➤ Star Wars Pinball, review 🎮

It all started with Zen Pinball 2: released last year on various platforms, the pinball machine made by Zen Studios has gradually enriched its offer, reaching the availability of thirty tables in a few months,

some of which are based on well-known franchises. This is the case of Star Wars, the protagonist of the last three DLCs for the game: the introduction of the tables inspired by Episode V, the Clone Wars and the bounty hunter Boba Fett, which took place in February, has so excited fans of the saga to push the developers to release a standalone edition of the pinball machine, now also available on Wii U via eShop. The offer, as anticipated two lines ago, includes three tables but above all it allows us to play with the TV or with the GamePad only by simply pressing a button on the touch screen: an immediate solution, which in our opinion should be adopted by default by all. Being able to enjoy a few games of pinball comfortably lying on the bed, as if you had a portable console, is undoubtedly one of the greatest strengths of this edition of Star Wars Pinball, but as we will see not the only one.

Use your balls, Luke!

The three included tables are visible from the main menu, within a table that could accommodate many more. Will Zen Studios release any DLC for Star Wars Pinball? It is very likely, but for the moment let's focus on what we have at our disposal, in this case a pinball machine based on Star Wars: Episode V, one based on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and finally one on the character of Boba Fett. The first table is probably the best for hardcore fans of the saga, the one with the most references and nostalgia effect attached.

Just take a look at the beautiful "decorations", which start with a group photo of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and the two androids, and then develop into ramps and textual indicators as you progress towards the part. above, dominated by a splendid Darth Vader. There are four wands on the table, positioned more or less symmetrically, and allow us to send the sphere to the upper areas (and then see it "projected" again at the bottom through the projection of a lightsaber) or to stay there, looking for to score as many points as possible. By hitting the word "Vader" the relative letters light up, until the appearance of the villain par excellence, who positions himself on the table and deflects our attacks thanks to the use of the Force. However, Darth Vader is not the only surprise of this table, which depending on the switches we activate will also confront us with a combative Storm Trooper armed with a rifle, a Tie Fighter or a huge AT-AT. The second table, based on Star Wars: The Clone Wars is probably the least fascinating, since it was taken from an animated series not very well known here, as well as the easiest of the lot. Here too there are four paddles and in the lower part the various protagonists stand out, surmounted by their Sith opponent par excellence, while at the top there is a riot of ramps and passages that it is not always easy to take the metal sphere. In the case of The War of the Clones, the effect of the ball that is thrown through a crashing spaceship is very nice, but otherwise the excessive immediacy of the pinball machine (which allows you to score monstrous scores from the first games) makes it in the long run uninteresting.

If you want to try your hand at a nice pinball machine on Wii U, at the moment Star Wars Pinball is unrivaled

My name is Boba Fett

We therefore come to the third table, the one dedicated to Boba Fett, which apparently seems rather simple but hides a large number of surprises. The bounty hunter controls our moves while standing on one of the ramps of the pinball machine, but activating the right switches will cause several supporting actors to arrive, such as the monstrous Jabba the Hutt,

another Storm Trooper and even the sprawling beast seen in one of the movies. The experience offered is probably the most challenging of the lot, so it's also the one that holds up best over distance, allowing us to discover new things as we score high scores. And speaking of longevity, the single player mode, which as mentioned can be enjoyed both using the TV and the GamePad alone, is flanked by a series of multiplayer modes for up to four players, including the one with split-screen and the traditional "hot seat", in which one takes the lead and tries to get the highest score. Then there is also the question of alignment, purely of outline, which asks us to take the side of the light or dark side of the Force, updating the statistics on the official website according to the results obtained by one faction and the other. . Such a solid play system could only count on a technical sector that lived up to expectations, also and above all thanks to the now boundless experience of Zen Studios with the genre. All three tables are in fact very beautiful to look at, with an infinity of different selectable views and an impeccable ball physics, which returns a real pinball feeling. The presence of LCD-style scenes related to Episode V, taken from the film, confirm the superiority of this board over the other two, for an excellent overall result that is further enhanced by the original music by John Williams and a series of audio samples. of great effect.

Comment

Version Tested: Wii U Digital Delivery: Nintendo eShop Price: € 9,99 Resources4Gaming.com

8.0

Readers (5)

7.6

Your vote

If you want to try your hand at a nice pinball machine, at the moment Star Wars Pinball is unrivaled; even more so on Wii U, given the absence of competitors. The three tables made by Zen Studios are of excellent quality and exude passion from all pores, especially the one based on Episode V, with the sampled voices of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, the sequences that perfectly reproduce the LCD screens of real and the appearance of characters in flesh and blood opposing our metal sphere. The ability to play using the TV or the GamePad alone, alone or in company, is a very welcome extra and is coupled with a particularly refined technical sector, full of different visuals, variations on the theme, special effects and quotes that any enthusiast. of Star Wars can only grasp.