Pro Pinball: Big Race USA

I've never had much of a talent for pinball. When the ball starts to roll groinwards, I panic. I either flip the wrong flipper, or flip them both at the same time, cannoning said ball straight into the hazard I was trying to avoid. There's one advantage a virtual pinball table has over the real thing for me: I can't lose money on it.

LemonQuest's Big Race USA makes use of another advantage - the ability to transform what the game means, or what it stands for. Big Race USA almost hides its pinball gameplay behind a veil of American road racing, taking the concept of the game and applying it to a wild, no-holds-barred motorsport.

While the unschooled might look at Big Race USA's table and see nothing more than a standard pinball title, what lies beneath is a neat way of giving the player sub-missions - missions that enable the table on offer to draw you in long after it should.

Points are still the main goal, of course. Topping the score board at the end of a session will always be your primary aim, and Big Race USA is full of devices to help you do so - bumpers, ramps and so forth all providing points-grabbing targets for those who have the skill.

But it's the sub-plot that gives LemonQuest's effort what those in the marketing game would call a 'unique selling point'. While you're flipping away, your cab will travel across the States, from New York to San Francisco, lighting up cities on the map as you go.

Big Race USA also incorporates mini-games that visualise the 'race' in the 'dot-matrix bar' at the top of the screen, giving you the chance to steer your taxi through traffic by using the '4' and '6' keys to move left and right respectively.

It's not the most complex of gameplay, but it does offset what is a fairly serious take on the game. Yes, while the game boasts more than just traffic weaving - police cars and monster trucks also making the line-up - there's a fair chance that a large slice of Big Race USA's audience will miss out.

That's because activating said excursions doesn't just involve flipping away and hoping for the best - you actively have to target their triggers, and that's no easy task. It's quite easy to play away for ten minutes or more without accomplishing any more than the odd point or two, missing out on the sub-plot altogether.

Big Race USA is no casual interpretation of the game, nor does it turn it supernova and stray from its path of realism – this is pinball for the most practised of enthusiasts.

As a result, Big Race USA has an excellent take on physics, representing the ball's movement perfectly without ever surprising you with a duff rebound or angle. In a way, this combination of physics and difficulty level results in a game that is probably as close to pinball as we're likely to see on the current crop of mobiles.

This isn't the kind of pinball title you can pick up for casual flick. It requires skill, dedication and passion - and for anyone who has all three, Big Race USA's race across the States will give it the clear edge over many of its rivals.