The Pinball Arcade: Alvin G. & Co Table Pack (Nintendo Switch) Review

By Josh Di Falco 21.03.2019

Review for The Pinball Arcade: Alvin G. & Co Table Pack on Nintendo Switch

The Pinball Arcade library of tables grows by two with the Alvin G and Co. Pack. For a bit of context to this pack, Alvin Gottlieb had founded his own pinball company in the early '90s, though for legal reasons he couldn't pursue his interests with the Gottlieb name. Though it was a short-lived venture, his company had produced eight pinball tables between 1991 and 1994. Fortunately, FarSight Studios has brought two of their more famous tables to the digital medium, to preserve the uniqueness that the company had brought to pinball. Cubed3 explores how these tables fare on the Nintendo Switch.

The two tables on offer in this pack are Al's Garage Band Goes on a World Tour and Pistol Poker. Beginning with World Tour, this table has a rockin' theme to the table, with a groovy backing track. Created in 1992 by Alvin's son Michael and Jerry Armstrong, it sets the challenge of touring around the world with a rock band. While the table is littered with some cool features such as a Guitar Mini Playfield and a Spinning Ramp, there is not much else ultimately going for it.

World Tour is a tight-knit table with a lot of "kill" spots that can quickly end the game. This is not for pinball beginners, as the hits require a bit of skill to pull off a series of successive free-flowing ball movements. But other than that, the table does everything else as well as it should, while it's not a complete knock on FarSight Studios for the tables lack of a "wow" factor - perhaps another table from Alvin's slim library might have fared better. While having that sense of awe and wonderment isn't necessarily a requirement, when it must compete with the other tables in the pack, it is hard to justify getting this pack over some of the other offerings.

Screenshot for The Pinball Arcade: Alvin G. & Co Table Pack on Nintendo Switch

That's where Pistol Poker comes into the fray. Designed a year later by Michael Gottlieb and Wally Welch, this was the last game created by Alvin G & Co, and it is also their best table. Not only does it feature one of the better Western-themed soundtracks but blending in cowboy motifs with a few hands of Poker & Blackjack to earn chips to reach bigger scores sounds like a bonafide winner. The art style on the table is packed with personality of the cowboy-theme - made even more fitting with the neighing horse sound byte and the "yee-haws" to go with it.

Pistol Poker is a fast-paced table, though it is easy to activate the card-drawing mechanic on the back glass. Building up from a pair through to the Royal Flush is the aim, while the Megamode Multiball can be easy to achieve - but hard to maintain. Still, the challenge of acquiring chips and completing hands is where the fun of this table lies. Because of it, many hours can be spent here trying to not only reach the high scores, but to also get some genuine amusement out of as well. It is a challenging enough table for those looking to master it, but the barrier to jump in isn't as high as World Tour for instance.

Screenshot for The Pinball Arcade: Alvin G. & Co Table Pack on Nintendo Switch

Cubed3 Rating

6/10
Rated 6 out of 10

Good

While being the Best in the West in Pistol Poker is the main selling point for the Alvin G and Co. Pack, it has to carry a heavy load when the only other game on the pack lacks the rich features and fun gameplay. Al's Garage Band Goes on a World Tour may have some nostalgic value for pinball aficionados, but the digital version just struggles to translate that fun across to the Nintendo Switch. Still, FarSight Studios has shown these two tables the love and care that they have given to their other tables, and for completionists of The Pinball Arcade, this pack cannot go ignored for those wanting to complete the Gottlieb collection of tables available for this title. Just don't expect the same number of hours of fun or a variety of tables as the other packs had.

Developer

FarSight

Publisher

System 3

Genre

Table Games

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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