IT'S finger flippin' good. Yes, you can really get your digits whirling with Pro Pinball: Big Race USA the latest and most impressive pinball offering from Empire.

The colours and graphics are superb and Pro Pinball is as good - if not better - than other pinball games I've tried on some powerful PCs.

It sounds, looks and plays just like the real thing, but just in case that is not enough for you, Empire has 'built in' an array of features to improve the gameplay even more. Top of the goodies list is the unique head-to-head mode which allows two players to battle it out simultaneously on the PlayStation with battle cables, while a multi-ball feature means you can have up to six balls on the go at once (10 on PC).

You can play in 16 American cities and each pinball machine has its own unique features, quirks and loads of hidden extras: just use those flippers to crack balls up the ramps to find those secret marvels.

Each of the machines features a car theme, with six main characters - the Monster Truck, Hot Rod, Sports Car, Mini-Beetle and the ever present Police Car. They are all wacky opponents and each can make life difficult for the player.

Getting back to basics, the pinballs act like the real thing, spinning and sliding all over the table while the dazzling lights, flippers, ramps and whistles add up to a dream for pinball fans.

And to make the game even more to your liking, you have full control over table slope, flipper strength, slingshot power AND tilt sensitivity. If you fancy yourself as a pinball wizard, give it a try.

JE

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.