Creepy Pinball by Mobilair, Price: $6.95
Reviewed October 2004 by Tony Peak

For those of us who enjoy playing some quick pinball on a regular basis, it’s always nice to see a new pinball title on the Pocket PC. Mobilair’s Creepy Pinball takes a rather simple and traditional route, but delivers a pretty good table regardless.

There’s just one table, and it’s played on a single screen. I personally consider the single screen system to be a plus. The titles that zoom on the pinball and pan around the table can be rather distracting, there’s really no reason it can’t be fit on the screen. There are very little gimmicks or tricks to this table, just some bumpers, a few ramps, and a 3 ball multiball lock. Pretty good, but not altogether very deep. The targets and ramps do make for a good challenge, even if it can get a little annoying watching the two jump pads play catch with each other for awhile from time to time.

I find that the control feels better to me than most pinball engines on the Pocket PC. The ball feels smoother, and flows more like I’d expect it to around the table. It’s an issue I’ve never quite been satisfied with on the Pocket PC pinball titles, and so I’m pleased Creepy Pinball has a pretty smooth engine. Unfortunately, it’s not without its faults. Whenever a new sound file is played or a new bonus hit, the engine noticeably skips a few beats. I’ve also seen the psychics do some pretty strange things, and the ball tends to drop off the paddle rather sharply. I’ve even had some lockup issues from time to time, which may be software conflict somewhere.

The graphics are all around rather impressive, well themed and well implemented throughout. The menu buttons are a bit rough, but the table itself looks surprisingly good overall. The sounds are suited to the theme, but they tend to be a rather canned and warmed over. There’s no real music, just a tiny title beat, so you could mute your sound and not lose much… which might be the case regardless if you like a quick round of pinball in public places.

While Creepy Pinball does have a few issues and some bland areas, the feel is still smoother than many pinball titles I’ve tried. That alone makes it worth adding to my collection , but others may be a little more demanding. The single screen view and rather good graphics at a pretty good price give plenty of reasons to check this one out. I sure wouldn’t mind seeing a series of tables from these developers, hopefully improving on each one along the way. As a first shot in pinball, it’s a solid start.

Playing Hints and Tips

• Hit the targets to activate bonuses
• Hit the ramps when lit for added bonuses
• Look for the ball lock and complete the steps for multiball.