Balls of Steel
Description official descriptions
After Epic Megagames' two releases Epic Pinball and Extreme Pinball, Apogee finally got their own pinball game in late 1997, Balls of Steel. It features five testosterone-packed tables, each with its own theme, missions, and special bonuses. Like the Epic games and the classic "21st Century" pinball games on Amiga, BoS has a top-down scrolling screen, with an animated dot matrix display at the bottom. It also features a full-table view. Very high scores are awarded with a "powerball" end bonus mode, and could be posted on the "WorldScores" net site (no longer available). Being a Windows game, all tables boast high-resolution graphics.
This game was included in Encore's "Pinball Madness 2" collection in 1999.
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Credits (Windows version)
74 People (71 developers, 3 thanks) · View all
| Gameplay Design | |
| Engine Programming | |
| Gameplay Programming | |
| Windows Programming | |
| 3D Rendering/Dotpanel Animations | |
| Additional Dotpanel Animations | |
| Background Artwork | |
| Additional Artwork - Duke Nukem | |
| Original Music | |
| Music - Duke Nukem | |
| Voice Effects Studio |
|
| Voice Effects Coordinator | |
| Voice Artists | |
| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 80% (based on 18 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 26 ratings with 1 reviews)
Pinball as addictive as any 1st-person shooter.
The Good
BoS is just plain fun as hell to play - although to truly appreciate it, you have to be of the scrolling-pinball generation (Dreams/Fantasies/Illusions, Epic, Extreme, etc.), and of course play it in scrolling mode. Each table is chock full of incredible graphics, special modes, dot-matrix video games (just about everything you can do with 2 flippers and a plunger), and funny random add-ons ("moo").
They did a great job of testing the game - it seems virtually bug-free. Even when events are activated in rapid succession, the animations and sound effects play out smoothly. The gameplay seems just about right for each table, but they have enough differences to make playing each one worthwhile.
The music is appropriate for each game, and the sound effects are very well done (even Duke Nukem returns with a few new quips).
The Bad
I'll just have to nitpick:
- Gameplay is almost TOO easy - granted, I don't mind playing longer than in other games. Ball "nudging" seems excessive; the ball visually changes course (also, the nudge keys are backwards compared to other games, but that can be fixed by the user).
- Since the music wasn't tracked, it's not very strong and doesn't change much (mostly 20-second loops).
- A better intro screen would be nice, with more info on the table rules.
The Bottom Line
If you grew a love of PC Pinball games out of the Pro Pinball series or similar, you can certainly give Balls of Steel a try but you may gripe about it having top-down graphics and not being "realistic" enough. But, if you're a fan of the classics', especially Extreme Pinball, you'll love it. With fast action and all kinds of different missions to master, it's about the most fun you can have in 2D.
Windows · by Andy Voss (1861) · 2000
Trivia
Devil's Island Pinball
A sixth table, Devil's Island, was made but not included with Balls of Steel. It was finally released in early 2000 as a seperate product - not an add-on. Also, it was distributed by Expert Software, rather than Apogee or GT Interactive.
Pinball Wizards
Pinball Wizards is actually a project group of Apogee. In 1997, Apogee decided not to develop/release games under their own name, but rather specialized divisions of themselves. Most of their new releases have gone under the roof of 3D Realms, but Pinball Wizards was created for Balls of Steel (after all, it's not 3D). As of 2011, the Pinball Wizards name was never used again.
References
The table "Mutation!" features catchphrases of C. Montgomery Burns from the TV Show The Simpsons done by a very similar voice.
References: Duke Nukem
The first appearance anywhere of a pinball machine named "Balls of Steel" is in level 1, "Hollywood Holocaust", of Duke Nukem 3D. Since 3D Realms and Pinball Wizards are both divisions of Apogee, either this early appearance inspired the actual Balls of Steel product or was a leak / early promotion of their pinball video game that would come out of the pipe nearly two years later.
In any case, the references went both ways, as Balls of Steel includes a Duke Nukem 3D-inspired table, with ramps and bonuses named after Duke enemies (octabrain, pig-cop) and power-ups (jetpack, HoloDuke). Icing the cake is the recording of original Duke-y quips by Jon St. John, the official voice actor for the Duke Nukem character.
Information also contributed by Dmichal and Pseudo_Intellectual
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Related Sites +
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Apogee/Pinball Wizards official homepage for Balls of Steel
Very informative, info on the game, screenshots, shareware demos, patches and more -
Wildfire Studios official homepage for Balls of Steel
Includes information about the game, screenshots, patches, and cheat codes
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Andy Voss.
Macintosh added by LepricahnsGold.
Additional contributors: Xantheous, jean-louis, Maw, Patrick Bregger.
Game added February 19, 2000. Last modified January 31, 2024.