Crystal Caliburn for iOS is getting closer (now out)

[jhamdotme]

They pushed the release date up a couple of days. It’s out now. [App Store: $3.99]

 

[Jeff Strong]

I like it. Little Wing has a nice approach to pinball, and the graphics and physics have certainly improved since their last iOS release (Tristan).

My only wish is that there were more camera options.

 

[karl]

Looks good and plays good. Would have been even better with a wider play-field in fixed view and a bit more lights but it plays much better than 90% of the other ios pinball games out there (dream pinball was released a few days ago but goes right in the category play once and get bored). Hope to see many more Little Wing tables in the near future. A nice diversion while waiting for cftbl. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Sean]

I enjoy it. The flippers don't have the power that the ones in Pinball Arcade do, but that's not a knock, it's just different. Littlewing really is in a different league. I played HD Pinball on the iPhone and although those tables seemed decent on the surface they really lacked the depth and sense of craft I saw in the Tristan port - no comparison with Crystal Caliburn II at all. The artwork, music and feel of this virtual machine is outstanding.

I really hope we see ports of Monster Fair, Fairy Tower and Mad Daedalus come to iOS too!

 

[Jay]

My only wish is that there were more camera options.

That, and a landscape mode. But other than that I'm enjoying it. The table is visually beautiful and challenging. That right outlane is really greedy.

 

[Dutch Pinball ball]

Well i have a new problem. Before i tell what it is, let me show you a pinball game i played for months each day. Some time ago, it was this one:

http://youtu.be/DQJaPwn781Q?t=1m20s

So, i really love virtual pinball, i played thousands of games, last one was Pinball FX, which i liked and played alot.

But...... since i have Pinball Arcade thats all over for me now. There is not one single pinball game on earth that i am gonne play instead of PA.

Pinball Arcade is responsable for destroying my hunger to play pinball games any other then pinball arcade.

Damn you PA!!

;-)

 

[Jay]

Little Wing just released a maintenance fix for CC. They created a new icon, which is much better looking than the original "start" button.

 

[Jeff Strong]

I'm still hoping they'll add more cameras...

 

[geremy]

I really like this game. Initial impressions after purchasing were disappointing but then something happened and now I can't put it down.

 

[Shaneus]

Pardon my ignorance, but was the original Crystal Caliburn a pack-in game on Mac or PC or something? The name is REALLY familiar... I have a feeling I might've played it on a demo computer in a store a handful of times.

 

[DopedToInfinity]

Well i have a new problem. Before i tell what it is, let me show you a pinball game i played for months each day. Some time ago, it was this one:

http://youtu.be/DQJaPwn781Q?t=1m20s

So, i really love virtual pinball, i played thousands of games, last one was Pinball FX, which i liked and played alot.

But...... since i have Pinball Arcade thats all over for me now. There is not one single pinball game on earth that i am gonne play instead of PA.

Pinball Arcade is responsable for destroying my hunger to play pinball games any other then pinball arcade.

Damn you PA!!

;-)

I find this too, with re-creations of REAL tables, virtual ones just don't do it for me anymore. They did keep me going for years until TPA was released though

 

[Tabe]

Pardon my ignorance, but was the original Crystal Caliburn a pack-in game on Mac or PC or something? The name is REALLY familiar... I have a feeling I might've played it on a demo computer in a store a handful of times.

No. It was a retail product that originally came out on the PC in 1992 or 1993.

Tabe

 

[mmmagnetic]

Wow, this little gem really took me by surprise.

Pinball Tristan was a bit too 1990s PC game style to me (gaudy design, clumsy playfield), but CC2 is superb!

The flippers take some time to get used to (they don´t seem to have quite the same angle as real machines, and they flip a bit slowly), but the physics are satisfying and are fun to play with. I enjoy the shots, the playfield is very well done, the sound effects sound a bit like samples from a B-movie, which I find quite charming. (The music is rather repetetive but can be turned off.)

I looked around their website and tried the demos for Mad Daedalus and Fairy Tower (Monster Fair got weird after I changed the screen mode and the other titles won´t run on my Mac anymore), and I really hope they bring more games to iOS. On their blog they mention that while Japan sales are stellar, the US ones aren´t so hot, I hope this changes once more positive reviews trickle in. Sounds to me like the series was really big in Japan, which I find interesting, because I was under the assumption that pinball in general wasn´t a big thing there (they took the completely opposite direction of the Bagatelle roots with pachinko).

You can really see these two love making their games, and CC2 is brilliant. Even the playfield art, which I thought looked a bit all over the place at first, really is starting to grow on me. In the end, it really comes down to physics, playfield design and rules, and it certainly delivers! Hope they bring Mad Daedalus to iOS next, because I really don´t feel like gaming on my Mac, and CC2 plays great on the iPad.

I got a nice little collection of great fantasy pinball tables in the last couple of weeks: Metroid Pinball for 10€, Fuse Pinball DSi for 5€, CC2 for 3€. Quite some value for my money

 

[mmmagnetic]

I'm still hoping they'll add more cameras...

Yeah, I want some lower angles, no real point in making the table with polygons instead of prerendering it if they don't give us multiple cameras. Have you tried emailing them?

Oh, and I LOVE the little stats, including playtime and number of jackpots, that get saved with each hiscore individually. I love stats in games, TPA needs this as well!

...

In case anyone has missed it, they have a nice PDF guide for the original game on their site:

http://www.littlewing.jp/doc/pdf/CCPlayersGuide_E.pdf

Weird that they didn't include with the app, it's not even a meg and they included the "pinball techniques" part of it already.

 

[an ox]

didn't one of their tables have a minotaur in?

Pinball needs more minotaurs.

 

[geremy]

I'm glad more people are finding this game. On the iPad I play more PA, but on the iphone, for a quick fix I CC2 much more frequently. It just feels so right.

 

[mmmagnetic]

My old score yesterday was 54.715.170, didn´t get the Holy Grail, but at least scored 4 jackpots in 3 multiballs (or "multibattle!!!").

Today I got 503.684.310, I swear that at some point I thought I found a bug, because the first ball just simply wouldn´t end - for some reason I got a ton of extra balls. Got the Holy Grail 3 times and ended up with 13 (!) extra balls. The whole credit lasted for just a little over half an hour.

This is basically all I did:
- Hit Camelot for accolades, which lights Holy Grail
- Hit the Glass Island ramp
- Hit Camelot again to get the Holy Grail
- Everything is lit. MULTIBATTLE!
- Shot stuff while Multibattle is active.

I have no idea if this is a relatively high score or not, but I honestly don´t feel like playing again, unless I´m missing a scoring element that makes the strategy above redundant, because after 15 minutes in my concentration started to take a nosedive.

Again, the physics and the shots are top notch, but the scoring feels quite flat to me. For what I assume is the wizard mode, the Holy Grail is pretty easy to attain!

 

[Jeff Strong]

Yeah, I want some lower angles, no real point in making the table with polygons instead of prerendering it if they don't give us multiple cameras. Have you tried emailing them?

Oh, and I LOVE the little stats, including playtime and number of jackpots, that get saved with each hiscore individually. I love stats in games, TPA needs this as well!

...

In case anyone has missed it, they have a nice PDF guide for the original game on their site:

http://www.littlewing.jp/doc/pdf/CCPlayersGuide_E.pdf

Weird that they didn't include with the app, it's not even a meg and they included the "pinball techniques" part of it already.

Back when I first played Tristan on iPad, I asked them if they planned to add more camera angles and they said they would for their next table, but unfortunately they didn't. I've requested it again, but haven't received a response....maybe if more people ask for it?

 

[Kolchak357]

Crystal is on sale today. Save a buck. In case you were on the fence about buying.

 

[polovi]

Hello There, I've been playing Crystal Caliburn II competitively for the last three weeks and achieved the top 3 score on game center. I just discovered today the existence of pinball arcade on IOS and i would really like to buy the game. I was wondering however if the quality of the physics is of the same quality as for Crystal? I find the physics with Crystal really really good and i am afraid to be very disappointed with Pinball Arcade.
I have been a pinball player for more than 25 years now!!!!