately set a new goal and never get to another table! Maybe its not so bad that tables have not been coming out like clockwork on PSN, I still have three tables to dive into on the initial 4 pack.