Zen Pinball 3D

Game Info

I love me some pinball.  Back in the day, I think I spent more time playing pinball games at the local bowling alley then I did actually bowling in my league.  Anytime I see a machine in a random place, I automatically put my hands in my pockets looking for a couple of quarters.  Usually I can’t find any because who carries coins anymore?  Which is why I’m grateful for video pinball.  I usually am weary of non-licensed tables because most can’t seem to capture the fun and excitement of an actual table unless they were an actual table previously.  That all changed when I played Zen Pinball 3D from Zen Studios on the 3DS.

Zen Pinball 3D contains four original, themed tables to play.  Each table has a very distinct feel to it, from the layout of ramps to the motif of the playfield; you truly are getting four unique tables.  Themes include a medieval castle romp, an Indiana Jones-like jungle exploration, a tiki god fueled adventure, and a futuristic robot invasion.  All the tables are wonderfully done, with plenty of ramps, sinkholes and roundabouts to be found on each.  You get a sense while playing that these could have been tables that actually existed in your favorite arcade or bar.  There are even some non-traditional pinball moments on the tables, like jumping a spinning blade or launching a ball via a catapult.  These add nice touches of variety if you are skilled enough to reach them.  All tables include a table guide, which nicely points out and shows you how to accomplish all of the different scoring scernarios in the game.  I’ve had to consult these multiple times to figure out what I’m doing, as some of the tables can be quite complicated.

The table physics are another win for this title.  The ball rolls and bounces just as you’d expect.  Gravity stops balls that aren’t hit squarely from going up ramps and around orbits.  Everything feels natural and perfect.  Even the controls are great, using the two shoulder buttons to control each flipper.  The plunger can be controlled with the circle pad, giving you the feel that you are actually pulling back on the stick as you launch the ball into play.  You can even nudge the table with the circle pad if you sense the ball is headed for certain doom.  All these controls feel very intuitive and become second nature immediately.

Graphically, the tables all look great.  All the ramp holdings and lights are very detailed and the 3D effect gives a real sense of depth; you feel like you are actually looking down at a real table.  The bottom screen of the 3DS houses the dot-matrix display for scores and other instructions during your game, while the top screen contains all the table action.  There are eight different camera angles to select from, so everyone should be able to find one that suits them best. The pinball sounds are authentic, however the music is nothing to write home about.  The musical themes follow the tables nicely, but sound mostly generic.  Some table voices can get a little annoying as they prompt you to hit the ball here or there, but that’s the nature of pinball in general, so you can’t really fault that.

Of course, this being video pinball, you should expect a view things not possible on a traditional table.  Included with each table are four different achievements to try to obtain.  These range from simple to flippin’ insane, but provide good incentive to play again.  I would have liked to see more than four per table though, with some easier to obtain ones for pinball newbies.  Also included on every table is a Slow Motion feature.  With this turned on, a press of a button will slow all the action down so you can perfectly line up your shot.  Activating this mode will also disable any achievement earning potential, as well as any high score saving.  Speaking of high scores, the game tracks all local and worldwide scores to compare your skills against.  The scores can be sorted by worldwide or country rankings, as well as among just your 3DS system friends.

Zen Pinball 3D is the kind of game that is right up my alley and perfect for the 3DS.  Controls are great, 3D actually adds to the experience, and the score tracking is great.  Add in the fact that new downloadable tables will be made available in the future and you have a long lasting worth-the-money hit.  Zen Pinball has made me a believer in original video pinball games again.