Marvel Pinball - The Avengers Table Video

Looks good, if you liked their other Marvel tables. After TPA, I just can't get into fantasy pinball anymore. BTW, that playfield in the video looks an awful lot like the one from Attack From Mars.

That can't be a bad thing but would it play like AfM?

I like the Marvel Tables a lot, personally I just think they're cool and fun to play. Though i find it hard to go back and forth between TPA and PinFX2, and I don't play them much anymore. I'm sure that I'll need something to play if i get bored of my current tables.

Richard B said:

Looks good, if you liked their other Marvel tables. After TPA, I just can't get into fantasy pinball anymore. BTW, that playfield in the video looks an awful lot like the one from Attack From Mars.

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Well going back and forth from TBA and Zen is an eye opener. the physics are way different. Zen's balls feel heavier and their flippers are pretty powerful. TBA feels floaty to me at least in comparison to Zen. I think we all admit Zen's approach to Virtual pinball is interesting nonetheless. I mean each ball representing an Avenger and each ball gives certain benefits? (Captain America ball grants players extended ball saves and combo opportunities, while Hawkeye increases the value of skill shots and lights kickbacks quicker than other balls) That's really interesting gameplay.

Since a game has 3 balls per play you have a choice of the 6 from the beginning. I know we can choose which Avenger (ball) to start with. What happens when we lock the ball? do you still get access to that ball? Perhaps in multi ball you are left with an avenger (ball) you aren't fond of. You probably want to lock the ball so you can get the Avenger (ball) you want. Really calls for interesting strategies. Which Avenger first. 1 for kickbacks or 1 for score multipliers? (have a feeling that will be Black widow) Interesting......very interesting........


No doubt a real pinball machine can't do that. On the whole if you're a pinball fan, you shouldn't pass it up.

Pinballfan69 said:

Well going back and forth from TBA and Zen is an eye opener. the physics are way different. Zen's balls feel heavier and their flippers are pretty powerful. TBA feels floaty to me at least in comparison to Zen. I think we all admit Zen's approach to Virtual pinball is interesting nonetheless. I mean each ball representing an Avenger and each ball gives certain benefits? (Captain America ball grants players extended ball saves and combo opportunities, while Hawkeye increases the value of skill shots and lights kickbacks quicker than other balls) That's really interesting gameplay.

Since a game has 3 balls per play you have a choice of the 6 from the beginning. I know we can choose which Avenger (ball) to start with. What happens when we lock the ball? do you still get access to that ball? Perhaps in multi ball you are left with an avenger (ball) you aren't fond of. You probably want to lock the ball so you can get the Avenger (ball) you want. Really calls for interesting strategies. Which Avenger first. 1 for kickbacks or 1 for score multipliers? (have a feeling that will be Black widow) Interesting......very interesting........


No doubt a real pinball machine can't do that. On the whole if you're a pinball fan, you shouldn't pass it up.

Click to expand...

I really do like and respect what Zen offers up with PBFX. That was indeed the first thing i noticed was that it makes for a very believable pinball game and offers things that you could never see in a real table, taking advantage of the fact that it is indeed a video game, without really making it feel too over the top. Dr Octopus on the Spiderman table was just awesome, and watching Sabertooth and Wolverine fight on Wolverine was cool too, as well as locking the balls.

While TPA certainly offers up a very fun and much more realistic experience, I think that Zen has given us something that feels a lot more like pinball dreams or pinball fantasies, or even dare I say, Epic Pinball.

TPA is like a GT/Forza to Zen's Mario Kart for me.

TPA is the game I can focus on, trying to constantly improve, find strategies, communicate on boards for, try to perfect goals, semi-seriously want to compete in with other players on leaderboard, in short the game I want to "master".

Zen is the game I can see myself play with my friends, to laugh over, relax and don't stress if I go out of bounds.

I wish the guys at Zen all the best but Zen Pinball (FX2) just isn't for me. I absolutely hate the physics and after to get over the flashy eye candy I find most of the tables kind of boring.

I'm a big fan of Wolverine and Spiderman.

Out of the core tables, the Rome one is pretty good too...I wouldn't mind checking out that epic quest table it has what sounds like an amazing concept to it

I will definitely being getting Marvel Pinball : Avengers Chronicles. I prefer The Pinball Arcade, but I still like playing Pinball FX2 for a change of pace and atmosphere. Of course, I turn of all the animation and the like in the options menu to get the table to play as close to a real table as possible. Can't wait for this one.

Epic Quest is fun, but it's really just endless ramp shots. Ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp...

I perfer Pinball Arcade, but I still like Zen quite a bit. I plan to get the Avengers tables as well, though I'm going to wait for June, even if they somehow come out in late may. I ordered Super Pinball II for Super Famicom (I have a "modded" SNES to play it) to tide me over (though that will take a few days to come). I also got Pinball Dreams for iPhone (I like the classic 2D graphics), which I like quite a bit so far.

Gord Lacey said:

Epic Quest is fun, but it's really just endless ramp shots. Ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp, ramp...

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Yes but some of those ramp shots can be pretty risky if you aren't efficient and accurate with your shots. Especially if you lose your Kickbacks. Some times I'm late in hitting the sword loop only to lose the ball real fast down the left outlane.

Personally I prefer Zen/Marvel. The quality of visuals and gameplay feel better to me IMO. Just today I've been delving into some of the tables I barely play on Zen (El Dorado, Tesla, MARS , Sorcerer's lair ) and I'm finding I play them more than the core tables in TPA. Can't wait to play them with the updated physics for the PS3 and zen Pinball 2.

I've completed all the goals for the tables in and wizard modes in TPA but I have yet to beat all the wizard modes in Zen/Marvel. I find the Zen/Marvel tables more challenging. But again personal preference.

Wizard modes completed for Zen/Marvel
Thor
captain America
Epic Quest
Iron Man (very challenging table IMO)
Spider Man
Sorcerer's Lair

tables I got to Wizard mode but didn't quite finish
Fantastic Four
Moon Knight (Great table)
X-Men

Not even close to get to or shy by several missions
Earth Defense
Excalibur (holly cow do the out-lanes eat you alive + some of the missions are really hard to get started as the targets that need to be hit are in strategic places but that's what I like about it.)
El Dorado
Tesla
MARS
Paranormal
Wolverine


Tables I have no interest in playing Mostly because I found these tables lacking but that's My personal opinion
Blade
Shaman
V12
Ghost Rider

Many of them are certainly more challenging, but I usually don't find them that fun (partially because they overuse the same game elements too much - too many ball saves, too many cross-table shots, etc.). I can play a game of TPA on a table I've already beaten and still enjoy it. On Zen/FX2/Marvel I can have a single game last an hour, but if I don't get a new achievement or beat my all-time high, I feel like I've wasted my time. It feels like work. Also the physics sucks. And I have a degree in physics, so I should know.

Okay, just reread that, and should probably mention that I'm somewhat kidding about the physics. Definitely inferior to TPA, but not really much of a problem. The ball does spin like a mother, though. I think they should check with WB/Looney Tunes to see if they can license the Tasmanian Devil character - he'd be a good fit a new table. For the record, I've purchased every table Zen has released, and in many cases purchased them 2 or 3 times on different platforms. So that's like over 50 table purchases by now, and I'm looking forward to adding four more in the near future.

Richard B said:

BTW, that playfield in the video looks an awful lot like the one from Attack From Mars.

Click to expand...

most of the stuff in pinball fx2 is modeled after real machines if you look at the placement of the ramps and the bumpers and stuff. This is in the FAQ, go check it out and see what you think.

Q. Are the Pinball FX tables based on actual pinball machines?

Yes.

While there are no physical versions of Zen's tables, they're often based on designs from classic pinball machines:

Speed Machine = White Water (mirrored)
Xtreme = Black Knight 2000 (mirrored)
Agents = Star Trek: TNG (mirrored)
Buccaneer = The Addams Family
Rocky & Bullwinkle = Sorcerer
Nightmare Mansion ~ Genesis (lower playfield resembles Haunted House's cellar, inverted)
Excalibur ~ Excalibur (central ramp with ball diverter)

The newer tables for Pinball FX 2 are more original, though there are a few notable similarities:

Pasha incorporates elements from Funhouse.
Secrets of the Deep is similar to Grand Lizard.
Rome is reminiscent of Medieval Madness (with Theatre of Magic's spinning trunk).
Blade borrows heavily from South Park

Just goes to show how important the presentation elements are. Without the sound effects and/or DMD animations, the "generic versions" of TAF and STTNG aren't nearly as fun.
At least the later tables, including Marvel, improved on this to some extent.

I noticed some elements from real tables in a couple other tables, as well:

Ghost Rider has a loop similar to the one in High Speed 2 (though with a flipper).
Paranormal has elements from Blackwater 100 and Banzai Run.
Aside from Rome, a few others like Iron Man and Epic Quest have elements from Medieval Madness, as well

Most of the post Zen Pinball tables feel more original than the initial Pinball FX tables, though.