As other reviewers have said, Epic Pinball is a nice and varied collection of well-designed 2D pinball tables. Together with its successor Extreme Pinball, it is possibly the pinnacle of Dos 2D pinball games.
But what really sets it apart, and makes it completely unique among pinball games to this day is one table: Enigma. Most people try the table, think it is a somewhat strange table design with a few ramps, a psychedelic background and randomly appearing bumpers, and quickly move back to more familiar territory. Those people do not understand Enigma. Enigma abandons traditional pinball design, but replaces it with something far more fitting for a computer pinball - Enigma is not about collecting as many points as possible, it is about clearing all objectives and moving on to the next level. And unless you have seen the message "THE ENIGMA HAS COME" and know what happens when this message appears, you have not mastered this table. Hint: You should make it to Level 3 on the first ball, or else you have a slim chance of surviving long enough.
Because the objective of what you need to do is completely clear all the time, and because mines and other traps will destroy the ball easily, Enigma is mostly a test of skill. Just keeping the ball in play as long as possible is not a viable strategy. Additionally, this design makes for an enormous replayability, because you're not playing against some highscore that you probably set up yourself on great stroke of luck that you know will not be repeated, instead the question is: Can I make it all the way to the finale?
So, don't go to Youtube and be spoilt, play Enigma, become an expert, and find out what "THE ENIGMA HAS COME" really means.
