Austin Powers Pinball

Austin Powers Pinball plays like a Flash game from the early 2000's in the worst kind of way. I get that pinball games haven't been great until recently, but come on, if the Gameboy and other old consoles can do a good job with the genre, than why not a game on a console as powerful as the PS1? Austin Powers Pinball for the PS1 offers very little excitement for pinball and Powers fans alike.

To start, this game only offers two tables. TWO TABLES?! Yeah, they couldn't even be bothered to include one table per film. What we get are tables based off of the first two and play modes that only seem to differ in point value and ball allotments. No multiplayer beyond a tournament style, no nothing. Ok, ok, sure. When I noticed this I figured many the tables are still great. Heck, there are a few games out there I've played with about the same and they're pretty decent. The game's music and menu options were pretty slim and messy too, but I was hopeful that maybe something good was around the corner. Nope, each table is a mess for a few reasons.

While I can appreciate graphical limitations in the history of gaming, a good game is a good game, no matter how you slice it. The same can be said for poor games. The ball's physics are terrible, which I was expecting, but it moves so fast that having the game take a scrolling point of view just gives you a headache for any extended amount of play. Graphically it appears to be images of various textures stuck wherever on the field, not always representing specific game goals. Shouldn't a good pinball game at least match a pinball experience or offer one that could only be done as a videogame? Nope, we get blande boards that are boring to look at along with musical and audio cues that are a notch above shameful.

This game does offer a small amount of enjoyment, if only to see what good aspects can be found in terrible games. While I can't say that this game is an offensive waste of time, I can say that there is absolutely no reason to play it beyond curiosities sake. It's got a bit of fun here and there, but then you might as well go watch the movies.