Space Cadet Pinball
Version: 1.1.1 Web: https://github.com/k4zmu2a/SpaceCadetPinball
We’ve never had the chance to feature the glorious SpaceCadet in the past because it was a closed-source proprietary game. Even though it took very little effort to extract the demo version of the game from a Windows installation and run it via Wine, it didn’t fit in with the type of applications we normally highlight here in HotPicks.
However, there’s now a new GitHub project that implements the native SDL2 port of the game, and the (pinball) tables are turned. SpaceCadetPinball is a small project that enables you to play the same-named arcade pinball game as a fully native Linux application. Just as with many other projects of this kind, you do need to have an original copy of SpaceCadet in order to use the artwork and other game assets within the open source SpaceCadetPinball loader.
As a quick reminder, the version that shipped with Windows was a truncated demo, featuring just one table and low-resolution graphics. It was basically an ad campaign for Full Tilt! Pinball, which was originally developed by Cinematronics and published by Maxis Software. The full version boasted three tables and better artwork, which was particularly noticeable when playing the game in full-screen mode. Anyway, whatever version you choose to go with, they all have definitely long become abandonware.
Right now, SpaceCadetPinball only supports the first table, which sees you at the control panel of a fictional space ship. The table field is generously populated with bumpers, switchers, ramps, gates and whatnot to back up the story of a brave explorer travelling on his ship and fighting space aliens. Even though all user interaction is limited to twitching those two lower flippers, you can do a lot of things in the game: take missions, complete tasks and advance your cadet career. All very entertaining.
In order to run the game, you need to compile the SpaceCadetPinball executable with cmake, place the resulting file in the same directory as the game’s DAT file, and run it.