Pinball Arcade by Farsight Studios

Pinball Arcade came to me as a surprise. I downloaded their demo with trepidation and I discovered another pinball-gem on par with the Littlewing pinballs or, come to think of it, with the famous (but, alas, defunct) Pro Pinballs. The formula is a surefire one: they have a top-quality simulation and instead of building their own tables (something calling for substantial talent) they trust the classics. In fact they purchased the rights to some of the greatest pinball machines. (I wonder how much this has costed: Littlewing is alluding to a prohibitive price for the rights of 8-ball proposed by Bally, which makes it impossible for them to revive that old pinball). 
Many tables do exist already, Arabian Nights, Believe it or Not, Black Hole, Theatre Magic

and many more ( Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Funhouse, Attack from Mars, Black Night, Space Shuttle, Pin-Bot, Circus Voltaire, Big Shot) through in-app purchase. 


Also PA is available both on the Mac and i-devices (although the in-app offers are not in perfect synchrony). I am a great fan of Funhouse, which had been cancelled twice till now (Amtex and the second installment of Microsoft pinball arcade). 

Funhouse would have been fabulous were it not for some PA quirks which spoil the gameplay for no apparent reason. First, why on earth do you have to use a physical plunger on a no-touch screen when you play on the Mac? Second, and much more annoying, the table focus shifts from a fixed, upright-table one (when, like myself, you make it your default one) to a variable-focus one when you go into multi-ball. I have lost count how many times I let a ball drain because of the shifting view. This is a serious flaw, both in the MacOS and iOS version and I am looking forward to Farsight fixing it.