Disturbing as it may be, Dream Pinball 3D isn't even worth a rental unless you're some sort of diehard pinball fan. Even if you are, why the hell would you pay for this? There are better free pinball games out there. Even at a budget price, Dream Pinball feels like a ripoff.
The interface is amatuer-ish. There are only six tables, and they're basically identical (and identically bad). The themes are wacky, but they don't justify the $20 price tag. 4CR can't even recommend it to those desperate for a Wii pinball game. The Williams Collection that was recently released seems far better than this piece of shovelware.
As of yesterday, July 23, 2012, TopWare Interactive announced the release of the pinball simulator, Dream Pinball 3D for iOS devices. The iOS comes with four tables, each having different themes and mechanics.
Dream Pinball 3D is a very good but not great attempt to recreate pinball at the height of its glory. The makers of the game chose to reach for graphic glory rather than imaginative gameplay, and the game suffers because of it at times.
Rick Healey writes "My rage is as vast as the infinite reaches of space, and seldom do I have a target so deserving as Dream Pinball 3D. I know, when you pick up something by SouthPeak Games, you're not about to pick up high quality. You're picking up something thrown together in a few weeks to justify a quick cash grab. I've come to terms with that. There's a reason I don't pick up their games until Best Buy is practically throwing it in my basket after picking up another volume of anime. So I have really low expectations out of Dream Pinball 3D. How SouthPeak manages to fall short of even those is impressive. It's like earning the gold medal at the Failympics – you just have to fail that much harder than anyone else.
Now, in theory, the concept behind video game pinball should be fairly simple. Make a video game approximation of a pinball table, make it competent in terms of both physics and table layout, and let players have fun. It's worth noting that, thanks to the Virtual Console and WiiWare, there are already three games proving quite competent at this task – Alien Crush and Devil's Crush, both originally for the TurboGrafx-16, and Alien Crush Returns on WiiWare. (And if you're willing to go primitive, the original NES Pinball is also available.) Not only is it possible to come up with a simple and engaging pinball game for the Wii, it's already been done three times. Is it too much to ask for SouthPeak to do it as well?"
