Star Wars Pinball review for XBLA, PSN

What goes together better than chocolate and peanut butter? How about pinball machines and Star Wars. If you are a junkie for sweet pinball action you would definitely agree with me, and thanks to the good folks at Zen Studios, this is no longer a pipe dream. Star Wars Pinball is a new collection of tables that blend the ultra realism of the Zen Pinball with the Star Wars universe to provide fans with new and exciting ways to get your flipper fingers scoring higher and higher, all while enjoying the sights and sounds that Star Wars fans will gravitate to. The first trio of tables are available now on the PSN and XBLA or whatever digital device you have your Zen fun on, and are all just as exciting and unique (more so if you are a fan boy of Star Wars) as any of the previous offerings by Zen Studios.

The first of the 3 tables are based off of the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series that takes place between the Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, while taking on the same cartoonish style and featuring the same characters and locations fans will familiar with. This table features some very cool extras such as; T-6 Multiball, Clone Multiball, Gunship Hurry up, Liberation Hurry up, Point Rain Hurry up, a very inventive training level that takes place on its own mini play field, and of course the mission modes. You must first spell COUNCIL to open up any mission and these missions consist of; War on Christophsis where you must obtain and plant bombs and blow up the generator while purging the city of the remaining battle droids. The second is Clone of Darkness where you must stop the assassin Asajj Ventress from rescuing Viceroy Gunray. The next is the Weapons Factory where you help Ahsoka Tano sneak though the catacombs and destroying the droid factory from the inside. Attack on Kamino puts you in the task of preventing the escape of Asajj Ventress with the clone DNA on the home world of Kamino. Lastly you will take on Savage Opress, Count Dooku?s new apprentice who is there to capture the Toydarian King. There is a lot of diversity to this table and is easily one of my favorites not only of this series, but in all of Pinball FX 2/Zen Pinball 2?s tables.

In Episode V: Empire Strikes Back, this table is based off arguably the best film in the Star Wars franchise. While this table has all the skill shots, multipliers, hurry ups, multiballs, and even bonus training missions where you fend off the droid training remotes with your light saber, the meat and potatoes are set in the game?s movie scenes. You will encounter events such as the Wampa?s Cave, finding Luke before he freezes, destroying the probe droid before the empire discovers the Echo Base, defending the attack on Echo Base, fighting off Imperial Walkers, getting through the asteroid field in the Millennium Falcon before the empire catches you, learning from Yoda in Dagobah, knock the Mynocks off the Falcon, landing in cloud city, the Lando double cross meeting with Vader, helping Chewie stop Han from being put in carbon freeze, defeating the Storm Trooper that knows Luke is on Bespin, and of course the one on one dual of Darth vs. Luke. While this table is full of goodness, it is a skill table for sure and it will take much patience and a bit of The Force to see it all.

In the last table based on Boba Fett, you will find one of the harder, and albeit least interesting tables, as it is all set on you playing as Boba Fett and getting contracts and collecting rewards from the Hutts. While this may sound like a cool premise, the depth and complexity to this table has a lot to be desired. You have various multiball levels, skill sharpshooter shots, tons of combos and hurry up opportunities, and even a funny Highest Bidder spinner set up in the likeness of Han in carbonite. While this table may not be the deepest as far as progression and story modes go, the many contracts you can collect will definitely be the draw to fans of hitting the high scores. Normally I save the best for last, but in this case I have to say I was disappointed in this particular table as the longevity and interest seems too shallow for me to revisit often.

Even with Boba?s table being lackluster, the other two tables make Star Wars Pinball worthy of a purchase for certain and remains a must buy not only for pinball fans, but Star Wars fans alike. With the promise of more tables to come in the not too distant future, it?s a welcome surprise to have Star Wars enter in the realm of the Zen Pinball universe and I for one couldn?t be happier.