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PRO PINBALL: BIG RACE USA (PC)
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Publisher: Empire Interactive.
Developer: Cunning Developments. Released: 1998. Genre: Pinball. Other versions: PS. Posted 26th September 2022. By Tom Clare © 2022 |
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The third instalment in Cunning Developments’ all-conquering quartet of Pro Pinball entries had some mighty big shoes to fill. Rather unenviably, Big Race USA was the direct successor to Timeshock, a game so good that it remains, some two decades later, arguably the definitive representation of pinball in video gaming form. A comparison with Big Race USA reveals how sometimes, it’s the small details that make or break a game.
Those who remember the series in its prime will recall that whilst Timeshock would be embraced as a classic of its kind, its follow-up has been consigned to the footnotes of gaming intrigues. Sharing with its illustrious predecessor a physics engine utterly unrivalled at the time, BRUSA retains a similar penchant for loving minutiae and gorgeous presentation. The devil is in the details, however, and Big Race USA gets a number of small but key design decisions wrong. As with every Pro Pinball entry, there’s just one table, so the experience rather lives and dies on its quality. Here, unfortunately, it isn’t as enjoyable as those that went before it.
As with every instalment of Pro Pinball, Big Race USA's presentation has aged remarkably well
There are plenty of positives worthy of mention, though. Big Race USA may well provide the most attractive and impressive-looking table of its entire lineage. A striking golden-yellow colour scheme with a stylish blue trim makes for an eye-catching visage. With its vehicular theme, the table marks a visually appealing throwback reminiscent of the late-eighties Taxi machine from Williams Electronics. Sporting astonishingly smooth pinball physics and ultra-sharp, high-resolution visuals, Big Race USA looks so fantastic, it genuinely doesn’t look out of place next to games ten years younger.
The table is awash with tweakable settings and an operator’s menu that allows the player to alter scoring, features and bonuses, or simply admire the myriad audio effects or mechanical functions. The mini-games that take place on the pixel display are once again charming and marvellously realised, whilst the music is stylish, laid back and a nice fit for the genre. The attention to detail is once again hugely admirable and it’s hard to believe even the most ardent pinball fans could ever be left wanting in this regard. It matches visual fidelity with performance to near-perfect effect, with a touch of slow-down during the multiball sequences the only apparent blemish.
The table is awash with tweakable settings and an operator’s menu that allows the player to alter scoring, features and bonuses, or simply admire the myriad audio effects or mechanical functions. The mini-games that take place on the pixel display are once again charming and marvellously realised, whilst the music is stylish, laid back and a nice fit for the genre. The attention to detail is once again hugely admirable and it’s hard to believe even the most ardent pinball fans could ever be left wanting in this regard. It matches visual fidelity with performance to near-perfect effect, with a touch of slow-down during the multiball sequences the only apparent blemish.
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Unfortunately, one area that leaves you wanting is the gameplay. The table is alright, not a disaster, but here’s the rub: it’s far less absorbing and less enjoyable than Timeshock or The Web. A lot of its problems stem from the rather sparse, uninspired centre portion of the table. The pop bumpers that normally inhabit the upper section are conspicuous by their absence, whilst the two secondary flippers halfway up the table feel awkwardly placed and are rarely put to good use. The various ramps and features make for a clumsy experience, one that regularly sucks the momentum from your runs. The pinball often limps straight back down the centre of the playing area, between your flippers, or is launched out the side gutters via the overly enthusiastic bumpers. As a result, stringing together concerted runs is a major struggle and the game’s unrewarding nature means it is far harder to invest in longer sessions.
Can you beat Tom's score of 61,345,070? Of course you can: he's not very good at Big Race USA
On Timeshock I wracked up almost 20 hours of play, a staggering duration for a single table. With Big Race USA on the other hand, I had to drag myself to get near the three-hour mark. The fun and impetus had gone by this stage and sadly, it was clear things were not going to magically transform into the kind of all-consuming, spellbinding title its predecessor was. In fairness, 20 hours is an absolute outlier for a pinball game and, strictly speaking, not an entirely fair yardstick by which to be compared. Against most other pinball games, Big Race USA is perfectly serviceable. There can be no questioning its build quality or the amount of work its talented developers must have sunk into creating such a convincing, realistic interpretation of the activity. These days, you can find it for rather more reasonable prices in digital sales. Not the best of its kind, nor the best of its series. However, if you love pinball, you could do a lot worse.
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VERDICT
"Against most other pinball games, Big Race USA is perfectly serviceable. It looks and runs outstandingly well, but its single table is significantly less enjoyable and less absorbing than its predecessors." OVERALL: 6/10 |
MORE PRO PINBALL GAME REVIEWS
Pro Pinball: The Web (1996, PlayStation)
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Pro Pinball: Timeshock! (1997, PC)
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