pikarceus (2012-07-01 19:45:08)

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A solid handheld Pinball experience.

Zen Studios already brought the Nintendo eshop one Pinball game, Zen Pinball. Now they're at it again with Marvel Pinball 3D. For the most part they do a very good job at capturing what Marvel fans love and putting it in Pinball form.

Honestly, this is probably one of the best looking eshop games. The tables have amazing detail and look very realistic. The not so realistic part of the Pinball tables in this game, the walking, talking Super Heroes and Super Villains that appear also look great. The lower resolution of the 3DS holds the sheer detail back a bit, but this is no fault of Zen Studios, they did the best job they possibly could have done in the graphics department. The 3D is just crazy, ridiculous amounts of pop and depth. If you aren't used to the 3D effect, do not play with the slider up all the way. If you love the 3D, you're in for a treat.



The sound isn't mind-blowing like the graphics but it is still nice. Each of the four tables has a musical theme that fits, Iron Man's table plays techie music while Captain America's table plays old war music. Nice voice acting too, the Heroes and Villains on the tables will interact, and those with sharp ears and minds will even hear some comic book references. As a Marvel fan I did enjoy the sound quite a bit.



Zen Studios could have made the controls very gimmicky, they could have easily forced gyro and touch controls down our throats, but they choose the simple, efficient control scheme. You control the flappers which hit the ball with L and R, if the ball gets stuck you use the Circle Pad to shake the table, tap X to cycle through the camera options, and hold to zoom in and explore. The touch screen displays helpful information. Really, really intuitive controls here. This Pinball game is very wild, you'll be hitting balls up the Baxter Building and at the Cosmic Cube, it feels like a normal Pinball game except where you hit the ball can determine whether Captain America defeats the Red Skull or not. There are tons and tons of easter eggs and some rare occurrences that require potentially hundreds of playthroughs per table. The ball physics feel very realistic most of the time, but sometimes the tables will put on very impressive shows and you will lose track of the ball, which results in you missing it and losing. Glitches have also been reported.



There are four tables which are Iron Man, Captain America Blade and Fantastic Four, each completely loaded with features. Single Player is basically the main game, Hotseat has you take turns with friends by handing the system over to them. You can view online and local rankings, and it automatically pulls your friends scores and puts them into a "Team Force". Each table also has four achievements, each one is pretty difficult to get. The achievements encouraged me to play, but in reality I just wanted to beat my friends' scores and climb the leader boards. This is all solid content, definitely worth the $8 that the game is, and Zen Studios is thinking about adding even more tables as DLC.



Marvel Pinball 3D may not be perfect with some glitching and the occasional cheap loss, but it each of the four tables are totally unique and jam packed with all kinds of easter eggs and references that Marvel fans will drool over. Throw in the online and beautiful graphics, and this really is the ultimate 3DS Pinball experience.

Overall: 8/10

This post has been edited one or more times, the last time was:
2012-07-01 20:05:01

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Ron1212 (2012-07-01 20:54:12)

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Very nice game. Ima beat your scores Pika.

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pikarceus (2012-07-02 13:45:33)

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@Man-Or by fourths. 6, 6.25, 6.5, 6.75.

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