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This conversion of the rather odd 'video pinball' coin-op wasn't reviewed in Zzap! due to its late arrival in the office (several weeks after its release by Activision) and its mediocrity.

The four double-screen (flicking between top and bottom) pinball tables are interlinked by 'time tunnels', i.e. special holes which the ball goes into. Unlike the Amiga version though, you can't switch between tables at will - the current table must first be completed before multi-loading in the next. Tables are completed by performing a special task, e.g. the first one by flipping the ball through transparent tubes to light the letters of 'VOLCANO'. As well as using the flippers (one set for each half of the table) you can 'tilt' the table to alter the path of the ball.

Time Scanner's simple playability was okay on the Amiga which at least featured decent ball movement and easy switching between tables. Sadly the C64 game is a very poor conversion with two-tone, Spectrummy graphics and appallingly slow, jerky ball movement.

Surely part of the appeal of pinball is the speed of play: Time Scanner would hardly test the arcade reactions of a (dead) tortoise. A pity it's so unplayable, as unlike most pinball sims the tables have plenty of special features.