Eight Ball Deluxe

When I received the FarSight newsletter I could not believe my eyes. The new table of the Season Six was one of the greatest classics, a table we have been, for years, waiting for, the fabulous Eight Ball Deluxe.

Eight Ball Deluxe has already existed as a simulation. In fact it was one of the first that existed for the Mac. Produced by Amtex with code by Littlewing, it was a superb digital pinball and one which sadly LIttlewing could not port to newer machines because in the meantime Amtex had gone out of business. I wrote about all this in an old post.

The FarSight version of Eight Ball is graphically gorgeous. Still I find that the realistic table reconstruction and the 3D view is somewhat more difficult to deal with compared to Littlewing's top-down view. To tell the truth I had forgotten that Eight Ball is not an easy game. Or perhaps this is due to the FarSight physics. I find aiming for the bonus-multiplier or the 8-ball lanes rather hard. And then there are those pesky outlanes which give you the impression that they are magnet-equipped in order to suck the ball.

Still I have one major critique concerning FarSight's implementation. Eight Ball Deluxe is an old table and could profit from a five-ball game. Unfortunately FarSight offers a fixed three-ball one. Of course, this does not mean one cannot enjoy playing this great pinball but a five-ball game would increase the pleasure. For me at least Eight Ball will be my favourite pinball over the next months. (And now that Eight Ball is here I will be crossing my fingers for Royal Flush).