Marvel Pinball (XBLA) Review

Full Disclosure: My experience with the Marvel Universe is very limited. As for pinball games I used to play pinball at my local pizza joint and have played a few versions of Windows Pinball.

Audio Review:

Story: There was no overarching story line to Marvel Pinball, however each table had a mini story encouraging the player to further advance each table’s score. I found it very entertaining to receive a mission or to battle one of the classic enemies for each Marvel character.   

Graphics: The tables were very stylized towards each Marvel character. I enjoyed the themes of all the tables, the incorporated the character of the heroes and villains in them.  All of the graphics were well defined and cut clearly making it easy to track the ball(s) while playing. At times the table would change into a different atmosphere. For example, when Blade was hunting a monster the table would change to night time; this would make it more difficult to see the ball(s). These morphs were a welcome change from the flashy superhero backdrops.  

Sound: The audio for the game had different iterations from the Marvel character’s world. These catch phrases and catchy lines brought a little excitement to a pretty dull game. Pinball in itself should be filled with overbearing sound effects and every bumper hit should warrant an onslaught of adrenaline pumping noises. Unfortunately, Marvel Pinball did not do that.

Gameplay: Most of Marvel Pinball played like a traditional pinball game. This controls were easy to understand and responsive to the players moves. The spots where Zen Studios implemented the Marvel Universe were very entertaining. Going on missions like Vortex Storm, in which you had to hit the balls up all the lanes to defeat the storm, added extra challenges that were enjoyable but difficult. I did enjoy that once I became used to the tables I was able to more accurately gauge were my shots should be going and hit those targets more often. There was a small learning curve to the game, however once that was passed I was able to start scoring more points without losing the pinballs.   

Replayability: Pinball is the essence of replayability. A player should want to go back to the game over and over again to get the higher score or explore the table more. Marvel Pinball was fun, but lacked any one item urging me to come back and play. With the addition of a few of tables the game could have a lot of lasting appeal, even to players who do not know a lot about the Marvel Universe. The multiplayer was entertaining and very competitive. The ability to set the different goals for winning allowed for five minutes quick matches or two hour grudge matches.  

Pros:

·                     Incorporated the Marvel Universe very well in the game.

·                     Beautifully designed tables.

·                     Solid game controls

Cons:

·                     The game was repetitive.

·                     Confusing for a person who is not familiar with the pinball world.

·                     Lasting value was not present.

Editor: William Dewey

6/10 DLC Solid

Value: Full Price ($10)