Zen Studios has revealed that it will be giving Nintendo Switch its very first taste of Star Wars action in the form of Star Wars Pinball.
The game will feature 19 digital tables for you to enjoy, has features exclusive to the Switch, and will even benefit from a physical release for anyone who loves to collect new games for their shelf. Check out the tables you'll be playing on:
19 TABLES CELEBRATING ALL ENDS OF A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
Tables cover an amazing breadth of stories from the Star Wars galaxy, which
fall into five different categories:
• Movie Adaptations: Episodes IV, V, VI, VII and VIII; Rogue One: A Star Wars
Story; Solo: A Star Wars Story
• TV Adaptations: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels
• Characters: Han Solo, Darth Vader, Calrissian Chronicles, Boba Fett, Droids
• Locations: Ahch-To Island, Battle of Mimban
• Themes: Jedi versus Sith in Masters of the Force, X-wings vs. TIE fighters in
Starfighter Assault, being the villain in Might of the First Order
So, what about those Switch exclusive features? Well, in addition to HD Rumble and vertical play, you'll also find all of the following available:
• Galactic Struggle: Every Star Wars Pinball player in the galaxy will choose
to follow the light or dark side in a perpetual online digital tug-of-war
between the forces of good and evil. What is your destiny?
• Career Mode: Designed with short on-the-go gameplay sessions in mind,
this mode challenges you to complete very specific pinball-based missions
across all 19 tables.
Choose the path of the Jedi or the Sith as progress through 50
career ranks. Some missions involve mastering awesome Star Wars-themed
minigames that might be difficult for some players to access
through regular play, such as piloting an X-wing or TIE fighter or
fighting Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel.
• Force Powers and Talents: Collect Holocron Shards during missions to
unlock Force Powers and Talents that yield special in-game bonuses when
activated, such as multipliers, slowing down time and more.
• Cantina Jukebox: Collect the greatest tunes in the galaxy as you play each
table. Once you’ve heard a song, you can listen to it any time you like.
Players can expect to compete against others online in Galactic Tournaments, League Play and high scores achieved through Single Player mode. The game arrives on 13th September and will be available on the eShop and in stores.
Are you a Star Wars fan? Will you be picking this one up? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 73
I'm mildly disappointed that this is the only Star Wars game on Switch currently. Even a port of the Lego games would be better then this!
Still loved pinball, i'll pick this up since i do enjoy Star Wars alot.
Finally a star wars game on switch! Just wish there were more then just pinball, love pinball, but kinda want something else.
Tate mode available?
OMG!! YES!!! Thank you Zen Pinball!
How did this game even happen with EA's Star Wars exclusivity deal?
Physical?? Pinball?? Yes and Yes
Waiting until the Fall, probably so they can capitalize on the hype of the 3rd movie, coming December.
I wanted SWP on WU. I'll definitely be getting this physical. I always prefer physical.
Of course, I'm aware they'll probably have a table for IX available as dlc.
Bought STAR WARS PINBALL 3D on 3DS recently and delighted this more expansive collection is coming to Switch. Physical edition too! Super work Zen.
@RupeeClock while EA owns the gaming license for Starwars, I think this developer could own the rights for the pinball machines and such, which they used the likness's in this game. That's my guess.
Love it! I will love the physical copy of this.
Wasn't expecting a september release, but pinball fans have been waiting for this for a long time now.
The Pinball FX team is pretty cool, and I'm glad we can finally stop pestering them about that.
I dont know if I should say a dream come true or it's about time!
What about episodes I to III?
But why not inside pinball fx3??
@RupeeClock The same way how Angry Birds Star Wars exists. This is a licensed pinball game with a Star Wars skin over it.
@EVIL-C
Angry Birds Star Wars was November 2012.
The EA Star Wars exclusivity deal was announced May 2013.
So that might not be applicable.
I downloaded a free pinball game from the eshop two days ago, the one that let's you play Frankenstein. This will be an easy pass.
Love Pinball FX 3. I have been waiting for some Disney license tables to arrive on Switch.
Ugh, will these not be purchasable in my Pinball FX app I already have? I really don't want to have them as a separate title. I hope this is not the case
@JRJalapeno Yes, at least that's what I think "vertical play" means.
@Edu23XWiiU Pinball is definitely not for everyone but I do recommend trying the demo for Pinball FX3. It’s a much better pinball game on the Switch than the demo you played for either Stern or Pinball Arcade. (Frankenstein was definitely a poor choice as a demo table).
It seems like this will be a separate "app" from Pinball FX3. Likely due to complications with in-game DLC on Nintendo's platform.
There was a separate Star Wars Pinball app on PS3, but the tables were also playable within Zen Pinball.
It is probably for the best that these tables exist outside of FX3 since there are so many tables and the whole thing will be Star Wars themed.
Now if only the physics on all of the Zen Studios tables would be updated to be closer to the Williams tables... it's really odd to switch back and forth.
@thefly0810 I'll download it then! Thanks for the recommendation!
It looks fun an all, but could we get some different Star Wars games?
@JRJalapeno TATE mode is definitely available in FX3 on Switch... so it's nearly certain to be the same in Star Wars Pinball... and the article mentions "vertical play".
Works great with Flip Grip...
@Edu23XWiiU you’re welcome
Physical?? 19 tables?? Star Wars?? To Keep forever?? Day 1!!!
@RupeeClock EA has the license for games for a "core audience". More casual games or, really, just not the kinds of games people think about when they think "Star Wars video game" can come from elsewhere.
Man, I've been looking forward to some Star Wars pinball on Switch for a long time (always seemed inevitable). But this seems like a surprisingly great package! Worth the wait!
Once you're done with this Zen Studios, can I have the Plants vs Zombies table in Pinball FX 3? I really miss that table. Pretty please. Just sneak it in, EA might never even notice...
Great news.
Hope Zen can work out the rights to bring their Marvel tables to Switch as well. Some of their best work was with the Marvel and Star Wars licenses.
Zen Studios' pinball games are so bad.
The ball's physics are so weird, like it was a styrofoam ball.
The Galactic Struggle is not a Switch exclusive.
"Galactic Struggle: Every Star Wars Pinball player in the galaxy will choose
to follow the light or dark side in a perpetual online digital tug-of-war"
not a switch exclusive feature.
I remember the 3DS version having this same feature.
No Star Wars Holiday Special table. Distinct lack of Lumpy and old Wookie watching VR porn. 2/10.
Day one. Best Star Wars game.
Starfighter Assault is my favorite virtual pinball table. This is great news!
I'll think about it since I'm a sucker for Star Wars (I still have Star Wars Ewoks: The Haunted Village on VHS).
When I think of star wars, I think pinball
Fans: Hey LEGO Star Wars or maybe even Battlefront or Fallen Order would be cool for Switch.
Nintendo: DID SOMEONE SAY.... PIIIIIIIIINBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL?
Physical copy - ✅
Switch game - ✅
Star Wars - ✅
Day one - ✅
So, is this separate from Pinball FX3, or will the same collection be in that game as well? They need to clarify this.
I thought this would be an FX3 thing, guess not. Ah well, I'll still keep an eye on it, I need to get back into FX3, though...
@RupeeClock Ah, true. Regardless, since it's pinball with a licensed ip attached to it, that changes things.
Also in the old days, a 1st party could commission something outside of an exclusive 3rd party deal.
Tempted by this as it's a physical release and plenty of content. Have throughly enjoyed the Pinball FX tables I've downloaded so far.....
Great news! Excellent!
Had some of the tables on Android, worth double dipping.
@Tirza Have you played the new Williams/Bally tables in PINBALL FX 3? ‘Deep’ one of the brain-boxes over at Zen has created an entirely new physics engine and it is hands-down the most realistic game-play you can get in digital pinball.
EDIT: Play the Williams or Bally tables in classic/arcade or if you’re really hardcore classic/tournament settings. Absolutely phenomenal. Zen have gone from having fantasy, floaty physics lagging behind FarSight’s (TPA/Stern) gameplay to now being the gold-standard of gameplay realism in pinball.
I wonder if the Marvel tables will come to Switch?
Seems like those licensing issues might be even more complicated...
One of my absolute favorite Zen tables is Infinity Gauntlet... would be a very timely re-release!
@Lroy The new physics are good... But it makes the non-Williams tables feel very floaty and slow by comparison.
I guess it's worth the trade-off?
It seems like as opposed to releasing these on Pinball FX like every other console they are releasing them in their own stand-alone title. Kinda odd but I guess it works.
19 tables and they can't find room for ROTS? Pass.
@holygeez03 I am surprised they don't just update all their tables to work with the new physics.
@holygeez03 I think the Marvel tables will come to Switch in this same manner as STAR WARS PINBALL.
Yes, I agree going back to Zen’s fictional tables with their more video game physics is jarring but doable. But quite honestly, I pretty much play the Williams Volumes 99% of the time if i’m playing PBFX3.
I’ll still buy all the tables Zen put out, including the physical release of STAR WARS PINBALL, as I want to support Zen as I would love to see them continue to produce these digital creations of real-world tables and go on to secure more licences in addition to the Williams/Bally ones.
@JayJ I imagine the Zen original tables might not actually work as intended anymore if they implemented these new physics? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love the ‘deep’ engine to be applied to every single Zen table but would imagine that would require going back and even redesigning, altering some of the tables. I would hazard a guess it is far more complex than just ‘flicking a switch’ to implement this.
@JayJ Highly unlikely that it's that simple... especially across all of the platforms. But I am not a software developer.
@JayJ I'd bet that Nintendo users statistically make very few add-on content purchases... also, the eShop makes it relatively difficult to find such content.
Since these compilations are essentially finished, and based on the above hypothesis, stand-alone releases make sense. Also, the whole thing will probably be Star Wars themed, which is cool.
Depending on the price, it could represent a higher value (let's hope) and the physical releases will be great for collector's and non-digital folks.
I own almost every Zen/FX3 table on Steam, so that I can play on a 4K TV, with great performance, and I will own the tables "forever", regardless of building a new PC.
I selectively purchase my favorite tables on Switch in order to play them on-the-go (often with FlipGrip).
Will this be a stand-alone title, or available as DLC inside FX3?
Speculation is that this will be stand-alone.
@Moroboshi876 Oddly they never made tables for those episodes. So much potential for a pod racing table!
If they actually release all of the tables then I might be interested. I got really fed up with Zen on the Wii U as they took ages to release new tables, if they released them at all.
Well, its better than Battlefront at least. Hopefully more is revealed at Star Wars Celebration this weekend.
Wow! I've already got the Wii U version, but that only has 3 tables and none of these extra features. This is definitely worth double-dipping.
By the way, PLEASE let us use Joycon motion controls to duel Darth Vader.
Oh bother. Going to buy these tables yet again. I do enjoy PFX3 on the Switch. It's become my preferred platform with the portrait mode and HD rumble with just the lower controller connected and using touch controls.
Now, if only I were better at the tables.
This is shovelware. This is EA making a pure cash grab using the Star Wars name. To be fair, LucasArts did junk like this too, back in the early 90s. But it's 2019 and we know better. EA will, as usual, put in a mediocre effort to make a pinball game, slap a Star Wars paint job on it, and then watch the money role in.
Just another reason for me to dislike EA and Disney for what they have done to a series I grew up loving. Star Wars died for me when Disney bought it.
@Heavyarms55 It's not EA, though...
@Krambo42 You're right... I read that Disney partnered with EA for Star Wars after they purchased the rights and shut down Lucasrts. Huh... I wonder if they changed their position.
@Heavyarms55 No, as I mentioned in an earlier post, EA has the license for games that are for a “core audience”. Stuff like pinball doesn’t count. At least, that’s my understanding of the situation.
@Krambo42 I wish it were the other way around...
@Heavyarms55 Agreed. Having said that, I’ve played a bit of SW Pinball on other consoles and I enjoyed it, so hey...I’m excited.
Ya know, this being the only Star Wars game on Switch thus far would be a bummer, but then I look at the Star Wars games that have been released this generation, and as it turns out, the Switch ain't missing much...
I’d much rather it was the Marvel tables but I won’t be able to say no to a physical collection
Tap here to load 73 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...