Caltrops - Orbitor 1

by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/07/2008, 2:38am PDT

It is my belief that The Addams Family and Twilight Zone are the two most important pinball games ever made. I found out from the DVD Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball, that because of the enormous success of the Addams Family, Pat Lawlor was basically allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted for Twilight Zone. And we all benefit, to this day, for it. Pinball is presently in a holding pattern where two misfired licenses will probably kill new games off for years, but to even get to this point it required The Addams Family moving 20,270 units.

The only time I have ever come close to getting a replay on a game has been the Addams Family. It really is amazing. A pinball idiot like myself can jump on and feel like stuff is being accomplished, while at the same time it is my understanding that the flow is fun for better players. And I wish I had been more aware of pinball when it came out, as that goddamn disembodied hand doing shit was amazing the first time I encountered it myself, a couple years ago.

That being said, nobody will ever make another game like Twilight Zone. It's not even the Citizen Kane of pinball, because while that movie has become a cliche for "best movie ever," no pinball designer has tried to surpass Twilight Zone. I don't get to play it often, but when I do go to play pinball, it's the one I spend the most time on.

The magnetic flippers is absolutely mind-blowing as a concept. The fact that Lawlor then goes and adds a ceramic ball to the game, so it is impervious to the unique addition to pinball the TZ has, is just amazing. He invented something new for his game, then immediately starts thinking of how to counter it. The spinning clock in the game works, and is necessary, the panel layout with all the doors is something a lot of pinball games need to tell you what modes are active or accomplished, and it just aesthetically looks right on TZ in a way I don't think it does in many other games. At one point the game starts spouting lines from Lawlor's previous games, which is the awesome kind of arrogance you like to see from a game designer (in other words, the exact opposite of Molyneuxing it).

They also got the Golden Earring song involved.

If it were just a video game, it would be in the discussion with Mario 64, Doom, FF3 and Pac-Man and so forth. And then, on top of all of this, it would take someone like me, a casual player, years to even begin to master it. It's the only game I have ever done research on before and after playing. I haven't written stuff down on paper before playing, because I'd like to get laid again in my lifetime, but it's the only pinball game that would make you want to do that. I can't say enough about it. There's usually some asshole on it when I go to the pinball place to play it, so I have to do the creepy hover with rape eyes thing. I'm okay doing that. I'm okay being that guy for Twilight Zone.

the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!