Pinball FX – The Williams Pinball Volume 8 Classics Pack review for PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, Switch

2024 saw a number of new tables released for Zen Studios’ Pinball FX platform, the last of which was a brand-new pack of classic Williams tables in the form of The Williams Pinball Volume 8 Classics Pack that launched around the middle of December. Having had some free time over the holidays to check out the three tables included in this new pack, I’m happy to say that Pinball FX continues to do a great job of representing these classic Williams tables in video game form, and as we roll into 2025 I’m hoping we’ll see even more releases in this line-up, along with Zen’s continued efforts at creating new, unique tables for their ever-growing pinball platform. 

This pack of Williams tables includes a few notable heavy hitters, titles that fans have been clamoring for ever since The Pinball Arcade platform went kaput. One of the biggest is the inclusion of Banzai Run, an iconic and very unique Williams table that I’ve personally never had the opportunity to play in person, so having it recreated in digital form here is certainly nice to see. In addition to Banzai Run, we’ve got Black Knight 2000, and Earthshaker!, two more classic titles that fans have been wanting to see for quite some time. 

Of the three included tables in this pack, Black Knight 2000 is sort of the dud for me, which I know isn’t something everyone is going to agree with. I much prefer the original Black Knight, but I can see the appeal in 2000 and it’s certainly iconic enough that it definitely deserves to make the Williams line-up in Pinball FX even if it’s likely to be one of the least played tables on the platform for myself. 

Banzai Run, however, is just a blast to play. I always dug the look of the table even though I had never ran across one in the wild. Its use of the backglass portion of the table as an upper playfield of sorts is super-interesting, and not having to worry about it breaking down and requiring constant maintenance is certainly going to be a plus for the folks that enjoy this table. As are all the tables included in this pack, the emulation feels spot on, and I think Zen Studios has done a great job of dialing in their physics, HDR implementation, lighting, and so on as these tables continue to get produced. Playing through the tables in this pack via both PC and Xbox Series X, I can’t see any significant difference between the two, and I’d imagine the PS5 version of the game would fare the same. 

Likewise, Earthshaker! is another solid Williams classic to include, and again is lovingly rendered for this collection. As always, all three tables come with a number of optional objectives and trophies to obtain, online leaderboards and tournament play, some extra visual bells and whistles you can opt to turn off or on, and the inclusion of different difficulty modes depending on your level of expertise with pinball in general. Nothing used here is particularly ground-breaking compared to prior releases, but my primary concern is how the tables play, which once again is excellent. 

If you’ve been wanting to see more real-life Williams tables represented in Pinball FX, this is another really great pack of games that’s well worth checking out. If you’ve never played Banzai Run or Earthshaker! before, then you’re certainly in for a treat.