The Corner Penthouse

As if you couldn't have guessed, Austin Powers Pinball is pinball with an Austin Powers theme - based on the first two movies.

STORY

Pinball itself doesn't have a story, but the themed tables "follow" the storylines of the movies. Here are the story synopsises as written in the game's manual:

• International Man of Mystery - As the utterly shagadelic Austin Powers, you must save the world from the never-ending threat of Dr. Evil! Defrost after 30 years in Cryogenic Suspension. Catch up to the '90s, and with the help of the smashing Vanessa Kensington, find the secret underground lair beneath the Virtucon headquarters. Stop Dr. Evil's plan to extort "100 Billion Dollars" and save the world from certain destruction by liquid hot magma. Beware the seductive fembots, who can lure men to their doom, and don't fall victim to the wiles of the sexy Alotta Fagina and her seemingly innocent hot tub.

• The Spy Who Shagged Me - Dr. Evil has stolen your Mojo, and that spells bad news for your bits and pieces! With CIA agent Felicity Shagwell at your side (and sometimes covering the rear) fight through Dr. Evil's henchmen - from the very vocal Frau Farbissina and the cyclopean Number Two to the terrifyingly well-fed Fat-Bastard - and reclaim your manhood. Rocket from Dr. Evil's hollowed-out volcano lair to his secret Moonbase, and stop the giant "laser" from destroying the world. Travel back in time to recover your Mojo and save Felicity from certain death.

I know that there's a real Austin Powers pinball table (my friend played it in the arcade), but I don't know if these tables are modeled after any real tables. Just thought I'd mention that.

GAMEPLAY

The game plays like ... well, pinball. To be a little more precise, it plays like a real pinball table, not like some sort of arcade simulation (like Sonic Spinball on the Sega Genesis). The control scheme is very simple: X fires the ball into play; the left shoulder buttons (L1 & L2) control the left flipper; the right shoulder buttons (R1 & R2) control the right flipper; the directional pad is used for nudging up, left, and right (there's no nudging down). This is an absolutely PERFECT control scheme for a pinball game. Much better then the default for Pro Pinball: Big Race USA.


AUDIO & VIDEO

The game looks and sound fantastic. While you may not be able to see every little detail on the table (unless you have a really big screen TV), the game doesn't suffer because if it. The bottom 25% of the screen contains the dot-graphics screen, which is easily readable and adds to the enjoyment of the game (dot-digitalized clips from the movies are shown throughout, when appropriate). The upper 75% of the screen shows the table, which scrolls as necessary.

The sounds are pretty good. The standard pinball-type sounds are there, along with audio clips from the movie featuring Mike Myers and Robert Wagner (I didn't hear Mr. Wagner yet, so I have to take the packaging's word for it).

The music played on the menus is very mellow, and somewhat appropriate ... it's nothing to hurt your ears, that's for sure.

THE FLAWS

The game does have a few flaws, which is why I rate it 8 out of 10 instead of a perfect 10.

(1) It doesn't auto-load & auto-save high scores to/from memory card. You have to do it manually every time you play the game, which is really annoying.

(2) It is not vibration function compatible, like Pro Pinball: Big Race USA is. If you've ever played Big Race with a Dual Shock controller, you'd know that vibration adds even more realism to a pinball game. It makes it feel like you have your hands on a real table.

(3) Austin Powers' familiar theme music is notably absent. Although the music in the menus are fine, that would have been better.

(4) Nudging seems to have no effect - though if you nudge too much, the game "tilts" on you. (In Big Race I actually saw the table move when I nudged, so it's possible that even though I don't see the table move in this game, the nudging could actually be working. So this might not be a flaw.)

REPLAYABILITY

It has as much replayability as the game of pinball does. Meaning, you won't play it everyday (unless your a pinball fanatic), but every now and then you'll get the urge and you'll pop it in and play it for a while. Perhaps you can even beat your own high score!

TO BUY OR RENT?

The game retails for about ten bucks. Considering that it's a near perfect pinball game, you'd be stupid NOT to buy it ... unless you hate pinball or Austin Powers.