Chances are, if you're a hardcore gamer, then you've downloaded your fair share of emulators. While existing in a gray zone of legality when it comes to downloading roms, the temptation proves just too much for most of us to resist. So, we head out and explore the intertubes, looking for ancient games that we remember from our youth, whether it be Castle Wolfenstein running on an Apple II emulator or, my personal favorite, Speedball II on the Amiga. And yet, through all of my explorations, there has been one significant aspect of my youth I thought would never be recreated: pinball. Emulating Asteroids is one thing, but how on earth do you emulate a physical creation? The answer is: Visual Pinball.

I discovered Visual Pinball several years ago and it has been on my hard drive longer than any other piece of software. Half-Life has come and gone, as has Oblivion and any number of Total War's, but Visual Pinball is the one thing I must indulge in at least once a week. So what is this miracle that recreates classic pinball tables?

Visual Heaven

Visual Pinball was created by Randy Davis and released in 2000, free of charge. Essentially, Visual Pinball is a fully-featured construction set, allowing players to create whatever their heart desires, utilizing excellent physics and a simple interface. There are hundreds of original tables that have been created over the years and some of them are quite stellar in their own right. But custom designed tables isn't what I'm all about. I want tables based on real pinball machines, and that's where the following add-ons come into play

Visual PinMame

You've no doubt heard of MAME, the ultra-popular arcade machine emulator that runs just about every coin-operated game since the dawn of video entertainment. Not only does MAME run on a PC, but hackers from all walks of life have managed to get it running on nearly every platform, from Xbox to PSP.

PinMame works in conjunction with Visual Pinball to pull off one of the single greatest achievements in the history of emulation: namely, emulating the ROMs that power actual pinball games. What this means is, some creative genius takes the time to create a faithful recreation of a real pinball board in Visual Pinball, and PinMame runs the ROM, perfectly duplicating all of the sites and sounds you'd normally see on a dot-matrix display. You add these two elements together and you joyfully enter pinball paradise. At a time when it is near impossible to even find a pinball game to play, this comes as true gaming bliss.

Artistry At Work

Unlike other realms of emulation, the world of PinMame and Visual Pinball depends on the creativity and artistry of those dedicated to reproducing the look and feel of a real pinball table. Some of the work that has been accomplished is beyond awesome, especially when you look at tables like Indiana Jones, Medieval Madness, Getaway and, one of my personal favorites, Attack From Mars. It truly is the next best thing to having an actual machine.

Currently, there are 600 tables available that cover every major, and not so major, pinball manufacturer. Whether you're looking for Airborne Avenger from Atari or Bally's Indianapolis 500, you name it and chances are you'll find it. You'll even find tons of classic tables from the 60s and 70s that have been faithfully reproduced.

How Do I Do It?

So, now that your salivary glands have been kicked into overdrive, I bet you're wondering what you need to get up and running. Here's a recipe for happiness:

1.The first thing you need is Visual Pinball, which can be downloaded here.

2.Next, you need PinMame, which you'll find here

3.Once you have both of those programs installed, you're ready to download some tables and roms. Now, it goes without saying, that you should only download roms for tables that you already own. Got it? Good. -wink-wink-. The best resource for downloading tables and useful utilities can be found here

4.A handy install guide will ensure you install everything correctly, which you can find here

5.If you're too lazy to bother with all this setup information, a kind person has put together an installer package that streamlines the process. You can snag that here

That's all ya need to enter pinball heaven, my friends. Enjoy this fantastic program and marvel at the hard work so many dedicated fans have put into these tables. Till next time...