Topic: Pinball Discussion (Real Tables, Zen Pinball, Pinball Arcade, etc)

@Tasuki: A N3DS version is supposedly in the works, being more powerful than the original. Super Mario will never happen anyway. They don't want to make pins that can't be played on every platform, and Nintendo would probably rather die than see their properties outside of their own machines. Zen also abandoned the 3DS version. They said the 3D is really hard to implement and it'd take a while before they add more pins for the 3DS, but several years later there still isn't anything so anyone still waiting for new pins (and haven't switched over to another platform yet) will still be waiting 10 years from now. It's foolish to keep waiting.

@ejamer Well you made a good choice anyway. I normally prefer real pins myself. No huge loss if you don't pick up Zen. I'd be just as happy if I had just Super League Football in my entire Zen library.

@RR529 Ha, you think I'm a pinball master? I'm a terrible player, even after years of playing, and I still don't routinely get scores like the ones I posted. The actual pros have much higher scores than me. It's funny how I love genres that I pretty much suck at, like SHMUPs. They're just fun to play.

There are lots of people here who play Zen, but they don't seem to be posting in this thread.

At this point I don't think much will be coming out for the Wii U especially with the NX on the horizon. I still hope for a 3DS version of Pinball Arcade so I can have a portable version (I hate using touch controls) but I am not holding my breath.

Yeah, I had to force myself to get used to touch controls and a tiny screen, but it was worth it! I have a decent collection of tables on my iPod Touch, and I can get a quick pinball fix whenever/wherever I am! Obviously would prefer it on 3DS (Or Vita, if I had one. Vita is probably the best portable version of The Pinball Arcade.), but it gets the job done well enough!

@mystman12: Haha yeah I know what you mean, I have The Pinball Arcade on my Galaxy Note but with the touch controls I always end up tilting the table. The only table I have for it is Arabian Nights though. As for the Vita version I agree but I only have a PSTV so really there's no point in me getting since I have a PS4.

Hmm, I have TPA & Zen on my Galaxy Tab 3, and I've never tilted the table. How far up the screen are you touching the table?

Anyhow, it's time for my daily pinball update.

New High Scores:

• Portal Pinball (Zen Android) - 80.4 Million
• V12 (Zen Android) - 9.7 Million

Also tried out some more free trials in TPA:

• Medieval Madness - This was very fun, and a definite future purchase.
• Harley Davidson 3rd Edition - This was decent fun, though the framerate took a dip whenever multiball activated, and doesn't return to normal until the next game is started. Must be an optimization issue, as I haven't had the trouble with any other tables.
• Gorgar - Very tough, but very addicting as well. It probably won't be a front line purchase, but I can see myself getting it eventually.

@RR529: Well it's a Note 4 so it's more the size of a large smartphone so that might have something to do with it.

Also tonight I had my best run ever on Arabian Nights 44,731,900 My best score on any table.

Time for my daily pinball update.

Tried out some more free trials in TPA:

• Funhouse - I guess it was alright, but no matter how many times I tried it, it just never really clicked for me. Not bad, I just can't see myself getting into it.
• Elvira & the Party Monsters - This one was pretty fun, & I'd be happy to get it as part of a bundle.
• Creature From the Black Lagoon - Same as above.

Sadly, no new high scores for me today.

Been playing Pokemon Ruby &Sapphire Pinball on the Wii U VC. I like how it goves you another objective (catching Pokemon) other than just surviving

Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire is one of the few video-gamey pinball games that I liked a lot.

Someone posted an Arabian Nights best score above, so I decided to play it just now. I don't remember my best score (remember, it got wiped), but my game just now netted me 76,061,940. I may have gotten a higher score on the PC version, and I can have a friend check for me (he has the free trial) since I can no longer check myself.

Update: Oh I saved my best score in the PC version and forgot I did so. It's 173,973,850. If you don't believe me, here it is:

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/504695938628819...

@RR529: I'll be honest, I love Funhouse (It's pretty much the game that got me into pinball in the first place, when I played it on Pinball: Hall of Fame), but The Pinball Arcade version isn't very good. You can't see the ball when it's looping around to the upper flipper, giving you little reaction time to make shots, half of the time Rudy spits the ball out it goes straight out the left outlane, there's just a whole bunch of issues that aren't there on the real machine.

@DefHalan A good pinball game has more objectives than just surviving! Different games have all sorts of different rulesets that give the player a bunch of different ways to play. You could focus on multiball and increasing jackpots, or focus on completing modes. It's not just "keep the ball in play and hit stuff".

Ha! That's what non-pinball gamers often say. "Every pinball game is the same 'cause all you do is hit stuff with a ball," and "why can't you just stick to one table? Why do you need so many pins? They're all the same anyway." Man, if every pin is the same, then every video game is the same. "Why play all these platformers? All you do is jump on stuff. Why play so many RPGs? All you do is kill stuff and save the world."

Pinball (especially the modern ones) have a plot and various goals to aim for, just like any other game, while also trying to get the highest score.

I really wish I could find my copy of Sonic Pinball Party for the gba, it was my favorite pinball game and it's been lost for a few years now.

I hope it's just hidden around the house and not lost forever.

@mystman12, regarding Funhouse, you're probably right. I noticed it was very tough to get a shot in at the dummy's mouth, because of how little notice you had of when the ball was coming around from the back loop area.

Anyhow, it's time for my daily pinball update.

New high scores:

• Portal Pinball (Zen Android) - 113.4 Million

Time for my daily pinball update.

New high scores:

• South Park: Super Sweet Pinball (Zen Android) - 45.4 Million

Tried out some more free trials in TPA:

• Cirqus Voltaire - Pretty decent. It wouldn't be the reason for a bundle purchase, but it'd be nice as the "extra", if that makes sense. "Fighting" the ringmaster was fun.
• Bride of Pin-Bot - OMG this one is so awesome. I love the way they execute the concept of "building" a robot. This was quite cool, and addicting (and it's bundled with Medieval Madness, another table I really liked).

I'm surprised you like V12, as it's generally regarded as one of the worst pins in the game. I hate it myself, with its crappy layout, etc. I have seen 1 or 2 people who said they liked it though.

I'm not a big fan of Bride of Pin*Bot either, because to get to the big scores, you basically have to hit the ramp ad nauseam and pretty much ignore all the other targets. I won a TPA tournament once and out of all the pins I had to play to get the best score, BoP was the one that I made me get sick of it. I'd rather play Pin*bot.

Wait, you don't like Voltaire?! That's one of my favorites! I just think it just needs a little more polish in the Pinball Arcade version.

Who doesn't like Voltaire? Nobody here has mentioned it.

@Freelance, yeah, V12 can be very annoying, but I think it's because of that, that I keep returning to it. Like, I'm trying to prove to myself that I can score on it, despite it's flaws (I have a similar relationship with the Iron Man table in the 3DS version. It's very cheap, so I totally get why it's considered their worst table, and I don't disagree, it's just that I like trying to overcome that or something).

As for Bride of Pin-Bot, you reach the score limit of the free version like the first or second time you hit the central ramp (in the process of starting her heart), so I guess I haven't had the chance to tire of it.

As for Cirqus Voltaire (which I think is what @mystman12 was referring to), I did mention it above Bride of Pinbot. Never said I disliked it, though. I did, just not enough to make it a reason for a purchase (the theme plays a part. I'm just not a big fan of the circus motif).

Time for my daily pinball update.

New high scores:

• Mars (Zen Android) - 60.3 Million

Also tried out some more free trials in TPA:

• Black Knight - This was a pretty fun time. I even managed to reach the score limit (for the free version) on ball one once.
• Black Hole - That little reverse field under the normal one is really cool. Other than that, it has a pretty standard layout, but I enjoyed playing around on it, and I liked the theme.

Time for my daily pinball update.

New high scores:

• V12 (Zen Android) - 16 Million

Also tried out some more free trials in TPA:

• Big Shot - Pretty simple design, difficult, but very addicting.
• Cactus Canyon - This was pretty fun, and the moving train over the playfield was cool. Not a huge fan of the theme though (never been big into the western theme), and I found one of the voices irritating (the one that keeps saying "Shoot the bad guy!" over & over).