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Tsumera Pinball Lingo grade

Reviewed: 1997 

- The pinball

A pinball from the west, China or Japan, I don't know. It is very similar to Gametek's Starball with all its little figures walking around on the 2d scrolling table and all the sub tables. But the theme is rather different. When you load the pinball you are presented with the table background, unfortunately it is written in Chinese or some other language (how do I know what those letters are from for a language!!). It is a rather mediocre but still enjoyable pinball.


- The tables

- Tsumera

As said I am not sure about the table theme, but I can guess it rather accurate. Some land has been darkened, someone has put a spell over it or something similar, you have to find a number of crystals to restore things. Those crystals seems to be located in rooms inside a castle...

When you begin to play you are outside the castle at the gate. A dragon head appears in the gates opening and drags the ball inside the castle, the main table.

Here you can as in Starball do different things to leave the main table and get to a subtable (in Starball bonus tables). The main table is about three-five screens high. You find that it is divided in to three areas by 8 flippers placed in pairs in front and above each other. At the top some dwarfs guard a chest or something which has a sword stuck in it. You can by first hitting the dwarfs with the ball so that they explode then hit the sword. The guards comes back rather quickly so you have to work a while to hit the sword enough times for it to explode. After that a many headed head appears, if you hit it you get bonus. There is also some other bonus things to do here.

The middle area has lots of warriors walking around in a circle. If you hit all of them enough times you will light a area in a strange crucifix. Lighting all the areas in it can be rewarding. There is also a skull here which can open gates for you.

The bottom area also has some gates which can be revealed by hitting the right objects or elements.

Some of the subtables are:

  • Dead Skull Gate Mode Table
    A strange and mean looking guardian is moving over the screen. It sometimes teleports from a place to another place on the mode table. It also sends out some warriors that attack the ball. If you manage to kill the guardian you will get a Crystal.

  • Dragon Head Mode Table
    A dragon that is placed on the table is shooting fireballs at you while two scorpions are moving over the screen. Try to shoot them and you might get the crystal.

One irritating thing worth mentioning is that you when playing might open two gates. If you enter one of the gates the other one will be closed when you get back. But I guess I can accept that since it makes it all harder. What really irritates is that all you have lit and accomplished on the table is resetted when you get back. For example you might have lit all but one of the different areas in the crucifix, when you return those are not lit anymore. Since it is easy to accidently hit the Death Skull (which opens a gate) that is placed to the right of the warriors (does you have to hit to light the crucifix) it gets very irritating after a while to have to start all over just because that gate was opened without you really wanting it to be opened.

The table is mainly rather neat, but it has lots of irritating moments. But as this table is most for fun you can live with that. It is rather enjoyable to explore it and try to save the land.


- The feeling

The feeling is sadly enough not the best. It is ok. You can enjoy playing the table, but you can't really play on skill or really feel that it is you that play. The ball moves fast, you can't do any neat tricks like flipping the ball away softly, or just so it gets over to the other flipper or aim at something and feel that it will hit it after you released the ball from the flippers. You just play more on luck. In the subtables that are only a screen, it gets rather small, in one mode you often loose track of the ball. This table would have been a lot better and more fun to play if the feeling had been better.

It is not uncommon that the ball goes trough the flippers or acts repeatable (does the same thing after hitting a certain object over and over again). I found that I still could play the table, but I don't enjoy it or find it as lasting as it might have been with better feeling.


- The whole

It don't relay that much on skill, you play more for the fun to explore. But that is it, when you have seen the subtables or maybe even completed the table theme, you don't really want to get back. Sure some will ofcourse like it, I like it, but it is not a pinball I really want to play that much more than for the short fun of seeing what is to see. The theme is still something that makes this table worth to complete once, I sort of liked it as much as I enjoyed Starball. But Starball somehow had better feeling even though the ball was strange.

In the whole, not a pinball that is a first hand choice or a second hand. But if you want a simple pinball with lots of things moving on it, maybe children will find it appealing, this one is maybe worth looking at. I wouldn't really buy it, it is to short lived somehow. As a pinball game it is definitively ok. But you really have to not expect a simulation or serious thing, it is just effects and ancient stories in this pinball.


system requirements

Platform: PC
Operating System: DOS

Also available for: -


Screenshots:
no screenshots available ttop