PSi writes: "Zen Pinball is right up there on my "Top 5 PlayStation Network Games" list. Whether it's higher than Joe Danger and Shatter remains to be seen, but let it never be said that I don't appreciate the never-ending work of Zen Studios. The newest downloadable table, Zen Pinball: Mars, has finally hit the network, and as always, it's absolutely worth a buy for anyone who owns Zen Pinball."
Zen Pinball is a pinball video game for the Playstation 3 developed by Zen Studios. Other games from the developer are Pinball FX 2 for the Xbox 360, Ghostbusters for the Nintendo DS and Marvel Pinball for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Zen Pinball is a Playstation Network game that sells for $10 and comes with 4 tables. Zen Studios have already released six extra tables for Zen Pinball that sell for $2.49 each. Here is a review of Zen Pinball with an overview of all the current tables.
As any gamer in their right mind should know, Pinball FX 2 is one of the best games on XBLA at the minute. The original Pinball FX really wasn’t much cop, but with the new tables, and licenced pinball fun, there’s pretty much something here for everyone. It’s definitely a title worth playing, even if you’re not into pinball, as the tables all manage to recreate the feel of an old-school table, but with fancy flourishes and exciting modes that make them infinitely more enjoyable and accessible than most tables you will have played in the real world.
The latest board is Mars-themed, and is presented in all capital letters as MARS, in order to assert its dominance over the other available boards. As you may have already guessed, this board takes place on Mars and features things like spaceships, alien terrain and futuristic spider robots.
The board is fairly straightforward, but does do a few things to set itself apart for the other boards once you get deep enough in the game, and once your score climbs high enough. There are opportunities to interact with the spaceship and spider robots, but one of the most interesting things MARS brings to the pinball table is the occasional lack of gravity. There are times when gravity will disengage and the multiple balls you are trying to keep track of will begin to float above the table with no opportunity from the player to direct them in any way.
