Zen Pinball Review

As a kid I used to see arcades nearly everywhere, in malls, just down the street, various arcade cabinets in Pizza parlors and restaurants, Chucky Cheese, and so on. Walking in you would hear various noises, screaming kids, music from rhythm games, ski ball, "hadoken!", or my personal favorite the sounds from the pinball tables. They drew me in every time, the lights, the bells and whistles, crappy voice overs when you did something well.


Even when I was too short to actually play these games I knew I loved them. They were so simple in concept yet so complex in execution. One silver ball, two paddles, and an endless score cap, this was the ultimate test of skill and endurance and it was alive. Not housed in a digital realm like the video games I was used to, not bound by lines of code, nor a set boss attack pattern to remember, these games were in reality boasted high speeds and ate money like nothing else. Legends were born and died on the high score board, initials were more than just people, they were gods!

Enter the future, where arcades are dead and pinball machines are relics of a forgotten past. Here we have Zen Pinball, an indie studio pinball game that came out some years back and their more recent affair Marvel Pinball. It has been quite a long time since anyone took on the virtual pinball world which took over from the arcades in the 90's. There was a long era of gaming where you couldn't go two months without another virtual pinball sim game, and more recently we would see maybe two or three a year all lackluster, all rather terrible. But Zen studios breaks the mold, they go full force, balls forward if you will. They GET Pinball, and know what makes it so great.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt these are my favorite downloadable games on PSN. Probably because I have a bias toward pinball in general as my above gushing of its history in my youth suggests, but also that these games from Zen are just really, really well made.

Graphics:

I have played probably every digital pinball game in existence at least on the PC and really dated titles on the NES and handheld systems and Zen/Marvel Pinball are the best looking pinball games I have ever seen. The ball is shiny and reflective, the boards are vibrant with color and lights, and the ball itself zooms with a tail to help track its movement and speed. Every table has a theme and the graphics reflect that theme all the way down to the paddles you use. From V-12's engine, to the red planet of the Mars table everything looks fantastic. There are some MINOR moments of frame hiccups when big events happen on a few tables, but it really doesn't hinder play as the ball is usually out of play during these sequences.

Also, I really love that they allow you so many options on these tables. You get 7 different views of the table to pick from, and you are allowed to show the score or not of everything you hit on-screen. So if you hit a ramp or anything you'll see a number like "5,000" in yellow pop up. Some people hate to see this some like it, but Zen let's you pick and that is quite rare in this day and age of gaming.

Sound:

The music for these games go from terrible to amazing and the voice acting is always bad, but really that's just a mark of a great pinball game to me. The music isn't that important though as Zen allows you the option to insert your own music to play during these long sessions of pinball madness. The sounds of the ball hitting things on the table is perfect, and hearing the ball roll around gives weight to it as well.

Gameplay:

Ah, the most important part of any virtual pinball game is how it plays. I have played so many I can tell the immediate pitfalls developers make. Many make the ball too floaty, have bad camera selections, targets that make the ball drain to the side immediately without fail, and just plain awful graphics.

Zen makes none of these mistakes. They clearly made a "video" pinball game though, and I am fine with that. The physics aren't perfect, but they are consistent. They made a fast and tight pinball game with many unrealistic tables. Tesla is a good example wherein one mission the ball becomes magnetized and sticks to other balls causing a whirring of Tesla science! Or the mechanics of the table in general where suddenly you're not using flippers but magnets to bounce the ball around.

Practically none of these tables could be played in real life, but that's exactly what makes these games fantastic video pinball games. Purists harp on how video pinball games should be as close to real life as possible, and to that I argue why? Why make something real life already has? That's kinda the point of video games, to be imaginative and fun. Let me tell you, these tables are not short on imagination. Every table presents new and fun challenges to overcome. Difficult shots and tight timing are paramount in every table. Learning every nook and cranny is very important to last and reach a new high score.

Comparisons:

If you're on the PSN though and you're wondering which set of tables to get either the Zen original or Marvel tables I would of course urge you to get both but here are the differences. The original tables come with 4 initially, V-12, Tesla, Shaman, and El Dorado. All are great, and this game has MANY DLC tables Street Fighter, Ninja Gaiden, Earth Defense, Mars, Excalibur, and Paranormal. These are also all great tables, and you can't get them through the Marvel pinball package.

However, the old Zen tables are not presented nearly as well as the Marvel tables. For one, you have to be online to see your scores, you only get ONE high score instead of the usual top 10 scores that I am used to for pinball, and the loading is atrocious. I mean it takes a solid minute to load up a table on this game. Marvel doesn't have these issues. You get a top 10 local leader board, also your online friends combine to form what is called a "hero" score. The higher scores you and your friends have all add up to give you a personal hero score. Ultimately the more friends you have the higher your score, but your personal scores matter too. It's an interesting concept and something that wasn't employed in the first game.

On the Marvel side you get 4 tables and DLC is incoming. Wolverine, Spiderman, Ironman, and Blade are the first 4 and all of them are great. My favorite is the Wolverine table so far though. This will probably be the set Zen supports in the future as we'll see Captain America, and probably the Hulk tables soon. Either choice is a good one, but I do prefer the new interface of the Marvel tables.

The best part is what a value these tables are. I remember paying $9.99 at Best Buy for the last PC pinball game I ever got called Fantastic Journey. It was ONE table...and not a very good one either. With Zen you get 4 tables for $9.99, and the DLC tables are only $2.50. For me, I put countless hours into each one, lost days at a time to just the Tesla table alone. The value is astounding if you're a pinball nut, and won't break the bank if you're casually interested.

So don't hesitate to give these a try if you've ever been interested in pinball or disappointed by years of crappy digital pinball offerings of the past.

*lock is lit!*