Let's face it, everyone loves pinball ... the blinking lights, the fast paced action, racking up points, going for the big scores. But, can pinball and the sport of stock racing merge successfully? You bet, and that merging is called 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball from Sierra Attractions. Featuring crisp 3D rendered graphics, 4 tracks, pitstops for powerups, 4 drivers, video and details of each track and driver and more. The result is an enjoyable pinball experience wrapped around NASCAR racing themes with all of the familiar pinball flair. You have 1 of 4 top NASCAR drivers to choose from including Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliot, Terry Labonte and Bobby Labonte, and then you are off to tune up your car before qualification. Next you race a qualifying race to determine your place during the start of the race, scoring points for hitting targets and the appropriately lit turns. Time to race! Hit the curves, hold your position, and man your flippers. Take a quick pitstop during a yellow flag and then you are back into the action. The backgrounds of each of the three main areas, The Garage, The Pit and The Speedway have quite an attention to detail as well. There are cars racing past as you play, pit crews awaiting your pitstop, fans cheering, and constant race and game updates from the announcer as well as your pit chief. There can only be 1 winner. Will it be you? The Menu Please 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball's main menu is simple and gives you several choices of where to proceed to. You can "Play Pinball", or you can visit The NASCAR Vault. Inside the vault you will find lots of video clips and other information about each of the drivers, the tracks, and about NASCAR itself. You can also see a list of the high scores you have accumulated as well as adjusting your sound, control and gameplay preferences. The Drivers Each game you start, you are given the option to choose from 1 of 4 top NASCAR drivers. You can choose from Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliot, Terry Labonte and Bobby Labonte, depending on your tastes. The tracks are customized to the colors and sponsors of the driver you choose as well, further enhancing the NASCAR experience during gameplay. Dale drives his No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet, Bill Elliot mans his No. 94 McDonald's Ford, while Terry drives the No. 5 Kellogg's CornFlakes Chevrolet and Bobby is driving the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac. Each driver has an interesting video profile available from The NASCAR Vault at the main screen of the game as well.  The Tracks3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball features 4 tracks to race. These include Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen and Talladega Speedway. Each course is its own challenge, Bristol being a short track, Atlanta intermediate, Watkins is a road coarse, and Talladega is a super speedway. Each track is actually just the same Speedway table with appropriate labeling for the track you are racing at the time. But a real pinball machine can't change tables during gameplay either, so it's not a bad thing. And of course, The NASCAR Vault offers up lots of video information on the tracks too. The Gameplay The controls for pinball are always pretty simple, 2 flippers, a plunger, and keys for tilting for those pinball wizards out there who love to push it to the limits. 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball is no exception, so don't expect a learning curve to get right into the action. Action takes place on one of three different tables, depending on your circumstance. You initially start on The Garage Table, which allows you to attempt to tune up your car by hitting certain targets without losing your ball. Each hit builds up the car a little in each area until the car is fully tuned up or you lose the ball in play. From there, you proceed to The Speedway for a qualifying race to rack up some points since scoring higher places you higher for the start of the race. Once you've completed the qualifying race you then race for the glory. Along the way, some pit stops are required and this is where The Pit Table comes into play. Well timed pits while there is a yellow flag can mean the difference between losing and winning a race. There are two ways to win really, by racking up a high score, or by trying to win each of the four races to advance to the Winner's Circle Challenge. This is a multiball game that requires some real skill. Only the best can try the Winner's Circle Challenge of course. So How Does it Look? Graphically 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball is really quite nice. To start, you will notice that the play area fills the screen so it's nice and wide. No scrolling to accommodate a longer table, this means it all fits nicely on the screen. The 3D Rendered backgrounds sport lots of little details including animated pit crews, cars racing past in the background, people standing around cheering you on, and more. The plunger itself is actually a gas pedal with a tachometer to show your engine revving before you hit the ball. The ball reflects what's around it, but this detail is hard to notice when the game is getting intense. The foreground "hood" graphics are painted similar to your driver's colors, with similar advertising graphics and their number and signature imprinted as well. These are actually pinned down using a pin similar to the ones used on a real NASCAR to pin down the hood. Each area that you play on has its own detailed background and miscellaneous items to hit or avoid.  The Garage's graphics reflect what a garage might look like if it where part of a giant pinball world, with tires laying around amongst numerous toolboxes and several cars, including yours up on the rack for tuning. The Speedway, being the main playing arena, is the most colorful, with lighting bonus multipliers, bumpers, oil cans, steering wheels, flags, and more to hit to rack up points. There are cars racing past in the background as well and a place to break through the back wall where you can actually hit the cars if you are not careful. During pit stops, your crew comes to life and then your playing field changes to The Pit. When you enter The Pit, your pitcrew snaps to action and then you are presented with a chance to change your tires and refresh your car just like in a real pit stop by hitting bumpers and shoots at the right moments with a well timed flipper hit. The view from this area is a little closer to the player than The Speedway and has fewer flashing lights and animations so it sometimes tends to be a welcome visual rest from the busy graphics and gameplay while on The Speedway.All in all, everything throughout the game is cleanly rendered with nice detail. Lots of little things are going on around you as you play that you might not notice, this gives the backgrounds some personality and makes them not become boring too quickly since you are playing the same 3 tables over and over. Sounds Like NASCAR To Me The sounds of 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball also faithfully carry the theme well. Aside from the usual pinball flipper sounds, this game sounds like NASCAR all the way through. You can hear the engines roaring, the sounds of your pit crew hard at work on your car, and the sounds of the announcer and your pit chief keeping you up to date on what's happening in the race. The in-game music is, however, somewhat lackluster, sounding like a NASCAR infomercial more than providing a nice background tone. Fun for the Whole Family One feature about the whole line of 3D Ultra games from Sierra that parents will particularly like is that they are all oriented towards the family. In an industry filled with games geared towards an adult audience, with violence and killing being the norm, it is nice to see some games that can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their age without fear of being exposed to something that might be a little too much for them. 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball also features up to 4 players, so the whole family can play together. The simple controls and easy to learn gameplay also are a family pleaser as well. The Website Sierra also offers up a nice website to go along with the game. On the site, fans can find more information about the game including a strategy guide and some tips for increasing your scores. From here you can also find links to the official NASCAR homepage, and other assorted goodies. There is a complete list of the other titles in the 3D Ultra series here as well including 3D Ultra Minigolf and the whole 3D Ultra Pinball series. Plus, there is a forum for fans of the game to talk about it and any problems or suggestions they might have. Thus expanding the gameplay experience to the online realm. I Can Quit Anytime, Just One More Game As far as pinball goes, the real thing is always lots of fun, but who said computer pinball couldn't be fun too? 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball is definitely fun, whether you are a NASCAR fan, just love pinball, or are just looking for a new game to keep you busy. The accurate physics and fast-paced action combined with the informative background information on the drivers and tracks leads to quite a few hours of pinball action that even the family can enjoy. And at $19.95 suggested retail, why not?
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