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I am currently at 128th on the Xbox 360 leaderboards for Tales of the Arabian Nights on Pinball Arcade, with a pretty good score of 140,471,170. However, I wasn’t even going for a high score with my run, just trying to activate the Harem multiball mode. While this is only one of the standard goals (as opposed to the much harder wizard goals) I found it one of the hardest of those goals to achieve, across all four of the included games. For one thing, the Harem light is hardly ever lit, usually the Lock or Tiger loop light is lit instead. Also, the way the board is set up, it’s really hard to get to either of the furthest outside loops. For the most part I’ve found the sweet spots for trying to hit the lamp (get the ball stopped on the right flipper, and hit just as it starts to roll down) and the Collect Jewel/Magic Carpet ramp (about the middle of the right flipper) but getting over to that left loop takes a lot of luck. Too often I’ll hit with the tip of the right flipper and hit the left bumper which sends me zooming down the right gutter. This game is terrible about sending you straight down the middle and sides. You can only hope to have a shooting star, which will stop the ball in place over the flipper drop, otherwise you had better be quick with the forward nudge if it gets anywhere near that area. You would think a side nudge, but everything I’ve heard says a forward nudge is the best for getting out of there. I’m still not that great at nudging, and wish I could do it with the right analog stick instead of the left one (feels more natural to me).
This was one of my least favorite tables when I first started playing Pinball Arcade, but I’ve played it so much now trying to get the only standard goal I was missing, it has kind of drilled itself into my head and taken up permanent residence there. I love the sitar scale that plays while your bonuses add up. I love abusing the 3X lightning lamp bonuses. But most of all, I’m glad I was finally able to get that stupid harem multiball mode! Which I immediately flunked out of, by the way.
My tips for trying to play this table are as follows:
- If you ever see Collect Bonus as a wish, it’s just like getting the end of ball bonus, so if you have any multiplier or lamp bonus going at all, it’s almost always worth it over a jewel.
- You can easily stop the ball when it comes out of the Bazaar hole by just keeping the right flipper held up. Make a good shot on the lamp, genie, or whatever you need to hit.
- Failing to go all the way up the magic carpet ramp can be a death sentence, because it will roll back down and straight down the middle. If you see it about to roll back down, do a panic side nudge and slap it!
- Get lightning lamp going, get in the Bazaar hole when WISH is lit, and you can choose 3x lamp bonus. Even a small thwack of the lamp is now worth around a million. Keep at it and watch the timer!
- If you can defeat the genie it’s worth 20 million points (haven’t done this yet) so that’s far from an arbitrary goal. You get unlimited balls in the last leg of the fight but time is very limited.
A lot of people have been disappointed with Pinball Arcade so far, and I might be one of them, but I’m still addicted. The ball physics are tons better than the Williams Collection, but still far from perfect. Honestly all the bugs and the ugly interface are nothing compared to at least being able to experience these tables, even in a virtual form. Digital distribution means those bugs can all be fixed, but I have my doubts about that happening in a timely fashion. It’s also annoying that iOS and Android seem to be getting the DLC sooner than the consoles. Still have to wait until early May for Medieval Madness and Bride of Pin-bot on my 360, but those lucky iPad owners are already enjoying those. Apparently this has the most to do with the certification processing time between those platforms. It’s still obnoxious.
Here’s someone doing very well on a real table of ToTAN (81 million): http://pinball.org/videos/gameplay-videos/tales-of-the-arabian-nights/
I wish I would have gotten into pinball earlier in my life, when there were still arcades full of awesome tables. Still, it was great going to Maryland and seeing the National Pinball Museum and the awesome collection at Crab Towne USA. Nothing beats playing a real table, but thanks go to Farsight for coming close. Now fix those countless bugs, hurry it up with the DLC (take my $$$), and hire someone with some taste to make a better interface.
Bejeweled is an easy game for someone like me, who grew up with Puyo Puyo and Tetris Attack/Panel De Pon, to write off as just some timewaster like you’d see on those touchscreen games at bars or clubs, or that come with your phone. In the same breath, all games are timesinks, but Tetris Attack at least had great character and gratification that came from the amount of attention that was given to the gameplay balance and sound design. Western games like Bejeweled and Peggle on the other hand have about the same aesthetic brillance as Lisa Frank stationery.
But I will always love “time attack” style gameplay. Bejeweled Blitz is making me realize just how much. For those of you that only play actual games, this is a version of Bejeweled that you play on Facebook. It tracks the scores of all your Facebook friends that play. If your score (times 2) and the scores of all your friends add up to over 1 million, you get entered into a drawing to win a Popcap branded laptop that week. It’s made for quick pick up and play sessions; there’s only one gameplay mode and it’s only one minute long.
I tried Bejeweled 2 on PC after playing Blitz for a while, but it’s not the same. The fun in the game comes from the time restraint, where every move matters. Because the time is so limited, Blitz adds “blazing speed” mode and multiplier jewels. You are rewarded for each move you make in rapid succession of the last until you reach the top of that scale which activates blazing speed: it only lasts for a few seconds or so, but each match in this mode causes explosions shattering gems around it, netting you crazy points. Even if you manage to access this bonus though, it won’t make a lot of difference unless you’ve got a few multipliers under your belt. Multipliers appear if you make a lot of jewels explode in a single move, which can sometimes happen just making multiple matches of 3′s, but usually you’ll want to make matches of 4′s or 5′s which make jewels that cause cascading explosions.
To summarize, this is like the manic version of Bejeweled. They didn’t just attach a time limit, they toyed with the scoring system in such a way that you feel like you’re being pushed to the finish line. Making a big enough cascade can push your score over the edge and give you a higher score than seemed possible before. It’s really pretty good, and not even in the “empty calorie” way like Peggle. It could be argued that the game is kind of random, where some boards just hand you better matches than others, but when each match is only a minute it’s not that big of a complaint. The game could, however, use some sort of quick restart for when you know it’s just not your match.
Seeing companies like Capcom and Hudson showing interest in mobile gaming, I wonder if they’ll start to look at gaming on social networking sites as well. Some Star Soldier caravan mode perhaps? At the very least I’m hoping for more fast action games, although we’ll probably just see a bunch of Farmville clones. UGH FARMVILLE
Speaking of Tetris Attack earlier made me want to pick Planet Puzzle League for the DS back up again. I think I’d have a few things to say about that one. But I’ve been wanting to write about another time attack game for a long time now: Pac-Man Championship Edition. Or maybe I’ll just forget I even had a gaming journal for another two months. We’ll see!
Hey. I’m Adam, known on the internet as szycag. I’m going to write on the internet about video games that I play, like these other dudes are doing. I’ll jump right into that then.
I love Virtua Tennis 3 so much; got it for $7 on Ebay, brand new in the plastic even. Virtua Tennis 2009 came out a couple months ago, which I guess makes this game obsolete and thus cheap. Not really though. Unlike most sports games on the market, I’m pretty sure many of the fans don’t even follow the sport and won’t care about the new roster. For people with short attention spans such as me, it’s just Pong with way more strategy thrown in. It’s also one of the few Sega properties left that hasn’t been totally dragged to hell yet. 2009 does add a few features that sounded interesting, but everything you need to be absolutely addicted is right here. It’s also in the first two really, it’s just that here it’s in 1080p. Hi-res cardboard cutout crowd goes wild!
So for this, my first post, I was going to announce my first victory against the AI on hard in Exhibition mode, but that hasn’t happened yet, despite all my hard work. I’ve gotten so close numerous times. I always pick that Dent guy as my rival because I don’t like his chin. Sometimes I’ll catch him slipping and get him off to one side and smack one in he can’t possibly reach, but I swear he’s just doing this to lure me into some false sense of security. I sense so many things from the AI in this game- things that I’m just imagining of course- but like the computer is getting mad at me or trying to spite me, lead me on even. The great thing about a game as simple as this is how complex the AI can truly get. I see it starting to pull the same shit that I’m trying to pull, like lob shots that go just an inch over the net then running right up against it and mashing A. Stuff like that. That’s MY dick move, and he stole it. Double dicked.
I think what plays into all that is the body language. When I trip over my own shoes with a sloppy return, then see the other guy rearing up to smack it back just a couple feet out of my reach, I have to step back a bit and wait a few seconds before I serve again. Stare him down a bit. He’s looking a bit cocky. Picture that, then the next set he’s going all benevolent and botching what was otherwise a pretty boring rally. The never-ending rallies aren’t what gets me though, it’s tying up at Deuce again and again, sometimes up to six and seven times. By that point I’m just too nervous to be clever. If it’s match point and I’m that nervous, I’m hoping if I hit A at just the right moment when I serve it’s going to hit him right in his mongoloid chin. Even in fighting games I don’t get that desperate. It’s just the nature of the game I guess. Oh, here are the two unlockable TRUE LAST BOSS characters:
King and Duke
Look at these douchebags. Case in point. Cocky bastards. I turned the tournament settings to Very Easy, 1 match, so I could keep getting to King without any undue stress, but it was hopeless. Can’t get a single point against him. I’m not even gonna try matching up with Duke. Look at those handlebars. I’m trying to figure out which mini-game in the world tour mode levels up my pompous prick attribute.
There should be a mini-game where you hit baby seal clubbers with tennis balls.
Some stuff I might talk about next time:
Shadow Complex
Shooting Game Tournament 2009 bitching
Gears of War 2 unless I end up reselling it (I’ve had it for a month and it’s still in the plastic. Can’t stop playing VT3)
Sega Saturn stuff
HOW WAS THAT DAN
Dan Haigh
Ghegs
[DRZ] OTL-TIW
sikraiken
Alice
victoly
plasm0
Aquas
Raydere
szycag
BDA
bloocloud
Kollision
