This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Pro Pinball: Timeshock! for PlayStation 1
Pro Pinball: Timeshock! for PlayStation 1 centres on one elaborate pinball table with a time-travel theme. You shoot the ball along ramps, send it through lanes and hit targets to open new objectives. Crystal fragments connect the present with ancient Rome, prehistoric times and the distant future. The table remains recognisable throughout these journeys, but the objectives you pursue change. You gradually learn which shots complement each other and when to attempt a risky route.
The flippers give you control over direction and timing. Small nudges can move a ball out of danger, while using MagnoSave at the right moment can prevent an imminent loss. During multiball, several balls travel around the playfield. The dot-matrix display shows objectives, scores and small games. Four viewpoints let you choose how far from the table to look. Outside a game, you can also examine the table closely to learn the positions of targets and ramps.
You play alone or with up to four people taking turns with the same controller; no Multitap is needed. Digital buttons control the flippers, nudges and launcher. Save lets you store settings and high scores on a PlayStation memory card in slot 1, and Load retrieves them. Auto Save is a separate option you can enable. This storage covers settings and records, not saving an active ball whenever you choose.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Pro Pinball: Timeshock! for PlayStation 1 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Pro Pinball: Timeshock!
Cunning Developments made Timeshock! as the second Pro Pinball game, following The Web. Empire Interactive released the original computer version in 1997; the European PlayStation edition followed in 1998. The developers again chose one original table with rules extending well beyond simply collecting points. Its time machine and crystals linked individual objectives to a larger goal. Learning the table thus had a progression that only became fully apparent after several games.
In the original manual, the developers explain that they owned pinball machines themselves. Their starting point was the feel of a real machine, without a scrolling playfield or split screen. That involved not only ball movement but also mechanical sounds, spoken instructions and a dot-matrix display. The Operator's Menu also let players explore settings normally hidden behind a pinball machine's door. The digital table became both a game and a carefully realised imaginary machine.
Timeshock! was followed by Big Race USA and Fantastic Journey, again built around original tables with cohesive rules and themes. Those sequels also appeared on PlayStation 1. Much later, Timeshock! was rebuilt for modern computers and mobile devices. That ULTRA edition received different lighting and modern display support, among other changes. The PlayStation version described here belongs to the original series: fixed viewpoints, physical buttons and local score contests define how this edition plays.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
Like Timeshock!, Pro Pinball: The Web focuses on learning one elaborate table. You discover routes, build up objectives and try to sustain a long game through accurate shots. The Web uses a science-fiction theme involving a dangerous adversary, whereas Timeshock! connects its progression to time travel and crystals. If you want to explore the same approach with different objectives, this offers a direct comparison within the original PlayStation series.
Pro Pinball: Big Race USA shares the fixed table and emphasis on believable ball behaviour with Timeshock!, but builds its theme around a journey across America. Driving and destinations determine its objectives, rather than Timeshock!'s different eras. Both require deliberate shots into lanes instead of simply pressing the flipper buttons. The main difference lies in the pattern of objectives you learn over successive games.
Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey also uses one cohesive table with its own journey narrative. Imaginative machines and adventurous decoration create a different atmosphere from Timeshock!'s time machine and crystals. In both games you learn how individual shots trigger larger events. Fantastic Journey therefore offers a related kind of practice, but knowing Timeshock! does not replace learning the new layout and its associated objectives.
True Pinball lets you choose between four different tables on PlayStation 1. Like Timeshock!, it involves flippers, nudges, multiball and recognising scoring routes. True Pinball's variety comes more from switching to another table with another theme; Timeshock! concentrates its progression on one table with interconnected time journeys. The presentation differs too: True Pinball offers both an overhead and an angled view of the table.
Like Timeshock!, Worms Pinball combines digital pinball with objectives belonging to its own world. The worms and their weapons supply familiar humour, while Timeshock! tells a time-travel story around an imaginary machine. Both reward aiming for particular lanes and controlling multiple balls. Worms Pinball particularly reflects the cartoon style of the Worms series; Timeshock! puts the table's mechanics and overall cohesion more prominently in the foreground.
