Zen Pinball

PS3 review by Terence Gage on 11th June 2009

Zen Pinball is a very standard game. It has four tables based around different themes (a car engine, a jungle adventure, electrical experiments and a tribal shaman), there is a somewhat limited online mode and it even has rudimentary inclusion of the Sixaxis’ motion control. There’s nothing especially wrong with it, but by the same token, it doesn’t really stand out in any way, and when the free pinball game that comes with Microsoft Windows is just as much fun, you have to question Zen Pinball’s place in the market.

Crucial to pinball games is the design of the tables. ZEN Studios have taken a realistic route with regard to design and layout - there’s nothing here which couldn’t be replicated on a real pinball table. They feel a bit too empty and uninteresting for the most part - style aside there’s very little to differentiate them, and there’s generally little to keep the pinball busy, meaning it’s very often a case of hitting the ball up, scoring a measly few points, then having to hit it back again, because the damn thing just won’t stay up the table long enough to score any significant points.

screenshot

It can also be extremely frustrating. Many of the tunnels and runners are aimed so a ball can quickly circuit the table and drop down between the bumpers, catching you unaware time and time again. It doesn’t help that the physics feel slightly off, with copious amounts of side-spin for no discernible reason and an unusually heavy-feeling ball. Thankfully, a ‘ball saved’ continue can be activated with a little effort, which comes in handy as it is very easy to lose.

There are a couple of online modes, catering for up to four players. You play simultaneously with the competitors in a race to reach the designated score first, and a little bar in the top corner shows everyone’s progress. This can be played in single matches or tournaments, which ZEN Studios will periodically run, although we weren’t able to try it out as there wasn’t one taking place at the time of review. The PS Eye camera can also be used while playing online to watch your friend’s reaction, which is a nice touch if you’re playing with pals.

Stylistically, Zen Pinball does a good job. The visuals on each of the four tables are chunky and distinct, and each has a different colour scheme and elemental framework to set it apart (i.e. bronze/stone, etc). ZEN Studios have mimicked traditional pinball styles competently, with cheesy voiceovers and neat little animations showing up on screen. The soundtrack is very good, and the sound effects decent, if perhaps not quite managing to convey the constant pinging and scoring that pinball machines do so well.

screenshot

Menus are well-designed and clear, taking their design from a pinball machine’s buttons or LEDs, and there is a constant scrolling information bar on the main menu with updates on who has scored highly on what table. The Sixaxis’ motion control is used to pull back the spring and launch the ball, but it feels as though it would have been put to better use being able to nudge the table, rather than mapping it to the left stick. At any time whilst playing you can drop into the menu and look at the current ‘objectives’ you need to complete on the table, which is fairly useful as the tables tend to be a cacophony of flashing lights without much direction; as oppose to most pinball tables which tend to focus on specific parts to tell you where the big points lie. Only a little point, but one that causes some frustration.

There’s really very little to recommend Zen Pinball to any but the most ardent of pinball fanatics. It’s a passable title which really suffers from having just four relatively uninteresting tables and ball physics which never feel quite as accurate as they should. For any PS3 owners craving a game of pinball on the system, this is currently the best (and only) choice, that is if the much older but more dependable likes of Pinball Illusions don’t appeal.

Five out of ten

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About the author

Terence Gage is a Senior Staff Writer at Thunderbolt, having joined in April 2007.

Comments

Nick McDowell
12th June 2009

Now this is a stupid review, I am just glad there is a free demo, so everybody can check the game out before buying.
Tel Gage
12th June 2009

Interested to know in what way this review is ’stupid’, Nick? Have I not been clear enough with why I didn’t like this game?
Wow - I love this game
12th June 2009

Jesus man - check out the rest of the reviews online. This is one of the best Pinball games out there - please number a better Pinball game that has its features for 10 bucks.
Nick McDowell
13th June 2009

Tel, I do not think you have played this game at all.

“..The Sixaxis’ motion control is used to pull back the spring and launch the ball..” - this is simply not true.

The included tables are “..too empty and uninteresting..” and “..there’s very little to differentiate them..”? Compared to what?? Empty?? you must be joking.

The layout of the included tables are totally different and the complexity (playfield and ruleset) must be in line with real life machines.

Ball physics is bad? Luckily anyone can download the free demo and see if this is true or not.

I agree: you should go back to your XP and play Space Cadet or to your Amiga and play the 14 years old Pinball Illusions.

And maybe the editor of this site should give this game to someone who is actually willing to play it before writing an unbiased review.
Tel Gage
13th June 2009

Nick, I am sorry you feel this way. I played the game for a number of hours before starting writing, and was rather surprised to see the game scoring so well on other sites after I had written it. However, please note that with regard to my comments that I didn’t find the tables very interesting, that this review - like any other - is entirely subjective and is merely down to personal taste.

Nowhere did I say the ball physics were bad; I said I thought the ball bearing felt a little heavy and generated sidespin for no apparent (realistic) reason, and I stand by this comment. It always felt like there was a degree of unpredictability whilst playing.

Further, I have literally just booted the game up quickly to see if you can control the spring with the Sixaxis, and I maintain that it seems as though you can. When I press X gently to engage the spring and tip the controller back toward me, the spring moves with it. Now, either the X button is incredibly pressure-sensitive or the motion control works. I’m unsure of which for the moment, but am leaving the text as it is.

By all means I would suggest people download the free demo and give it a whirl, but despite the fact it has no direct competition on PSN I still found it rather flat. As perhaps an appropriate comparison, I thought Magic Ball was much more enjoyable and interesting, with more developed physics and more attempts to keep things fresh.

And despite your derogatory tone, retro games are nothing to be sniffed at, and I maintain that there are many older pinball games which are better at what they do than Zen Pinball.
Nick McDowell
14th June 2009

Dude, you can be subjective and you have all the right to dislike any game, but as a press guy you simply cannot afford not to base your opinion on facts.

“..the physics feel slightly off, with copious amounts of side-spin for no discernible reason and an unusually heavy-feeling ball..” this means you believe the physics is incorrect e.g. bad.

re control the spring with the Sixaxis - if you are “unsure” why do not you check the controller setup in the menu to see how it works?

Comparing a pinball game to Magic Ball and ‘..many older pinball games which are better at what they do than Zen Pinball..’ - you cannot really be serious.

Tel, your rewiew is superficial, in some cases simply incorrect, and I am pretty surprised to see this shallow material can appear on this respected site.

In the future I will go elsewhere for expert opinion.
Michelasso
14th June 2009

That review is stupid because Zen Pinball is the most realistic virtual pinball ever made. The physics is nearly perfect, graphics is excellent, the 5+1 different views help a lot fitting the 16:9 widescreen. Audio is great. Even yourself admitted it! Yes, the downsides are that they HAD to use the motion control to shake the tables. And the right thumbstick insted of X to launch the balls. But all together it’s a great pinball game. What else did you expect from it? It’s pinball after all! And it’s so well developed that if Zen Studios will get the licenses they could even implement some pinball classics making them feeling like they were real. A 5 out of 10?? Maybe because you’re so bad at it that you hated it already.
Ben 10
14th June 2009

Oh who cares it’s a sodding pinball game, it’s the reviewers opinion at the end of the day and that’s that. If this review has really effected your mental equilibrium to the extent that you have to go on and on justifying why your opinion is correct and the reviewers isn’t then I really recommend taking a good hard look at your life and maybe avoiding all pinball themed reviews in the future to avoid such disappointment occurring again!
Calvin Kemph
15th June 2009

Meh. Some people probably aren’t impressed by realistic looking pinball tables with good physics, though. No matter how well it works, it’s still pinball, and that’s never been done very well in a traditional manner on consoles. Does that mean that everyone has to appreciate the first one to get close to getting things right? Probably not. I think Tel has good points, although I also understand that his view on the importance of physics is a bit different than mine. This is one of the least controversial reviews on the site, in my opinion.
Nilie
18th July 2009

Yep, it`s a sutpid review. Not that bad at all for 10 bucks!
Nick Akerman
18th July 2009

You’re right, this review is ’sutpid’.

…
Neil
23rd July 2009

Agreed, this review is subpar. The reviewer clearly has no interest in, or knowledge of, pinball games. Maxis’ Space Cadet? Please.

And what kind of opening line is “Zen Pinball is a very standard pinball game.”? Good grief. That wouldn’t pass muster in an 8th grade English report.
domcio
5th December 2009

Nice looking, but physics is horrible. Pinball Fantasies was so much better.
Paiseley
25th February 2010

The physics in this pinball game definitely feel off.
As someone who’s played real pinball many times over the years, it seems the the ball is very eager to go straight down the middle on most, if not all tables, and placing some of the shots have a randomness to it.
I think the flippers have pressure sensitivity (something that just isn’t there on the real thing).
I like it, but it falls short of the Pro Pinball series.
If you really want a great pinball game for the PS3, try the Pinball Hall of Fame Gottlieb or Williams Collection.