Criticism on Zen Pinball

[steven120566]

On a side note, just yesterday I killed the final boss in Epic Quest for the first time. Hooray! ��

Saw that on score the Wii U weekly board, sir. Nice work! Anyone reading this who plays on Wii U please send a friend request to "Schmitzy" LOL. With TPA releasing soon the more the better.

 

[Stuzz]

Can't find anyone by that name.

 

[Stuzz]

Anyone reading this who plays on Wii U please send a friend request to "Schmitzy".

Phone keyboards are hard

 

[Martin Rusby]

On the nudging issue. I don't play on PC but followed the story of the nudge nerfing with interest.It does seem that PC players were unfairly punished for using something that was available to ALL PC players.A lot of the top players seem to have quit over this incuding Fuuta who wrote a brilliant guide to playing that helped me a lot even though i play on mobile.

I use a bluetooth controller on mobile and can confirm that strong diagonal nudges are possible.

 

[shutyertrap]

Having spent a couple of hours of highly addictive play with the new Star Wars tables Zen put out, to all those that hate their physics or get bored by the tables, give these a go. I think it's the best physics yet, with balls bouncing off rubber like we're used to in TPA. There are a ton of modes in The Force Awakens, and they are not all on timers. Actually, the movie scenes don't time out at all, and if you lose your ball, the mode is still active on launch. That being said, I still haven't worked my way past the 4th scene, and there are 12 total!

Anyways, just thought I'd drop that nugget off here.

 

[wolfson]

Having spent a couple of hours of highly addictive play with the new Star Wars tables Zen put out, to all those that hate their physics or get bored by the tables, give these a go. I think it's the best physics yet, with balls bouncing off rubber like we're used to in TPA. There are a ton of modes in The Force Awakens, and they are not all on timers. Actually, the movie scenes don't time out at all, and if you lose your ball, the mode is still active on launch. That being said, I still haven't worked my way past the 4th scene, and there are 12 total!

Anyways, just thought I'd drop that nugget off here.

totally agree !!! with my knuckle brain,it takes ages for me to work out what to to do.i hate reading instructions,carry over from my schooling years.i stumbled out of school 42 years ago,still haven`t learnt a thing !!!

 

[shutyertrap]

Force Awakens is actually fairly easy to understand. Wanna activate movie scenes? Shoot the Poe (left) ramp 3 times and a scene will start. Shoot the Falcon (right) ramp 5 times to activate Falcon Multiball. See the tentacle thingies waving? Hit those, monsters appear and block the two ramps and the middle hole. Tap them enough times, you start another multiball! The center monster grabs one of your balls, and then you have to hit the ball to release it. Shoot the orbits enough times, you open the playfield in the upper right with the 2 flippers to shoot the drop targets. Clear them all, extra ball! And on and on and on.

It really is just a straight forward table with no weird combination of shots to activate something. The movie scenes are of the 'shoot the flashing target' variety while kind of being on a timer. Want the best score, hit the shots before they disappear. Don't really care about score? Take your time, the mode won't end, you'll just score very little. The only true timed mode that ends way too quickly is when you get enough bumper hits, Kylo Ren is activated. Your ball turns into a thermal detonator and you need to get it up the Poe ramp 5 times very quickly. I've only ever gotten one shot up! That reminds me, I love that at another point your ball turns into BB-8. Reminded me of the custom ball in TAF with Thing on top of the ball.

I've only messed a little bit with The First Order. Don't know it at all yet, but did manage to collect both achievements though I couldn't tell you how.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Having spent a couple of hours of highly addictive play with the new Star Wars tables Zen put out, to all those that hate their physics or get bored by the tables, give these a go. I think it's the best physics yet, with balls bouncing off rubber like we're used to in TPA. There are a ton of modes in The Force Awakens, and they are not all on timers. Actually, the movie scenes don't time out at all, and if you lose your ball, the mode is still active on launch. That being said, I still haven't worked my way past the 4th scene, and there are 12 total!

Anyways, just thought I'd drop that nugget off here.

That's cool to hear. I'll have to give it a go.

 

[wolfson]

Force Awakens is actually fairly easy to understand. Wanna activate movie scenes? Shoot the Poe (left) ramp 3 times and a scene will start. Shoot the Falcon (right) ramp 5 times to activate Falcon Multiball. See the tentacle thingies waving? Hit those, monsters appear and block the two ramps and the middle hole. Tap them enough times, you start another multiball! The center monster grabs one of your balls, and then you have to hit the ball to release it. Shoot the orbits enough times, you open the playfield in the upper right with the 2 flippers to shoot the drop targets. Clear them all, extra ball! And on and on and on.

It really is just a straight forward table with no weird combination of shots to activate something. The movie scenes are of the 'shoot the flashing target' variety while kind of being on a timer. Want the best score, hit the shots before they disappear. Don't really care about score? Take your time, the mode won't end, you'll just score very little. The only true timed mode that ends way too quickly is when you get enough bumper hits, Kylo Ren is activated. Your ball turns into a thermal detonator and you need to get it up the Poe ramp 5 times very quickly. I've only ever gotten one shot up! That reminds me, I love that at another point your ball turns into BB-8. Reminded me of the custom ball in TAF with Thing on top of the ball.

I've only messed a little bit with The First Order. Don't know it at all yet, but did manage to collect both achievements though I couldn't tell you how.

shutyertrap,thanks,i usually work it out,after a while.i was just poking a bit of fun at my expence !!!

 

[switch3flip]

I bought south park when it came out and picked up a couple tables on a sale a couple months ago, and then a couple more the last sale. And then the latest star wars pack the other day. So I have about half the tables now. I picked the tables mostly based on the demos (so I've tried all the tables at least) and what others said in threads. So far this is how I rank them. It should be noted that I treat the zen tables kind of like a pinball video game, aiming mainly to finish the story mode and reach wizard mode. So I'm looking for interesting modes, cool features, some startegic approaches that might help me finish modes, and so on. I want the table to get me interested and exited and wanting to see what happens. I don't pay attention to scores at all (except super league football). Maybe it will come later. This is how I rank the tables. Top three is really in a league of their own. (star wars force awakens isn't rated yet, and I deemed balls of glory pack unplayable due to bad cam angles and also seemed boring but might include a sleeper)

1. Star wars first order: It might be too early to make a definitive rank for the pin, but first time I played it, it blew all other tables first times away. Feels like a real pin, a really good real pin. Simpler layout, great looks and sounds, great features.

2: South park. Really shines and the cartoon looks great in vivid digital form. Fairly simple but good modes that can be stacked with multiballs. The modes are the usual zen, but for once the stars seem to have lined up and it actually works here. Well balanced. Great playfield. Lots of characters. Way better than the real south park table. A great leap better than the rest, except super league football.

3. Super league football. Different style to the usual zen modes, this is about making combos under time pressure to take out defenders blocking the goal, and then when you think you have cleared enough of them to get a clear shot at goal you try to shoot a goal to start multiball. 10 goals starts wizard mode. Simple but very fun and very well done. Exciting and addictive. You can easily reach wizard in a game at least once, so it's different to the rest of the zen lineup and more like a regular pin where you go for multiball jackpots and try to score as much as possible.

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4: South park butters. Best of the rest. Theme works great just like the other south park table. Fun, great modes, fairly simplistic and straightforward in a good way, nice features. Can get a bit frustrating sometimes but still has that "just one more game" factor. Probably because you are always oh so close to finishing something. A worthy side kick to the main south park table.

5: the Avengers. Fun overall pin, nice sound, nice layout. Fun modes. I like that you start by picking an avenger with unique powers (like picking dr. in dr who pin). I usually start with hawkeye to get kickbacks faster or hulk to start modes faster.

6: Fear itself. It works. Fun, cool, exciting. Annoying and frustrating at times due to weird rules and features which interrupts flow. Great fun though.


Playable and have some fun modes and features but also incredibly dead and tedious parts: Infinity gauntlet, captian america, secrets of the deep, han solo, dr strange.




The rest are in one group which is totally unplayable and one group that is a bit fun for a while and there might be one or two which could maybe be mentioned as well or that might grow on me but not now.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

After giving it more thought, if I played with bang backs, a single game could take hours. Zen just worded the change badly and just added some more chemicals to the fire.

I will be returning in due time with the new tables. Though it will be hard for me to play because of these adaptations.

 

[invitro]

This is how I rank the tables. Top three is really in a league of their own.

Thanks for your rankings, s3f.

 

[switch3flip]

Thanks for your rankings, s3f.

No probs!

 

[Fungi]

I finally figured out how to move the Zen tables to my 2nd monitor that's in portrait and am now rediscovering these. Apparently it's not the physics and rules I don't like. It's the camera. Portrait fixes all that.

Question. Do these tables ever go on sale in iOS? I only have the tables on PC due to the Steam sales.

 

[arakno1]

i bought some of zen pinballs, the feeling is kind of crap in a digital way but you have to take it for what it is. I have mars, secrets of the deep,paranormal,tesla, marvel venom, marvel guardians of the galaxy,marvel world war hulk, star wars droid, star wars darth vader, south park super sweet pinball, south park butters, the walking dead and obviously sorcerers lair, both south parks are my fav, hulk is the worst ever, totaly useless you simply cant have fun with that ****, tesla is beautiful but just badly done, so much regrets on this one as the steampunk spirit is turned to a massive turd it is so sad. The only ones i keep playing is the southpark ones, as the soundtrack is fun and the missions too. But we are far, really far from what farsight pinball arcade has to offer wich is not comparable in terms of emotional factor as these are real pinball tables digitalised and in terms of realism too obviously.

 

[shutyertrap]

i bought some of zen pinballs, the feeling is kind of crap in a digital way but you have to take it for what it is. I have mars, secrets of the deep,paranormal,tesla, marvel venom, marvel guardians of the galaxy,marvel world war hulk, star wars droid, star wars darth vader, south park super sweet pinball, south park butters, the walking dead and obviously sorcerers lair, both south parks are my fav, hulk is the worst ever, totaly useless you simply cant have fun with that ****, tesla is beautiful but just badly done, so much regrets on this one as the steampunk spirit is turned to a massive turd it is so sad. The only ones i keep playing is the southpark ones, as the soundtrack is fun and the missions too. But we are far, really far from what farsight pinball arcade has to offer wich is not comparable in terms of emotional factor as these are real pinball tables digitalised and in terms of realism too obviously.

Of that whole list, South Park tables are the only one's I'd like too! I've had Tesla for years and can't figure that thing out for the life of me. I'd recommend trying out Wolverine, Moon Knight, Blade, and Fear Itself for Marvel tables.

 

[steven120566]

Of that whole list, South Park tables are the only one's I'd like too! I've had Tesla for years and can't figure that thing out for the life of me. I'd recommend trying out Wolverine, Moon Knight, Blade, and Fear Itself for Marvel tables.

I bought Antman when it came out but never played it until recently. That is one sweet pinball table, even though the movie and character are somewhat weak.

I guess I don't truly underrstand how any fan of one of the pinball apps can absolutely dislike the other. I understand a preference but the experience is only slightly different overall. Zen is amazing and does things that could never be achieved in a real machine, takes the pinball experience beyond reality, which enhances it. And, Farsight's dedication to keeping the real pinball experience is amazing. I like them both so much the only other game I have time for is the occasional race in MK 8

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

i bought some of zen pinballs, the feeling is kind of crap in a digital way but you have to take it for what it is. I have mars, secrets of the deep,paranormal,tesla, marvel venom, marvel guardians of the galaxy,marvel world war hulk, star wars droid, star wars darth vader, south park super sweet pinball, south park butters, the walking dead and obviously sorcerers lair, both south parks are my fav, hulk is the worst ever, totaly useless you simply cant have fun with that ****, tesla is beautiful but just badly done, so much regrets on this one as the steampunk spirit is turned to a massive turd it is so sad. The only ones i keep playing is the southpark ones, as the soundtrack is fun and the missions too. But we are far, really far from what farsight pinball arcade has to offer wich is not comparable in terms of emotional factor as these are real pinball tables digitalised and in terms of realism too obviously.

Ooh, you picked some bad tables to purchase. Zen Pinball 2 is a weird game in the fact that some tables are great, while others are extremely bland and forgettable. Three must-buy tables that you don't have yet, IMO, are American Dad, Portal, and The Force Awakens - they're solid tables with a ton of replay value and satisfying shots.

Don't buy V12, Iron Man, or El Dorado at all costs. Those are all tables that are annoying, have extreme difficulty, and aren't fun to play in my opinion.

 

[shutyertrap]

Don't buy V12, Iron Man, or El Dorado at all costs. Those are all tables that are annoying, have extreme difficulty, and aren't fun to play in my opinion.

I truly like Iron Man, but I know I'm in the minority there. I think it falls into the 'extremely difficult' faction with a dash of frustration. V12 and El Dorado? Yep, utter trash.

 

[steven120566]

I truly like Iron Man, but I know I'm in the minority there. I think it falls into the 'extremely difficult' faction with a dash of frustration. V12 and El Dorado? Yep, utter trash.

I chuckle with V-12, I have not ever heard of anybody liking that table. I don't either. But I have to say the same thing shutyertrap said about Iron Man, except it's about Eldorado... I enjoy playing Eldorado. And to keep it fair, does anybody at all like Central Park , Dr. Dude, or class of 1812