Ruiner

I'd like to say that this game gets a tough press because visually it is disappointing. The graphics are actually not so bad, but the colour choices were very poor, which is what makes the graphics look less good. Animation is, I think, good enough, and the music/sound is not bad too.

What one has to remember is that Ruiner (with the two tables only) is NOT Pinball as such, it is "Video Pinball" which is a different kind of pinball. For example, each table is huge, one is basically 3 tables high, and the other is about 1.5 tables high, and 2 tables wide too. On the war theme table, tanks drive over it, and also planes fly over it, these aren't pictures, they're real components of the game. As you push up the Defcon layer the game gets tougher, with more active items on the table, a sort of story element to your pinball.

The first time I played Ruiner in my local video game store in 199??? (it was new out, that day), I thought it was crap, but eventually I bought it anyway, got it home, and lo and behold, it gave me plenty of fun... As with games like Club Drive, some people hate it, and other people say it's a good game, looks poor. In the race for the best Jaguar pinball, it's a poor second, but in the race for best "Video Pinball" (as it describes itself) it is unchallenged of course, but I have no embarrassment in pushing the game into a Jaguar, once I've explained this isn't just pinball. I recommend you, and other Jaguar fans to get the game, (every Jaguar game is worth having, I say...) and then try it out.