Wii Overlooked Game : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

[radioioRobert]

I used to love pinball "back in the day", and I've tried a lot of virtual pinball games, but never really found one I've thought was "great".  A few have been pretty good, but overall there hasn't been a standout. Pinball in VG's has been mostly disposable in the VG market to me at best.

I saw this realeased for the Wii (and PS2/P) and started looking for it upon release. I finally picked this up a few weeks back (couldn't find it anywhere) and had to post something about it.  

The Good :
 
$29.99
Best virtual pinball game I've ever played period. If you like Pinball, this is a must own (Wii version only)
The Wii controls "feel" like pinball. The B Button on the Wiimote and Z button on the nunchuck are the flippers.
You can shake the machine a bit, tilt is very close to the actually amount of shake it would take to tilt a real machine.
Visually looks exactly like all the original machines.
Way beyond the first entry in the series, the Gottlieb collection (looked good but was really boring).
Actually has a game mode where you go through all the machines and get certain scores or achievements to get points and unlockables. 
One of the Top 15 rated games for the Wii on Metacritic.
Has 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon's customer reviews.
 
The Bad :
 
Made by Crave, master of Shovelware. But this is far from shovelware.
Hard to find, I found from a GameStop employee that it might be exclusive to Best Buy & Amazon.
They COULD have used the Wiimote as the ball plunger, but used the stick on the nunchuck instead.
No other con's I can think of.

Pick this up if you like pinball, you won't regret it. (If you don't like pinball get Okami!) 

 From Metacritic:

Wii : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (2008) 81
PSP : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (2008) 76
PS2 : Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (2008) 72

Pinball games don't usually get 81's. Here's why this title did.....

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91

Gaming Age

Not only does it play a fantastic game of pinball, but has the best collection to date.

85

ZTGameDomain

Overall, this is a must have for those of you who would like to take the journey to gaming past. It?s like a trip to a time before fanboyism, blogging, global warming, and reality Television (cringe).

85

NintendoWorldReport

Pinball Hall of Fame is unapologetically faithful to its source material, and doesn't offer any olive branches to those who have never found pinball compelling. Nevertheless, FarSight Studios has crafted a wonderfully authentic pinball experience.

85

Game Informer

It's a hell of a lot of fun, and hardcore pinball fans will appreciate the special achievements and unlockables like hidden tables and original promotional pamphlets. [Apr 2008, p.95]

84

GameZone

Whether you own the first game or not, if you love pinball, this is a can?t-miss release.

80

GameDaily

More tables would've been ideal, but this Pinball Hall of Fame is still worth multiple visits.

80

G4 TV

The Williams Collection is a top-tier set of pinball tables that fans should not pass up.

80

IGN

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection was made for pinball wizards: it's a fantastic fan service of the game's recent past that puts excellent attention to the detail of the genre.

80

GameSpot

This collection of 10 pinball tables offers more than enough variety to justify the price that you pay for infinite credits.

80

Console Gameworld

An excellent pinball title and a perfect dose of retro action that won't get old fast.

75

Nintendo Power

If you do like pinball, you're in luck--Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is as close to owning a real pinball table as most people are going to get. [Apr 2008, p.90]

70

Games Radar

But let everyone, regardless of skill level, have the tables you?ve written on the back of the box with no strings attached. They paid for them.

The average user rating for this game is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.