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I doubt there are many people out there who, upon first seeing the iPhone screen, thought, “Hey, it’s shaped just like a pinball playfield!” Not even I did that, and I do enjoy the pinball. But fact is, yes, the iPhone and iPod touch gaming mechanics are conducive to some solid pinball action, which is why there are so many options available to here. Here are a couple of the $0.99 variety.

Pinball Wizard

Seller: Zidware
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.0 or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 4.2MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $0.99
Age Rating: 4+

I suppose when many people think of pinball, they think of the song by The Who. And why not? It’s a great song. Unfortunately, this game isn’t as great. It doesn’t actually have anything to do with The Who, but that’s not a reason to dock it. Instead, it gets docked for poor ball physics and gameplay.

The playfield is based on machines from the ‘70s, so don’t expect any ramps or scoreboard mini-games. That’s cool with me. The graphics are quite attractive and the sound effects are perfect. This feels like the real thing, focusing on the pinball action as opposed to adding a bunch of iPhone effects.

However, the ball doesn’t always play as it should, and frequently will push right through bumpers or bounce off flippers as if warping to another point on the playfield. It’s as if the ball doesn’t know where these devices are, which could actually be the case. Pinball Wizard comes with the ability to create your own playfield by moving bumpers, drop targets and such, but it doesn’t affect the design enough to really change the gameplay. And if this is the reason that the default playfield doesn’t work as it should, then the ability to move the elements around is an unfortunate inclusion.

If you can get past the wonky physics, there’s some fun, throwback pinball to be played here. But with so many options out there (especially if you’re willing to spend a dollar or two more), I can’t really recommend Pinball Wizard.

Jungle Style Pinball

Seller: OOO Gameprom
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.2 or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 16.1MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $0.99
Age Rating: 4+

When it comes to pinball, the jungle isn’t a location or an ecosystem, it’s a style. And OOO Gameprom has certainly defined their pinball style, having previously brought us Wild West Pinball and The Deep Pinball. Both are great games, and Jungle Style Pinball continues their string of successes.

The board features everything you’d expect out of a modern pinball sim: multiball, tilts, various missions and checkpoints, etc. You’re likely to get more enjoyment out of Jungle Style because there’s so much to achieve and discover as you get better; plenty more than just improving your total score (although you can share your scores online).

More importantly, though, the ball physics are some of the best I’ve seen on the iPhone. The ball behaves as it should, although it does play way too fast. As a result, there are still times when the camera lags too far behind the ball. This unfortunately leads to numerous times when you’re hitting your flippers blindly because you can’t see where the ball is. Gameprom had this problem with their previous two games, and it’s something they really do need to fix.

One other interesting touch is that you can listen to your iPhone/iPod touch music while playing, rather than the in-game music. I can’t imagine ever wanting to do this, but if your music collection is more conducive to pinball action than mine, have at it, I suppose.

Jungle Style Pinball may not appeal to purists as much as Pinball Wizard will. With its somewhat messy design and over-saturation of ramps and targets, it feels more like a pinball sim than like the real thing. Be that as it may, it provides so much to master and discover that you’ll be playing it for a long, long time before you can beat (or grow bored with) the machine.