Digital Pinball: Necronomicon
Encyclopedia
Digital Pinball: Necronomicon is a pinball
video game created for the Sega Saturn
by KaZe in 1996. Only released in Japan, this high-resolution 2D game draws much of its graphical and audio inspiration from the metafictional Necronomicon
.
All three tables are playable from the start menu. A player who chooses Realms Mode is then required to play "Arkham Asylum" until reaching sufficient progress to move on to the remaining two tables.
The game provided a password next to high scores, these could be used on the Kaze Co. website for an online submit system. Although the website is now down, remnants of it can be seen via the Wayback Machine
. The second table of the game (Cult of the Bloody Hand) is the only one with a maximized score counter of 999.999.999.
, guitarist for Dream Theater
, contributed music to the game's score by composing the prologue and epilogue FMV music. The in-game music, however, was composed by Yusuke Takahama of Target Laboratories (http://www.target-ent.com/). John Petrucci is often incorrectly credited for the whole score, even though the introduction sequence of the game states that he only contributed two musical pieces.
for the PlayStation 2, and a series of Java pins on the Japanese J-Phone/Vodafone network. Kaze's main business now is web development.
Pinball
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
video game created for the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
by KaZe in 1996. Only released in Japan, this high-resolution 2D game draws much of its graphical and audio inspiration from the metafictional Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
.
Gameplay
Digital Pinball: Necronomicon contains 3 separate playfields, or tables:- "Arkham Asylum"
- "Dreamlands"
- "Cult of The Bloody Tongue"
All three tables are playable from the start menu. A player who chooses Realms Mode is then required to play "Arkham Asylum" until reaching sufficient progress to move on to the remaining two tables.
The game provided a password next to high scores, these could be used on the Kaze Co. website for an online submit system. Although the website is now down, remnants of it can be seen via the Wayback Machine
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital time capsule created by the Internet Archive non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California. It is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the Archive calls a "three...
. The second table of the game (Cult of the Bloody Hand) is the only one with a maximized score counter of 999.999.999.
Reception
Most video pinball aficionado hold this title in high regard for its overall look and feel as well as its superior playability. Necronomicon is noteworthy for several reasons. It's one of the few Saturn games to run in interlaced high-resolution. This gives it a much more detailed view of the playfield, and is generally more visually appealing. The physics are incredibly well realized, with accurate ball movements from every target and flipper.Music
The sound is exceptional, with a crisp rock soundtrack and a wealth of high-bitrate samples that put the Saturn's soundchip through its paces like few other games did. John PetrucciJohn Petrucci
John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
, guitarist for Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
, contributed music to the game's score by composing the prologue and epilogue FMV music. The in-game music, however, was composed by Yusuke Takahama of Target Laboratories (http://www.target-ent.com/). John Petrucci is often incorrectly credited for the whole score, even though the introduction sequence of the game states that he only contributed two musical pieces.
Related games
Kaze went on to produce several other pinball games, including Power Rangers Zeo Full Tilt Battle Pinball for the PlayStation, Akira Psycho BallAkira Psycho Ball
Akira Psycho Ball is a 2002 digital pinball game based on the popular 1988 Akira anime film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. It features the original theme song and storyline....
for the PlayStation 2, and a series of Java pins on the Japanese J-Phone/Vodafone network. Kaze's main business now is web development.