BYG Pinball ► Crypt of the NecroDancer Pinball

Table qui semble compliquée à comprendre. Apparemment les billes seraient infinies ?! Mais bon elle semble originale. A voir pour la note plus tard.

I had actually never heard of Crypt of the NecroDancer until I started talking to Pinballwiz45b; it seemed like a really interesting rhythm game / dungeon crawler though I never got around to it. Being a combination of such niche genres thrown into a pinball machine means some aspects of the Crypt experience had to be reduced in importance, but I think the machine portrays the dynamics of the game quite well. However, in doing so, I find the machine to be a bit of a letdown compared to other originals of its time.

Pros:
- The music practically carries the entire machine, though that’s no surprise considering how great the music was in the game. The dynamic music of the game is translated into pinball quite well – as you make your way through the bosses they will change as you defeat them. I’ll admit that sometimes I just play this machine for the audio in modes like the Deep Blue and Fortissimole boss fights; both are excellent tracks.
- In the terminology of the original game, playing this pinball machine is equivalent to a “deathless run”, completing every single zone on the first try and maintaining your C as high as possible. This mostly works well for what the game is trying to do, and keeping multiball alive allows you to increase the scores even further.
- The rules of the table accommodate a very nice flow-oriented layout courtesy of the designer of Wrath of the Elder Gods, though thankfully nowhere near as aggressive as that table. I personally find the lowered center ramp to spinner to center ramp combo to be so much fun to repeatedly make for whatever reason.

Cons:
- The game can sometimes drag a little during the periods after boss fights. Unlike the zones, you aren’t allowed to “skip” this period of free shooting, and the points are often so ignorable that you’re better off just holding the ball instead of risking drains that could decrease your C multiplier. These long periods of nothing happening take me out of the game and reduce my overall enjoyment of it.
- DIG multiball is a bit of a waste, thanks once again to the C multiplier rule and how dangerous shots to the digging toy can be. That said, I still use the toy to grind out diamonds, because…
- The rings you can collect at the shop, in place of equipment you already have, are busted. The combos keep increasing in value and eventually overshadow even the value of the wizard mode if you have enough. I enjoy getting ridiculous points like this, and you do have to put in some effort if you really want to stock up on rings, but this still seems like something that went unnoticed during testing.

Overall, Crypt is a fun game with a great aesthetic, but maybe not for me. It succeeds at putting a spin on the typical pinball formula, but doesn’t quite stick the landing in regards to making a fulfilling table to play.

J'ai joué quelques parties à cette table.
Dans l'ensemble je l'aime bien

En fait, il y a les cœurs, mais aussi un indice à coté du score.
On perd un cœur quand on perd la bille alors que cet indice est à 0.5.
Quand on perd tous ses cœurs c'est game over.

Je n'ai pas compris comment on gagne des cœurs.
L'indice monte via les rampes C, allumées je pense mais pas certain.

Ce que je n'ai pas compris en revanche,
C'est que la partie peut passer en game over alors que la bille est en jeu.
Peut-être parce qu'il faut tirer régulièrement dans certaines rampes ??
J'avoue je n'ai pas compris.

Bon, comme j'ai atteint la Zone ? (6ème zone)
Et que je pense l'avoir réussie,
Je n'ai plus vraiment d'objectif sur cette table.
J'y reviendrai sûrement avec plaisir, dans quelques temps.

Bumped my initial rating from a 3/5 to a 4/5, now that I further understand how the game rules are meant to work and having played the source material. This is very much in line with the original game and even the "flipping to the beat" does have a proper incentive in allowing you to max out your playfield X faster. Not to mention, of course, the incredible music I brought up in my original post. Really my only complaint now is that the table could benefit from labeling certain shots a bit clearer.