Developer: Digital Illusions
Year: 1992
Genre: Arcade
Rating: 88%
Downloads: 4,839
Size: 997 KB

Pinball Dreams is a well-made DOS pinball game. Developed in 1992, it features four different tables to play on, each with its own unique theme and bonuses. The Ignition table is space-themed, Steam Wheel has a steam-train/western theme to it, Beat Box is music-recoding themed, and Nightmare is horror-themed. I noticed a tiny bit of lag when using the flippers, but other than that, I have no gripes with this game. It preserves the old-school arcade feel well with classic pinball gameplay as well as an alpha-numeric display at the bottom of the screen. You can play with one or more players, and there is a separate high score board for each table.

To play the game, you must first copy the INSTALL.SYS file into the root directory of the hard drive. For most people, this means you must copy it to C:\INSTALL.SYS. Once you've done that, you can run pinball.bat. Use the F keys to select your sound card, and then the space bar to skip through the intro screens. Hit F1-F4 to select a table. Then use F1-F8 to select the number of players (or don't press anything and detailed instructions on controls will scroll across the bottom of the screen and the game will guide you through the bonuses). Use both SHIFT keys for the flippers, and the DOWN arrow to pull the spring.

A highly recommended download for anyone who enjoys a good retro pinball game