True Pinball

True Pinball is a video game developed by Digital Illusions and published by Ocean for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. It is an enhanced version of Pinball Illusions.

True Pinball
North American Sega Saturn cover art
Developer(s)	Digital Illusions
Publisher(s)	Ocean Software
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Release	EU: April 5, 1996 NA: October 31, 1996 (Sega Saturn Only)
Genre(s)	Pinball
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

True Pinball is a pinball game with four pinball tables.^[1] They are the same ones featured in the later versions of Illusions, but with improved visuals and audio. Each table has been recreated in 3D and can be played either at an angle or from a top-down view.

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
AllGame	(PS)[2]
Mean Machines Sega	85% (Saturn)[3]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	7/10 (Saturn)[4]
Next Generation	(Saturn)[1]

Reception

Next Generation reviewed the Saturn version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "True Pinball is a good video pinball game, just not a great game of pinball."^[1]

Mean Machines Sega gave the Saturn version of True Pinball an overall score of 85%, expressing that it "requires skill" and is a better pinball game than Digital Pinball: Last Gladiators, further stating that it emulates the 'look and feel' of a real pinball machine.^[3] Electronic Gaming Monthly's four-person review crew gave the Saturn version of the game an overall score of seven out of ten, praising its "hi-res" graphics, and like Mean Machines Sega, EGM expressed that it emulates the 'look and feel' of a real pinball machine, with one reviewer stating that True Pinball is "as close to true pinball as can be".^[4]

References

1. "Finals - Rating: Saturn - True Pinball". Next Generation. No. 22. Imagine Publishing. October 1996. pp. 175–176. ISSN 1078-9693.
2. Scott Alan Marriott. "True Pinball (PlayStation) Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
3. Swan, Angus (April 1996). "Saturn Review: True Pinball". Mean Machines Sega. No. 42. EMAP Images. pp. 82–83.
4. Shawn Smith; Dan Hsu; Crispin Boyer; Sushi-X (September 1996). "Review Crew: True Pinball". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 86. Ziff Davis. p. 25. ISSN 1058-918X.