Mad Magazine
There have been two pinball creators that I have come to expect great
things from. One is Eala Dubh with his collection of great tables and the
other is Bob who has made some of the most inventive and enjoyable tables.
Possibly the best one that I have played is Mad Magazine. This is a great
example of a table capturing the feel of its subject matter. Bob went to
great lengths to capture the strangeness of the magazine.
Visually, the table is excellent. It is very eye catching and offers alot to look at. It is not cluttered like some tables tend to be and it has alot of little touches that make it stand out. The use of Mad Magazine covers along the side is great and gives the table character. Also the Alfred E. Newman bumpers are a nice touch. It is just a clean table that does not distract you while playing. And there are a enough little additions like the words that light up that keep things interesting.
The sound is where this game really shines. One problem with some Visual Pinball tables is that they put in goofy sound effects for the heck of it. Many times they do not fit the theme of the table and end up detracting from the game. But with this table, the sound effects are dead on. They are humorous but also very fitting with the table. And even after numerous games, I still find them fresh and funny.
One thing that almost all the tables from Bob offer is tons of targets to knock down. I love knocking down targets and spelling words. Mad Magazine offers this as there are numerous words to spell and after you do, there is a surprise you can get that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I laughed so hard the first time I was able to do it that I lost my ball. About the only problem with this is that I now expect something like this from all of Bob's tables.
Out of the many tables that I have played with Visual Pinball, I find myself coming back to this table quite often. It is proof that with some dedication and hard work, you can create a table that is every bit as good as any commercial table.
Here is a link to Bob's tables. While Mad Magazine is my favorite, you cannot go wrong with any of them.