Remember pinball? Not the the massive stand-up tables you'd feed with quarters at the arcade while your friends foolishly played Mortal Kombat. We're talking about the handheld versions with simple boards and inexplicably infinite replay value! Sauce Digital looks to recreate that world of tiny metal pellets and plastic flippers with Pinball Kid, a small and simple arcade game for iOS devices. It looks retro, it plays retro, and with board names like Rocktopus, Zombeaver and Antdroid, it's almost impossible to resist.
Each round of pinball starts with a handful of balls waiting in the queue, one dropping down to the chute ready to be deployed. Tap and hold the screen to pull back the launcher and release to send it flying (can't you just hear the crummy spring yelling "toing!"). A flipper is placed somewhere on the main part of the board, all you have to do is tap the screen to activate it. The goal is to get each ball into one of the score cups to rack up as many points as you can. The flipper is a big part of this, but tilting your device around also helps, shifting the ball's trajectory just like it would in real life.
The default version of Pinball Kid is free but features a small banner ad at the top of the screen. You can opt to remove it with a minimal in-app purchase, but otherwise the game is free and without microtransactions. There are just three boards to play, and gameplay is limited to quick rounds and competing for a high score. It's not a game for everyone, but if pinball is at least a tiny part of your gaming nostalgia, Pinball Kid will definitely tickle a fancy or two.
NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on the iPad 3. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.
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