The Way Things Work: Pinball Science

Description:

She's a pinball wizard, it has to be a trick, this pinball wizard has such a grasp of fric-tion! ...oh, hello there! You'll have to excuse me, I just love to sing my own parodies (as my poor co-workers know only too well), and Pinball Wizard has truly inspired me! Ok, I guess I can take a few minutes away from pinball to tell you about this incredible pinball action game with totally awesome, er, that is, this educational presentation of material which will aid in understanding scientific principles.

DK Multimedia's latest science offering, The Way Things Work: Pinball Science, is a program with a wealth of science facts, including subjects ranging from friction to magnetic fields. The information is presented in an Inventor's Journal, which details amusing experiments involving the inventor's friend, the Mammoth, and the inventor's subsequent discoveries. This information can be accessed by reading through the journal, or by researching answers to quiz questions.

A series of mishaps, involving his Great Works, have led the inventor and the mammoth on a journey through a village, an island and finally the moon! In order to rescue them, you must fix his Great Works which have fallen into disrepair. The parts needed for the repairs can only be bought by giving the correct answers to quizzes, which pertain to the properties of each part needed. Once a part has been bought, you can then place it on the Great Work (pinball table to you and me) and play pinball! To advance to the next table, players have to place at least one of each component on the table and then successfully set off a certain component which will carry the inventor and the mammoth to another setting.

Features:

• Science facts
• Over 300 quiz questions
• 3 difficulty settings for questions
• 3 fast-action pinball tables
• Logbook with demonstrations of components in action
• Charming humor
• Easy to understand reference

Technical Aspects:

!!!One important note: on the CD I reviewed, the game had a bug in it. On the second pinball table (Island), one of the quiz questions is, "What is the invisible field of force around a magnet called?" Well, the answer is "magnetic field" and is presented as "magnetic field" in the reference area, with those exact 2 words highlighted in red. However, every time you enter "magnetic field" in the blank, it registers as incorrect. The problem here is that you cannot advance unless you pass this question, as you need all the components to go to the next table. I found after many guesses that it wanted "magnetic", not "magnetic field".

Well, not only is this WRONG, but unless you can guess what the program wants, you're dead in the water.

Report and Conclusions:

I have a reputation around here for hating all things arcade, however, pinball is the one and only arcade game I can play. And there is plenty of play here--these tables aren't easy! To save myself from being accused of bias because I found a game I can actually play, let me say that my Nintendo veteran daughter loves this game, too, and has been having a blast with it. I wanted to give Pinball Science a Gold Award, I really did! It is hard to mix entertainment with education without losing something from one or the other; here, you can sample as much as you like from each area, without taking away anything from either one. However, with the glitch mentioned previously, KDR's editors felt that we couldn't give a Gold Award until that particular problem was addressed.