Atari Reintroduces a ‘90s Pinball Classic — The Balls of Steel are Back!

Now Available on Steam, Jump Back Into the Golden Era Action and Go Balls’a’Blazin! 

New York, NY (January 30, 2024) - Atari® — one of the world's most iconic consumer brands and interactive entertainment producers — is delighted to announce the re-release of the legendary 1990s pinball classic, Balls of Steel, now available to purchase on Steam. This fully updated and optimized re-release invites players to get their flippers flapping and go ball-istic once more!

Whether you’re a pinball wizard or a first-timer, Balls of Steel offers an experience that’s as electrifyingly fun as it is nostalgic. Despite its modern appearance and improvements, Balls of Steel retains its golden-era magic with classic visuals and sound effects. Players will enjoy all of the classic tables, in addition to two brand-new tables introduced by Atari with the re-release: Centipede and Missile Command! 

Playable pinball tables include: 

• Darkside: Set on a remote space station under attack by alien creatures.
• Barbarian: A medieval fantasy quest with a huge dragon on the table.
• Firestorm: A mad bomber is sowing chaos in a dystopian U.S. city.
• Mutation: An accident in a secret science lab has unleashed a massive, slimy monster.  
• Devil’s Island: Forget fantasy island; this is a nightmare island with lava, deadly creatures, and voodoo.
• Centipede: Blast through waves of garden pests in this recreation of the Atari arcade classic.
• Missile Command: Defend your city from incoming missile attacks and killer satellites.

Originally debuted at E3 1997, Balls of Steel set a new standard for video game pinball. The classic game added edge, attitude, and style to a genre dominated by familiar sights and sounds. Media of the era sang high praise for Balls of Steel, calling it “the best PC pinball game ever,” and complimented the deeply realistic and immersive gameplay by promising “guaranteed sleepless nights.” Balls of Steel rose to worldwide prominence as one of the most fun and compelling pinball experiences of its time.
 
Balls of Steel is now available on Steam for Windows PC for $8.99, and is compatible with keyboard and mouse or gamepad controls. Learn more at the official website.

 
Stay up-to-date on all things Atari and retro-pop culture by following on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube, and join the community on Discord.

About Atari

Atari is an interactive entertainment company and an iconic gaming industry brand that transcends generations and audiences. The company is globally recognized for its multi-platform, interactive entertainment and licensed products. Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 unique games and franchises, including world-renowned brands like Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command®, Pong®, and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari has offices in New York and Paris. Visit us online at www.Atari.com.

Atari shares are listed in France on Euronext Growth Paris (ISIN Code FR0010478248, Ticker ALATA).

©2024 Atari Interactive, Inc. Atari wordmark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc.

 

Article by: Susan N.

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Pinball M Review

Pinball M by developer and publisher Zen Studios—MicrosoftXbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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Pinball M is an interesting new property by the masters of digital pinball, Zen Studios. At first I thought maybe this was just another reskin of their better known Pinball FX series, but there’s actually plenty of new things going on with Pinball M that warrant a look for fans of pinball games.

Now, I’ll be honest: I have no idea what the naming convention here is. Is the “M” for Mature? That seems to be the initial take given the largely horror-themed stable of tables at play here, though the Pinball FX stuff had a few more mature themed tables in the past like their Jaws one as well. Anyway, Pinball M is similar in structure to how a lot of these pinball games are set up to play. There is a free table you can gain access to with the framework, and then if you want you can purchase additional tables as well.

Wrath of the Elder Gods: Director’s Cut is a pretty lengthy name for the default table that gets packed in here, but it’s a really solid entry point to the series. It has a solid layout with some fun visuals and sound effects (even if the latter can get a bit repetitive, but I suppose that’s true to life of most pinball machines in general). I will say that there’s a brooding element to the presentation, with clever use of shadows and lighting to make the tables themselves nice and creepy. That goes for the included game and the additional tables you can pick up.

In terms of the actual gameplay, it’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect from digital pinball at this point, especially the Zen Studios product. Your trigger buttons activate flippers on either side of the table, you use a button to launch the ball at the beginning of play (including aiming for those tricky but entertaining potential skill shots that require precise timing to garner oodles of extra points) and you can ‘tilt’ the machine a bit using the thumb sticks. However, be careful not to overdo it or the game will end and you’ll get nothing to show for that round as you default. That being said, the perfect tap of tilt at the right time can be the difference between a saved ball or a big shot and a more mundane result. Additionally, you have the ball physics here, and I’d love to see a more expert player give their thoughts between the more traditional FX product and this one. To me the ball seems just a smidge faster here in Pinball M, but maybe that’s just my reflexes letting me down at times as it nears the flippers as I definitely took a bit longer to find my groove on these tables than most of the FX ones I’ve played in the past.

That’s not to say I wasn’t enjoying myself as I learned the mechanics of the various tables. I did get a chance to play them all. Beyond the Elder Gods table, you can also purchase Chucky’s Killer Pinball (yup, based on the angriest redheaded doll in horror history), Duke Nukem’s Big Shot Pinball (which was focused on fighting aliens and felt the most thematically ‘off’ of the tables), Dead by Deadlight Pinball and The Thing Pinball. That last one is probably my favorite, both in design and theme. The Thing was one of the earlier horror movies I ever watched and it’s always been a favorite of mine, but it was also probably the most open of the tables. One thing I always have to give Zen Studios credit for is how varied their table designs are, and The Thing has that open, vertical-heavy style that I really enjoy most.

Dead by Daylight has a bit going on in the middle with lanes off to the right and left for accessing the more vertical aspects of the table. The Chucky table felt a bit more squat and horizontal by nature, with a lot of precise shots needed to access its various ramps and other interactive features. The Duke Nukem table is the one that came across as the ‘busiest’ of them to me, with a lot of things you can hit in its somewhat centralized middle location, including access to a platform in the upper right corner of the table. All of these tables are a lot of fun, but everyone’s favorite theme and style of play means that your mileage my vary. I found myself going back to The Thing the most overall, but I spent hours with each table trying out a variety of game modes.

That’s another aspect to Pinball M that kept me coming back for more. There’s daily challenges where you can see how you stack up to the rest of the community, and you only get so many cracks per day at it. These challenges assign you a table with a specific type of game mode, such as acquiring all of the points you can within a certain time, or getting as many points on a single ball as you can, or seeing how many points you can rack up before the ball has travelled a specified distance. These are all engaging alternate ways to play the game, besides the more traditional play until you run out of balls in pinball mode. There is also a campaign mode for each table, which is just a more guided version of the various modes above, encouraging you to experience the tables in a variety of ways while giving you goals to achieve.

As you play the game, you unlock some digital currency you can use to help customize your experience. Each table has a sort of carved away space in your digital play room, choosing alternate table skins or changing lighting options, things of that nature. It’s a nice touch that gives you some minor tangible rewards for the time you’ve spent on the tables, each of which I had fun with.

Pinball M feels like a natural evolution or refinement of the prior Zen Studios Pinball FX games. On the one hand, it’s not a wholesale change from what’s come before, but it is the most enjoyable version of their digital pinball to date. The presentation is excellent, the tables are well-designed and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next for this new collection of tables.

Score: 8 / 10

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Pinball FX - DreamWorks Pinball Review

Pinball FX - DreamWorks Pinball by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation 5 Review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Pinball FX - DreamWorks Pinball feels geared towards younger players at a glance, but that’s not to say there’s no challenge to be had here either. This is a pack of tables, focusing on three different properties: Trolls, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

The first one I’ll chat about is my favorite of the three tables, Dragons Pinball. For one, the How to Train Your Dragon movies are cute, and I’m a bit of a fantasy fanatic, so the theme here worked pretty well for me. Still, at first glance I wondered if I’d like this one as much as I had hoped. Something about the two massive ramps along the sides made the table somehow seem like it was not as vertically long as I would have liked, as though those ramps were just going to be the only real action heading up the table.

However, I rather quickly found myself finding those ramps to be my favorite part of the table. There’s a little visual swerve to them as the ball goes rocketing through, causing the middle space between them to rotate and help trigger events. There’s also a very dragon-like theme of fire at play here, ranging from the pinball itself catching fire to watching the catapult in the lower left corner of the table hurling projectiles up towards the top of the table.

The visual aspects of this table kind of reminded me of the Skyrim table from the Bethesda pack a console generation ago. Lots of orange and yellow hues that give this fantasy-themed table more of that dragon-fire vibe that works well with the musical score. This combined with the table’s visuals pull everything together nicely.

Next up, let’s talk about Kung Fu Panda. Like How to Train Your Dragon, I’ve seen these movies and am familiar with them. While I liked how well the aforementioned Dragons table tied into the theme, visually I’d say that Kung Fu Panda’s were more fun overall. Bright colors play well off of one another, with reds, blues and oranges that contrast and compliment one another nicely. The ramps and rails, the sides of the table with decorations and the waterfall in the upper right all tie up the visuals nicely.

In terms of the table structure, there’s a lot of open space in the intermediary region, with some fun ramps and rails near the top, though they are not always accessible, making the play area feel smaller than it is at times. I will say – I really liked the upper-right corner waterfall, which has its own flippers for a small mini-game. This was for some reason, probably the most challenging table for me. I didn’t mind that challenge – I think it’s mostly due to the difficulty in getting access to the table’s upper regions, but my play sessions on this table seemed to be the shortest of the three.

Lastly, we have the Trolls table. While I’m fully aware of what Trolls are, I don’t really know about them as a property. The table has a wide range of colors that sort of work and sometimes don’t. It almost reminds me of a kids’ board game or Rainbow Road in Mario Kart with the splash of varied colors on top of an already bright table, framed in by green walls with more bright decorations along it. It’s not bad – but it can be a lot.

I will say as a table, this one is probably the most open and balanced. The upper regions can rather easily be reached, the playing space feels open enough that you can build good momentum on a variety of shots, and the interactive nature of the table is pretty entertaining. Knock a shot down a hole and watch a critter crawl out. This was probably the easiest table for me to get on a roll with, and I did enjoy it – but the theme didn’t resonate with me quite as nicely as the other two, and visually it just doesn’t feel quite as cohesive as the other two either.

My primary takeaway from this collection of tables? None of them are bad, and I’d say they range from good to great. I like it when tables have variety baked into them, both in terms of theme but also the style of play, and all three tables work very differently from one another. Pinball FX - DreamWorks Pinball provides fun tables that kids in particular will likely enjoy and relate to, with a nice variety of table styles and mechanics to boot.

Score 7.5 / 10

 

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Pinball FX - My Little Pony Pinball Review

Pinball FX - My Little Pony Pinball by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation 5 Review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Pinball FX - My Little Pony Pinball proves that Zen Studios can take pretty much any theme, and make a solid pinball table out of it. While the theme of this one doesn’t really hold any appeal to me, I can’t deny that it’s pretty well done and should appeal to a younger, slightly different demographic than many of the other Pinball FX titles out there.

If names like Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and the show’s music are all familiar to you, then Pinball FX - My Little Pony Pinball is probably right up your alley. Admittedly, I don’t really know the property myself – even my youngest kid is twenty one years old, so I’ve likely long but passed by being the target audience for this one.

That being said, this table would be an excellent one for helping those who do enjoy My Little Pony, or are perhaps new to the Pinball FX ecosystem, as it is certainly one of the easier tables to play. The flippers are close together at the bottom, making it quite easy to keep the ball in play. I don’t know that I’ve yet to lose one down the center of the table – it’s usually off to the sides (and even those start with a one-time save on each side to kick the ball back into play). Whether this is real or perceived, the ball just seems slower and floatier as well as it soars about the table. My first round playing, I lasted nearly half an hour, and I wasn’t in any way familiar with the layout of the table yet.

The table does not have quite as much going on as more advanced ones I’ve played, but there’s still some cute missions baked in here such as gathering apples or cooking up cupcakes. As the pinball moves across the table, it even has a rainbow tail trailing along behind it. If it were any more vibrantly colorful and sweet, it would be digital sugar. The visuals are pleasant and should appeal to fans of the property, while the sound effects and voice acting seem perfectly good as well. I’m not familiar with the show itself, but I decided to look up whether or not the voice cast was used for the sayings on this table. General consensus seems to be that the voice for Twilight is, but the others are inconclusive. Regardless, their speaking parts are all nice and fit the overall presentation, even if they did get pretty repetitive after a time. My wife was making dinner in the adjacent kitchen as I played this table and asked at one point how often they were going to repeat themselves.

In terms of the table layout, it’s visually interesting. There’s a lot of ramps and rails, which make it seem bigger and busier than it really is. It took me several tries to get the ball up the rainbow ramp near the center as I got a feel for the aforementioned floaty-ness of the table. Some tables feel very vertical, but Pinball FX - My Little Pony Pinball is not really one of them. It has the rails and ramps, but there’s not a lot to do at the top of the table, and even when stuff is happening up there, it’s kind of obscured by the cloud-like bumpers and the upper level platforms.

Obviously I’m not the target audience for this particular table, but I think Pinball FX - My Little Pony Pinball would resonate with a younger crowd, especially so if they’re fans of the source property. I can appreciate how impossibly cute the whole thing is, but this is likely not going to be one of the tables I go back to on a regular basis either, as there’s other themes that appeal to me more and feel more challenging than this one. On the whole I’d say it’s above average, but not really for me.

Score: 6.75 / 10

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Pinball FX - Williams Pinball: Twilight Zone Review

Pinball FX - Williams Pinball: Twilight Zone by developer and publisher Zen Studios—SonyPlayStation 5 Review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Pinball FX - Williams Pinball: Twilight Zone is one of the many classic tables that has gotten the digital treatment from Zen Studios, and it’s a great representation of the original.

Having grown up on pinball machines and playing a variety of now-classic tables (typing that makes me feel old) over the years, I haven’t always had the good fortune to have played these in their original form. That being said, I have had the opportunity to play quite a few, including this one.

Twilight Zone was already kind of in my head due to a very recent trip to Disney World with my wife, and multiple rounds of riding The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Completely unrelated to this table but firing it up tickled a part of my brain all the same.

This is a fun table, but like most of the ones based on actual pinball tables from years past, it tends to be more challenging than most of Zen Studios’ strictly digital offerings. These tables were often meant to swallow quarters in rapid fashion, so the first couple of plays were brief for me. However, once I got a feel for the tempo of this very busy table, I was able to get some really solid scores and experience the numerous mechanisms built into it.

There is a sort of chaos to the design, which is fitting for a table themed on Twilight Zone. Ticking clocks,  shlocky sci-fi robots, “magna-flips” and more made this a very zany table with a lot going on. Heck, most pinball tables when you unleash a multi-ball, you get three, maybe four going at once. This table? You get six. I usually lose one or two almost right away – it’s just too much to keep track of, but goodness – you can rack up some huge points if you can keep them in play for a bit.

From a presentation perspective, this has always been a very cool table that translates really well digitally. The sound effects are varied and appropriate, and the visuals are really fantastic. It’s sort of a dark table, both on the walls and the table itself, with soft blooming glows at key locations. Watching the ‘door’ open in the middle of the table is always fun as well.

As a single table, Pinball FX - Williams Pinball: Twilight Zone is a lot of fun, if challenging. There’s a certain nostalgia it tickles with me due to having played the original table once upon a time, and the digital recreation of it is a solid one that makes it worth playing.

Score: 8 / 10

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Pinball FX – Godzilla vs. Kong Pinball Pack

Pinball FX – Godzilla vs. Kong Pinball Pack by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation 5 Review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Zen Studios has released some more new tables for their recently published Pinball FX, and this one featuring two of the greatest monsters in history is a doozy. This pack includes three tables, one featuring Godzilla, the second featuring King Kong and the third naturally shows these two squaring off with one another.

Pinball FX – Godzilla vs. Kong Pinball Pack is admittedly a bit of a mouthful (eyeful, given you’re reading this and not hearing it?), but with three really solid tables included, it’s a solid offering with a really fun theme. For me personally? This is just one of the cooler themes Zen Studios could have picked, as I was a kid who grew up on these rubber suited monsters in all of their clumsy glory, and have enjoyed the more recent CGI-filled offerings as well.

I’ll start with the Kong table, as it is probably my least favorite of the three, but still one I enjoyed quite a bit. As expected, the backdrop for this one takes place on an island where massive creatures are the norm. It’s a much more nature-themed area with a more open middle that entices you to try and hit longer shots into specific locations. Hitting the right combinations to cause a giant Kong in the upper-right corner of the table to punch a flying worm-like creature is entertaining.

Visually, it’s probably the tamest of the three tables, with a heavy emphasis on browns. It makes sense, given Kong’s darker coloring and the natural feel of the environment at play, but despite the mountain range across the top and the aforementioned Kong model, for me the table itself just wasn’t as visually engaging as the other two. Additionally, there is a chase or follow Kong objective that is just brutally hard given the short duration you are afforded. It was one of the few objectives I couldn’t seem to complete out of this pack.

Next up, we have the Godzilla table. Admittedly, I came in thinking that the Kong vs Godzilla would be my favorite, simply because of the theming, but the solo Godzilla table was the one I kept coming back to the most often. With its neon visuals soaked in different shakes of blue and some slick, eye-catching rails for the pinballs to move along after certain shots, there was just something about the combination of graphics and pacing on this table that complimented each other almost perfectly. Watching Godzilla go radioactive breath on other titans as opposed to Kong’s punching and clubbing was also a bit more exciting for me. Similar to the Kong table, the Godzilla one has some open space in the middle to operate, but with even more to do it felt like in the more intermediate areas.

And lastly, we have the titular Godzilla vs. Kong table. Visually this one was interesting, but lacked the cohesion of the others. Lots of blues along the right, some reddish-orange along the left, it almost reminded me of some of the older Star Wars tables where you have light and dark sides. It’s a flurry of oranges and yellows throughout, and similar to the other tables, most of the scenery is located at the top of the table. This one however, was the most congested of the tables, with more bumpers and obstacles in the lower to middle regions and less wide-open space to try and hit long shots on (except one right down the center that I had some frequent flyer miles on).

All three tables are well-designed, with fun visuals and sound that evoke the movies nicely. Zen Studios has been leveraging a wide range of properties for their pinball tables of late, but this is probably one of the most exciting themes for me personally, and I’m happy to say that the tables lived up to my high expectations.

Score: 8.5 / 10

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Pinball FX Review

Pinball FX by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Zen Studios has brought their fantastic arcade pinball simulation series to the latest generation of consoles (and Epic Store), and they are very welcome additions. While there are numerous pinball games and simulations available on the market, this series has always been my favorite and nothing about this latest iteration has changed my mind on that front.

Now, I will admit – I was a bit confused when I first saw this announcement. But that likely has more to do with me being a very long-time fan of the studios’ pinball games. I was first introduced to Zen Studios’ pinball games on the PlayStation 3, when it was called Zen Pinball. I also picked it up on Steam where it went by an FX moniker. Over the years we’ve seen Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX3 and more – so to see a sort of ‘back to basics’ branding kind of threw me off for just a moment, especially when I saw it on the Epic Store and not Steam. I’m sure there’s plenty of reasons for the way they are tackling these, from an infrastructure perspective as well as just licensing, but if you are a bit confused by the branding, just know that you’re not alone. But also? In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter much.

Now, as someone who has owned just about every console table ever released in whatever version of these titles over the years, my initial question was: will they port over? After all, Zen Studios was incredibly generous when it released a native PlayStation 4 version of its pinball series, grandfathering in tables I had purchased for my PS3. The answer is a slightly disappointing ‘no’, so my hundreds of tables do not port over for free. At the same time, most of these packs are not overly expensive and I understand that the team needs to monetize their product somehow, so I’m not overly worried about it either, but I felt it was worth calling out.

The next question I had to ask myself then was: why upgrade ecosystems? Well, for one – having it native to the PlayStation 5 (or Xbox Series X | S) is pretty nice. Everything just looks a bit crisper and shinier, and for trophy / achievement hunters such as myself, it’s always nice to have some new shiny objects to chase. Those are pretty superficial reasons though, and for me, the primary draw has always been the tables. If Pinball FX were to only be rehashing my previously purchased tables, there wouldn’t be much reason to delve in – and there are a ton of returning tables. 67 to be exact. But there are over a dozen other tables that were available on PC but not console, such as Curse of the Mummy, Grim Tales and Wrath of the Elder Gods to name a few. There are a few brand-new tables as well, such as The Addams Family, Borderlands and Brothers in Arms (which are available in the Gearbox table bundle, which was one of the bundles I spent a lot of time with). I really enjoyed these tables, especially the bright, colorful and zany nature of the Borderlands table.

One of the remastered tables I spent plenty of time with as well was the Indiana Jones table. I had previously reviewed this one when it was a Pinball FX3 table (you can read it here – but the short version is: I really enjoyed this table, and it’s great to have a reason to play it again after having spent so much time with it in the past). There are 86 tables available upon release, with a plan to have 120 by summer, so I’m looking forward to seeing what is coming down the pipe.

Cosmetically speaking, Pinball FX is doubling down on the idea of unlocking themed items for your ‘space’, which is pretty cool – though I wonder if it would be more interesting / immersive if it was presented in VR (I was a huge fan of the prior VR tables released on PS4). This “Pin Hall” as they dub it is fun, but it’s more the tease of “what’s to come” I’m curious about. The core gameplay from the last few releases are all here, but with the promise of more tables and a battle royale mode coming as well.

One of the things I touched on earlier was monetization, and it seems Pinball FX is built to do so a couple of different ways. The traditional method of buying tables that you can keep forever is still available, but now there is a Pinball Pass as well. For $14.99 a month, you can access most of the tables (75 out of the 86). That strategy gives you the most immediate bang for your buck, but I do wonder if that will hurt the game long-term as players may do that for a month or two and almost never pick the game up again. Or maybe they only buy new table packs going forward because they had previously played everything available. I’m not really sure, I’m just speculating at this point, but the new strategy does introduce greater flexibility for gamers, but some what-ifs as well.

Summary

For those like myself that can’t seem to get enough of the Zen Studios pinball games, this is an easy acquisition. You can download the framework for free, and then choose to buy tables or go with the monthly pass, and there are a ton of tables right out off the bat. That said, there may be more reason for veteran players who feel like they’ve already done everything there is to do to check back later with the promise of new tables and modes. Pinball FX is still the best pinball series around, but the current release feels more foundational at this point, leaving me anxious to see how it develops in the future.

Score: 7 out of 10

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Pinball FX3 - Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure - XB1 Review

Pinball FX3 - Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Microsoft Xbox One review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes 

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It’s been a while since we had a new Pinball FX3 table, and this latest release was certainly worth the wait. Pinball FX3 - Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is a digital reimagining of the classic Williams pinball, with all of the bells and whistles you would expect from a Zen Studios offering.

That is the good news, and it’s ample. Visually, this table is a feast. The basic table design is a lot of browns and oranges at first glance, but there is no shortage of bright, colorful lighting on the table itself. Having been a fan of the actual table for many years now (I used to play it in my early college years), seeing it brought back to life in this fashion. Obviously it’s been a long time since I played it, but the sound design sure feels like what I remember, right down to the music and dialog recreated on this table.

While I love the overall presentation, I do appreciate that there is an option to turn off what I think of as the ‘Pinball FXtras’. These are the 3D effects on and around the table that don’t occur with a real pinball machine. I like them myself, but I know some purists prefer to turn those off, either because they find the animations distracting or just takes away from the nostalgia. That is probably especially true of a table such as this, which is based on a real-world pinball machine. If those extras don’t appeal? You can turn them off.

Thematically, this game is based on the original three movies. As such, there are quests sprinkled throughout that harken back to those movies. Like other tables, completing these objectives can lead to big points. Each table has its own scoring system, but this one certainly feels like it has more zeros than many of the others. That being said, it feels great when you complete one of those objectives and you see the points just rolling in. On my very first play I came pretty close to the default table high score and earned at least one extra ball and pulled down a multiball. I seemed to have had pretty good luck though, as I’ve only exceeded that score once since.

As for the table play itself? It’s a fast, fun table with lots of missions, plenty of narrow passages to shoot the ball through and more. This is a very vertical table with only two flippers, but the ball moves with plenty of speed and I seldom felt like there were lulls in the action.

So for as good as the table plays, there is a single point of contention that needs to be brought up. The table is fantastic – but it’s also a single table instead of the usual packs of three. Also, it’s more expensive than any of the standalone tables that can be bought. Maybe this was a licensing issue that caused Zen Studios to pay more, but they just feel this table’s worth it, but from a value standpoint, Pinball FX3 - Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure takes a bit of a hit compared to some of the prior packages released. To me, it’s worth it to get to relive this table, but your mileage my vary.

Summary

Pinball FX3 - Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is a fantastic table that filled me with nostalgia as soon as I fired it up and heard the familiar music. The presentation is top-notch across the board, and it is a fast-paced, entertaining table. The value proposition might not be for everyone however, as it is a single table at a premium price.

Score: 7.5 / 10

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Star Wars Pinball VR - PSVR Review

Star Wars Pinball VR by developer Zen Studios - Pinball FX and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation VR review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Star Wars Pinball VR hits a few different sweet spots for me. For one, I am a huge fan of Star Wars. For another, I’ve played just about every Zen Studios pinball game by now, across a variety of platforms. Lastly, the VR implementation had me excited as I have really enjoyed prior Zen Studios VR pinball tables. With this much to be excited about, I was almost worried that I was setting myself up to be disappointed. Thankfully, the opposite has proven true, and Star Wars Pinball VR has proven to be arguably my favorite PSVR title to date.

When I first picked up my PlayStation VR a couple of years ago, I grabbed just about every virtual reality game available at the time. If I had the hardware – I was going to use it, right? I spent more hours with that thing on my head than I care to admit, but the game that had me coming back to it most often was probably one of the simpler ones out there – Zen Studios pinball tables. If anything, I’ve long been disappointed that they haven’t brought more of their tables over to the VR format (the numerous licensed Marvel tables would be an absolute treat for me). So I was thrilled to hear that Star Wars tables were getting the VR treatment.

Now, not all of the Star Wars tables came along for the ride, but these six did:

●     Star Wars: A New hope

●     Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

●     Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

●     Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

●     Star Wars Rebels

●     Masters of the Force

In addition to those tables getting the full VR coat of paint, two all new tables were added as well: The Mandalorian and Star Wars Classic Collectibles.

Eight tables in one package is no joke, and I really appreciated the focus on the original trilogy here right out of the gates. Out of the two new tables, the Mandalorian is the one I took to more. That being said, I had no issues with Collectibles either. They are both good tables, and when you have a group of tables like this, you tend to get some different flavors. In general, I tend to like long, sweeping tables with rails and ramps over the more claustrophobic, twitch-reflex tables that Zen Studios has released over the years, and you get a bit of everything with this package.

From a presentation standpoint, the virtual reality is just an awesome fit. Admittedly, these tables have a tendency to make you hold your head downward a bit more than I would when playing other games (to simulate standing in front of a real pinball table, which makes total sense), and my neck does get a bit tired from that at times. That being said, one of the biggest gripes about pinball tables by any developer is that it can be hard to track the pinball at times. Pinball tables are by nature vertical in display design, yet our current HD televisions are focused on horizontal real estate. That’s one of the reasons Zen Studios’ pinball titles work so well on the switch in handheld mode, because you can tip it on its side and get a much more natural visual presentation.

Why am I explaining all of this? Because onf of my favorite aspects of VR in this application, is that your head moves to follow the ball and pan up and down the table in a very natural fashion. I love pinball machines, and this is about as natural of a way to play the digital form as there is.

Now, for those who are new to Zen Studios’ pinball games, the core mechanics are exactly what you would expect. Launch the ball, smack it around with your flippers and try to trigger some cool things on the table. There is an authentic weight and movement to the pinball that keeps the core gameplay enjoyable, but Zen Studios’ tables embrace their digital design and do plenty of things you would not see in an actual pinball table. You can get some mini video games that pop up, you can have a fully animated 3D character jumping around the table. It makes for fantastic presentation and Star Wars Pinball VR is fantastic visually. There are voice actors reciting famous lines from the movies that… just don’t quite sound right to someone who has seen them as often as I have. Thankfully the actual sound effects and music are spot-on and really just add to the further immersion.

There are several different modes to encourage replay value, but there is a sort of man cave / Star Wars Cave collection element sprinkled in for good fun as well. Instead of just getting virtual PlayStation trophies for accomplishing specific tasks, you can also unlock a variety of cosmetic items to decorate your space with. Sure, it’s all style, no real substance – but as a guy who actually has quite a few Star Wars collectibles in his video game room? I felt rather oddly right at home in this virtual environment.

Summary

Star Wars Pinball VR provides a pretty good bang for its buck, given that there are eight total tables and two of them are brand new. Some table layouts and thematic choices will resonate with people differently, but as a whole the package is quite enjoyable. The presentation is fantastic, both of the new tables are well-made and Star Wars Pinball VR gives me hope we will see even more virtual reality pinball from the wizards at Zen Studios in the future.

Score: 8.5 / 10

 

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Pinball FX3 - Williams Pinball: Universal Monsters - PS4 Review

Pinball FX3 - Williams Pinball: Universal Monsters by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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By now it is safe to say that Zen Studios knows how to deliver a fantastic pinball experience. The Pinball FX3 - Williams Pinball: Universal Monsters pack might frustrate those hoping for a third table, as is often the norm in these packs – but the two that are delivered are both incredibly well done and are among the best Zen Studios has released to date.

As seems to be the case with many of these throwback table packs, I have only played some of these tables in person in the past. I had played Creature From the Black Lagoon many moons ago, but never even heard of Monster Bash. The good news is, both of these titles are a lot of fun to play, and I can only assume that Monster Bash is a good representation of the original table, because Creature From the Black Lagoon is spot-on.

Like other Williams classics tables, there is a one-button push to flip from the classic visuals to a more modernized approach. It really jumped out at me how much more colorful Monster Bash was in the updated view, but beyond that the visual flourishes are really nice. It is fun to play a game or two in the classic view, but in the end the experience just looks better when you use the Zen Studio updated graphics. This is most evident in Creature From the Black Lagoon where the ‘creature’ visual in the table was a hologram and nothing more. A neat bit of visual flair for the time (which was 1992), but when you play the table now, the creature emerges from the water to look at you in full 3D before disappearing back into the murky watery depths. It certainly makes the entire experience a more cinematic one.

The Pinball FX3 framework is alive and well here also, providing experience earned, which can be used to unlock special multipliers, which helps to provide a bit of carrot-dangling progression to keep people interested in more than just the tables. Combine that with the leaderboards and multiplayer options, and these two tables feel right at home here.

Both of these tables provide that old school pinball challenge, which can certainly take a little getting used to if you are not familiar with classic tables like this where the ball just sometimes does some inexplicably annoying things (mostly – going right down the middle of the table and out of play). Still, once you get used to the tables, it is easy to put in a twenty or thirty minute session – especially in Monster Bash where it really rewards accuracy. My first two times playing that table were over with rather quickly, but once I got the feel of the table, I was able to string together some fairly long sessions of play.

In general, I will say that the gameplay on these two tables took me just a bit longer to get the hang of than the last handful of Williams pinball packs. I have gone back and forth from this one to some of the other tables, and I cannot quite put my finger on it. There is something about the flipper / ball interaction that is just a bit different. Timing is just a bit different, or impact is a little softer, something along those lines that I am struggling to articulate. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, just something I noticed while playing early on – but after I focused on one of these two tables for a bit, it all came easily enough and I adjusted.

Both of these tables are a good deal of fun, and easy to recommend to fans of the Pinball FX3 series. The visuals are fantastic, and the two tables while both Halloween themed may seem similar, they play quite differently from one another. Of course, having a third table in the pack would have been nice, but the two we got were high quality and easy to spend several hours with.

Score: 8 / 10

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Pinball FX3: Williams Pinball - Volume 5 - PS4 Review

Pinball FX3: Williams Pinball - Volume 5 by developer and publisher Zen Studios—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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Zen Studios once again collaborates with Williams Pinball to bring us a three pack of tables that do an effective job of replicating an old school pinball experience. The three tables differ in nostalgic value to me, but this is a really strong package.

For me personally, this pack is all about Tales of the Arabian Nights, which released back in 1996. This was one of my favorite tables at our local arcade when I was in college, and I dropped more than a few quarters into it. Obviously it has been some time since I played it, but just the way it looks and sounds as you stroll up to the virtual machine had me grinning from ear to ear. I thought there would be some considerable rust, or maybe I just had a bout of good fortune right off of the bat, but my first game lasted about twenty minutes and it was rather like that adage about just riding a bicycle. It was all familiar and came right back to me. With a focus on hitting the genie as well as spinning a lamp around, there is a lot to see and do on this table, and the pacing is excellent without a lot of cheap ball losses.

A year later, Cirqus Voltaire came out – but it was probably a couple of years until I encountered that table in real life. As the name would imply, we have a circus themed table here, with a Ringmaster as the centerpiece. There are a few different mini-objectives to be found and unlocked on this table, and the speed and pacing is good all of the way around.

Generally with these FX packs, there are one or two really good tables that serve as the primary hooks, and one that feels like a bit of a letdown by comparison. Both Arabian Nights and Cirqus Voltaire are so good that they could have headlined a pack on their own, which leaves us with No Good Gofers, which has a rather slapstick design that is the opposite of my tall table preferences. I’ve mentioned in the past that I tend to enjoy long tables with a lot of room to operate, but the odd ramps at the top here make No Good Gofers feel too compact for my liking. Add to it that I had never played this one in an arcade previously, and I have no nostalgic connection to No Good Gophers either. It’s bright, colorful and has a sort of zany golfing / Caddyshack vibe going on that will no doubt appeal to some, just not me.

Like these other throwback table packages, one of the cooler features to be had here is the ability to view the tables as they were originally constructed or with some modernized video game embellishments courtesy of the Zen Studio developers. Of the three tables, I definitely enjoyed the throwback look of Arabian Nights the most, but in the end I almost always wind up playing these in their visually enhanced modes. It is a meshing of nostalgia and modern day visual flair that simply works really well.

Zen Studios knocked it out of the park with the Arabian Nights and Cirqus Voltaire tables, both of which were ones I enjoyed in my younger years and still find challenging and entertaining today. Being able to play classic tables like this in digital form is an absolute joy and they fit beautifully withing the Pinball FX3 framework. I am sure there are players who will enjoy the slightly cramped, high speed offering that No Good Gofers provides, but for me at least it was the least entertaining of the tables in the pack.

 

Score: 8.25 / 10

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Senran Kagura: Peach Ball - Switch Review

Do you have a hankering for pinball? Do you like cute fuzzy animals? Busty anime girls? Well then, have I got good news for you.

Senran Kagura Peach Ball is a spin off of the Senran Kagura series that is well know for its busty ninja squad. Having now gotten a spin-off where you can finally handle your balls without people looking at you funny, okay, maybe they still will, Peach Ball has you, an anonymous unseen character, help the ninja girls out after they’ve accidentally been turned into animals due to one of Haruka’s potions that she was brewing in an arcade bathroom. The method to turn them back? Get a small ball to vibrate and hit the girls with it. Apparently Haruka has also rigged a pinball machine to do this in her spare time, so you can coax the girls onto the pinball machine, smack the ball around a bit, and then proceed to hit their bust and butt with the pinball. Yes, I’m serious, no, I don’t intend to play this game in public.

As far as gameplay goes, it’s pretty much just straight up pinball. Of course there are a bunch of gimmicks to make it stand out, but ultimately the biggest issue you’re going to face is how little there really is going on. With five characters and only two tables that you’ll be going back and forth on, Peach Ball isn’t a game that I’d probably spend any more than maybe half an hour at a time playing. Is it bad? Definitely not. Could it be a lot better? Most assuredly so.

The standard pinball stuff is all there: bumpers, spinning doors, tracks that loop around the play field, and challenges to help rack up the score. Unlike in traditional pinball, there are a couple of tweaks Peach Ball has for you. First off is the fact that the girl you’re trying to un-anthropomorphize is sitting in the center of the board, and you can “bop” her for points. If you hit enough times and in the right places you can knock her down for a score bonus. Secondly we have challenges which come in batches of three and are listed on the right hand side of the screen. These challenges can give item rewards that can act as score boosts or helpful functions, such as giving you a ball return.

Next up we have the fact that the game basically encourages you to TILT, very much opposed to real life pinball machines. While the table may lean in your favor (heh, puns), that doesn’t mean the games are super easy either. Or I could just be really bad at pinball. The final item of note is that you have “gated” score sections. Once you hit a certain amount of points, you start a “sexy challenge”. Complete three and you get to do a super sexy challenge which ends in the girl turning back to normal. Usually these consist of hitting objects moving around a circular zone and you having an infinite amount of ball returns, but they are timed.

The story line is quirky and super corny, but played for laughs, and the gameplay is fun, albeit a bit lacking in content, if not quality. While there isn’t really anything wrong with Peach Ball, I feel like it could have been a lot better if there were a few more table and characters. While two tables only get you so far, the massive amount of unlockables in the in-game store may keep you playing in order to unlock them. Currency is rewarded after clearing stages depending on completed missions and score.

If you’re hankering for some pinball and were looking for something with a little more fanservice than a shiny metal orb, good news is Senran Kagura Peach Ball is available for you to sidle up to. Now excuse me while I go bop a catgirl…

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Honey Parade Games
Publisher(s):
XSEED
Marvelous
Genre(s):
Arcade
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Marvel Pinball - PSN Review

I reviewed FX Pinball by Zen Studios for the PSN recently, and I really liked the game and my dad seemed to enjoy it when he was over as well. Zen Studios made a spin-off set of tables using the same basic engine - and the result is Marvel Pinball. I had originally downloaded the main package, which came with four tables: Spider-man, Wolverine, Iron Man and Blade. I also picked up the two expansion tables, Fantastic Four and Captain America.

Graphics - 8:

There is a great look and feel to these tables. Each one has a different layout and appearance, and some of them like the Blade table have a really cool day/night effect. There's never any slow-down or stutter, no tearing or pop-in/out and you have several views you can see the table from. There is a lot going on at times, which can make it a tad bit tough to follow the ball (or balls if you get a multi-ball situation), but the fact that the game never winds up chugging under all of that movement is a good thing.

Sound & Music - 7:

The music is pretty up-tempo and matches what you are doing no the screen. There's some voice acting on all of the tables as well - for better or for worse. It's not great voice acting, but there's a sort of cheesiness to it that lends itself to the pinball table experience. It can get a bit repetitive - I know there were times where I was hitting the same shot over and over again and the sound effects and the triggered voice over were the exact same for about two straight minutes. It was a rare thing, but it occurred nonetheless.

Gameplay - 9:

For a pinball table, this is what you want. The flippers respond well, there is a great deal of variety within and between the tables, you can control the ball launch for 'skill shot' attempts and the menus are easy to get around as well. You can do a lot of customizing of your tables if you really want - I honestly don't bother though because manipulating those settings to a non-default value makes your scores ineligible for online leaderboards. Probably the only thing holding this back from being a 'perfect' pinball representation are the somewhat odd mini-game or quest missions you can pick up. They slightly draw you out of the experience and there's no explanation on how they work. It took me a few tries to realize I could select between missions on Captain America or Blade, and I had to explain it to my dad several times before he picked up on it. That part's just not quite as intuitive as the rest of the game.

Intangibles - 8:

There's trophies to unlock, leaderboards, a score called 'hero score' - and you can compare against your friends on the PSN. My dad picked these six tables up after playing them on my PS3 on his last visit, and we continually try to one-up one another. That said, I wish I knew more people playing these games too, because other than my dad and my son - I don't have any other friends playing and those bragging rights would be more fun with more people.

Overall 8:

I feel like these tables are more polished than the original FX tables I played and reviewed earlier. For fans of the comic books, it just adds an extra layer of fun to hear Spider-man spouting a one-liner or watching Tony Stark get suited up in his Iron Man costume if you progress far enough in one round. Everyone will get different mileage out of the game and the tables. For $10 you can get the original four, and then for $3 each, you can pick up the additional Captain America and Fantastic Four tables. I'm a bit surprised that no Thor table's been released yet, given the movie release. Same of Hulk and I would fully expect there to be an avengers one. There's 'slots' in the main menu for more tables, so I am certain more are planned.

If I had to list my tables in order of preference, I'd probably say:

Blade
Spider-man
Captain America
Wolverine
Fantastic Four
Iron Man

More Marvel Pinball Videos

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