Marvel Pinball (PSN) Review

It’s time enter the Marvel Universe with your PlayStation 3 and visit the world of Marvel Pinball. Do these heroes take it to the next level with this all-new pinball experience? Find out!

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HERE’S WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT IT….

SLICK NEW DESIGN

When Marvel Pinball released on the Xbox 360, the tables were simply implemented into the PINBALL FX 2 user interface. Since PINBALL FX 2 is exclusive to Xbox 360, Zen Studios went ahead and made Marvel Pinball its own game on the PS3. From the moment you load the game, you’ll be treated to some very slick looking menus, with scoreboards and information looking very crisp and extremely polished.  The available tables can be cycled through and you’ll notice many blank cards for new tables which will be released through DLC over time. Pick and table, hit X, and it’s time to play. Yes, it’s as simple as that.

HIGH SCORE HERO

The scoring works in a nearly identical fashion to its Xbox 360 counterpart, but some names have changed. Being a standalone title, a few categories have varied names. Instead of having a ‘Wolverine High Score’, each Marvel table gives you a specific ‘Hero Score’. Scores are compared on a variety of leaderboards and the more friends you have with the game, the more time you’re going spend trying to best them.  You can compare scores per table, all tables combined, weekly bests, and many others.

PHYSICS FUN

Physics are a huge part of pinball, and for the most part everything that happens on the Marvel tables is believable, but you’ll sometimes find a ramp acting like a slingshot for your ball and it can speed things up. Accessing some ramps may also take a powerful push, and if you don’t make it all the way up you may just find that ball coming back and heading between the flippers. This is where your tilt controls come in handy. If you need a little extra push to keep that ball on the playfield, shake your DS3 controller once, maybe twice, and you’ll tilt the table just a bit, and maybe save yourself. Don’t tilt it too much or else it’s game over.

SARCASM & WIT

Each character has a personality, and to show off that personality some basic voice-overs were done for the heroes, and let’s not forget the villains too. Voice-overare done quite well, though some come off sounding extra cheesy including voices of Wolverine, more so, Tony Stark. Spidey has his sarcasm as extra, and good ‘ole J. Jonah Jameson sounds as cheerful as always! Always! ALWAYS! PARKER! Blade sounds like a badass of course, and he may even sound more threatening than most of the villains on the tables. Combined with various familiar sound effects and table animations, the tables in Marvel Pinball truly do come to life.

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THE HEROES

Spider-Man: The Spider-Man table is a great beginner table as it’s quite easy to activate various missions on the playfield. It features some long-winding ramps, some of which will slingshot your ball quickly towards your flippers, causing you to be on guard at all times. You can activate missions for classic enemies including Goblin, Doc Oc, and Mysterio, all of which require specific tactics to defeat. The key feature of the Spider-Man table is a noxious gas released by Mysterio, and it causes your flipper controls to be reversed. It’s simple to deal with, but sometimes you mind can play tricks on you.

Wolverine: I love the X-Men, and Wolverine has always been a favorite character of mine and naturally I was anxious to play this table. It features a sentinel robot, Sabertooth, and a few other surprises. The bumpers are sentinel heads so it’s rather satisfactory to bounce between them and score big. Activating a battle with Sabertooth requires you to pocket the ball in a spinner 3-4 times, and you’ll rack up some good points while in the spinner as well.  Weapon X is a key part of the table too, and you need to run through the tank located on the left side of the table when asked. It’s a well-rounded table and easy for beginners, but lots to learn as you dig deeper into its mechanics.

Blade: I never knew of Blades’ existence until Wesley Snipes was part of it, not that that fact has anything to do with the game. Just sayin’. The blade table brings more of a challenge to the game with some awkwardly located ramps and various pockets for the ball blocked by bumpers. It features a glow in the dark mode similar to the Mysterio mode on the Spider-Man table, this time featuring Frost as the common enemy. You can activate a multi-ball with “lights” and the balls glow brightly as they fly through the playfield though it’s tough because there are many spots you’ll hit and bounce back toward the flippers. It can be rather tough to deal with multi-ball because of the challenging design of the Blade table.

Iron Man: One of my favorite characters thanks to Robert Downey Jr., though I feel this is the weakest table of the bunch. Despite its flashy lights and very red color scheme, it doesn’t feel as fun as the others. The missions are activated by a series of ramps laid side-by-side  near the top of the table. You’ll be able to battle against Whiplash and other enemies, and you’ll get to see Tony Stark suit up and become Iron Man – always a fun transformation. It’s a challenging table just because of the layout, and bumpers may often direct your ball down the middle and past the flippers. Remember, tilt isn’t always  a bad thing.

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AND THE NOT SO GREAT….

MINOR ANNOYANCES

That’s just the problem with Marvel Pinball – there’s not really anything bad about it. Sure, it’s annoying to make it halfway up a ramp, slide down, and have the ball fall out of play without a chance, but that happens on a real table too. I could say I don’t like the cheesy sounding voice of Tony Stark, but it doesn’t have any actual effect on the game. Just to keep the game from being perfect, I’d have to say it could use some fine tuning on some of the ball physics because there are times that it just flies too fast, or moves with too little momentum. It’s a very minor issue, but it will be noticeable at times when you play.

LET’S WRAP UP

Marvel Pinball is nothing short of fantastic, and the PS3 version really shines. The new menus are gorgeous, and even the tables have an exceptional level of polish which help to make the look like the real thing, if not better. The tables offer a variety of playing styles for beginners and pros alike, and the trophies will take some work to unlock. With the confirmation of new tables to come, there are countless hours of fun and excitement locked in this title. If we had to sum it up in one word, we’d say it’s Marvelous!