When the Pinball Dreams, Fantasies and Illusions trilogy first appeared on the Amiga in the early- to- mid-1990s, they seemed almost magical to me at the time, and to this day they’re still some of my favourite Amiga games. They always seemed so vibrant, so much like a real solid table – you could almost smell the candy floss and hear the excitable electronic cacophony of the amusement arcade when playing them.

With Pinball Fantasies, the second in the trilogy, already having been released as a mini on launch day, it’s great to see Pinball Dreams, the first game in the series (confusing much?!), finally being ported over to the PSP.

From the start, the menu screen keeps it classy but simple – there’s a Help option with a diagram explaining the controls, and the four tables to choose from. If you flip the icon for each of the tables you’ll see their individual High Scores leader boards. Each table also gives you the option to add up to eight people for some ‘hot seat’ multiplayer action if you want to do battle with your friends on the leader boards.

The four fully remastered tables look dazzling: you have Ignition, with its rocket ship theme, the western hoe-down of Steel Wheels, the cheesy pop of Beat Box, and the blood-dripping horror of Nightmare (always my favourite). They look and sound amazing, just like they always did, and they’re just as addictive to play as ever.

As with Pinball Fantasies, initial impressions are that this is a lovingly crafted recreation of a legendary game. Even if you’re too young to remember the original, you’ll still enjoy the great gameplay and graphics. Stand by for the full review!