Game Title: Star Wars Pinball
Release Date: 2/27/13
Genre: Pinball
Developer: Zen Studios
Available Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, PS3, PS Vita, Android, iOS
Players: 1
MSRP: 800 MS Points as reviewed ($10.00)
ESRB Rating: E
Website: http://www.starwarspinball.com/
Pinball FX2: Star Wars
These are the tables you’re looking for. They’re for sale, if you want them. Zen has delivered the first round of what I hope are many Star Wars Pinball tables and they are among the best ever. Included are Boba Fett, Empire Strikes Back and Clone Wars, all with authentic sounds and visuals.
The best of them is Boba Fett, although I found it to also be the most challenging and frustrating at times. The color pallet is reminiscent of Jabba’s lair mixed with element’s of the bounty hunter’s suit, and Jabba himself makes appearances to assign bounties and generally look large and regal. I found it very easy to hit the outside orbits very consistently but you are going to need a serious soft touch to fulfill these quests. The inside orbits are tougher to hit, and the Sarlaac pit is nestled right between them. Get used to your ball going in there.
Clone Wars is probably the most authentic of the three, mainly because of the availability of the artwork and voice actors. I thought it was also the most traditional of the three tables at least in terms of the layout and design. Fans of the show will like the appearances by many of the show’s recurring Jedi and Sith, not to mention the episodic feel lent to it by the spot-on narration and sounds.
Empire Strikes Back is the best looking of the three and also a blast to play. The challenges are more varied than Boba Fett and features some great 3Dmodels and voice work for the original characters. Lots of ships, bad guys and light sabers make this table a real masterpiece and the sound effects make it feel like a lost scene from the movie. Watching Darth Vader vaporize my ball over and over was making me feel saber-stabby after a while but the allure of the table kept me coming back for more.
All three of these tables are extremely well done and represent their segments of the Star Wars universe exceptionally well. If anything, they draw you in so well that you’ll be tempted to bust out your copies of the original theatrical releases (NOT the special editions) and enjoy the whole series again. You’ll also be very pleased to know that there were no cameos by a certain annoying character from Episode I, although I would be pleased to know that his kind were harmed in the making of the game.
I can’t recommend these highly enough. I give them all a collective rating of 12 out of 12 parsecs.
Rating: 
