Simply Enlightening – Zen Pinball Reviewed

DesertEagle’s take: Like many children of the 70’s, I aspired to own a collection of pinball machines. I dreamt of a darkened space where I could retreat and unwind, easing any anxieties with every bounce of the silver sphere. Two factors trounced upon my ambitions. First, the exorbitant property values in Los Angeles made recreational spaces a scarcity. More importantly, pinball machines slowly fell into extinction. 

Some have blamed videogames for pinball’s demise; these diversions offered variety that ball and flipper machines couldn’t touch. Ironically, electronic games have given pinball a new life, by simulating the pastime on our televisions. From the crude commencement of Video Pinball for the Atari 2600 to Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection for the Wii, we have seen an exponential increase in the complexity of programs designed to reproduce pinball in our homes.

Zen Studios recent release, Zen Pinball, is arguably the most graphically lush recreation of the leisure pursuit every created. Each of its four tables is amazing lifelike, from the realistic illumination around lights on each board, to the subtle motion trail on the silver ball. Players can even toggle scores that eject from every rebound of the metallic orb; it’s a handy touch that shouldn’t unsettle even the most fastidious pinball fanatic. While we’ve seen a number of digital pinball sims that offer little variation between tables, each of the four boards in Zen are both unique and saturated with satisfying scoring targets.

Although the single player game offered enough content to justify a ten dollar entry free, Zen Pinball’s multiplayer was were the title really shined. Players can take turns locally, in a manner that recalls the arcade turn-taking of yesteryear, or play an online competitive match. Although this mode could have easily been a tedious chore, the incorporation of EyeToy video and voicechat, made the multiplayer mode a notable social experience. Players can easily set goal limits, penalties for drained balls, and save slots for friends in the intuitive menu system.

PS3 owners with the slightest inking to relive the grandeur of the silver sphere diversion should definitely purchase Zen Pinball. It’s a graphically impressive, realistic pin sim that offers a well articulated multiplayer experience beyond its pleasing single player game. For those too young to recall the glory of the pastime, I highly recommend downloading the PSN demo to see what captivated a generation of gamers before our current digital distractions.

SeanNOLA’s take: Console pinball games have never been my cup of tea.  Sonic Spinball aside, something about the 2D representation of a system that relies so heavily on spatial depth has never translated into an enjoyable experience.  So it was with very little anticipation that I downloaded and played Zen Pinball from the PlayStation Store.  Little did I know that I could be so charmed by a pinball game on my PS3.

The controls are great; using the Dualshock bumpers makes a lot of sense, and I am sure that this is not the first time that this control scheme has been used, but it seems worth noting because it feels a lot more natural than Crue Ball or Virtual Pinball on the Sega Genesis.  It should also be addressed that you can remap the controls, which is a great feature that ALL console games should adopt across the board.  The only hiccups in the controls were that slamming the Sixaxis didn’t simulate bumping the table and that the ball plunger is not analog- so there are no skill shots.  Those seemed like no-brainers to me, but are only minor quibbles.

The game comes with 4 stunning tables from the get-go, and more tables are promised for the future, thanks to a downloadable content option in the menu.  The default tables are a great deal of fun all by themselves, as they are all very challenging and have a lot of character.  The lights and sounds of each table are unique and recreate an accurate representation of a stand up machine, thanks to the faux-LED animations in the HUD.  There are 6 different camera angles, which you can change on the fly, which allows you to really explore and familiarize yourself with the nuances of each beautifully crafted table.

This game grabbed me and held on better than any virtual representation of a pinball game has ever been able to in the past.  Sharp visuals, fun tables, responsive controls – the game really does have it all.  Any pinball aficionado owes it to themselves to get this game.  With more tables coming in the future, one can only hope that Zen Studios picks up the classic licenses from the ruins of Midway Games, but if not, the original tables designed specifically for the game are fantastic enough to whet my appetite for more.