Home | News | Reviews | Previews | Hardware
Zen Pinball: Earth Defense
Score: 88%
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Developer: Zen Studios
Media: Download/1
Players: 1 - 2 (Online)
Genre: Classic/Retro/Arcade/Online

Introduction:
Looks like it's time for me to remind everyone why Zen Pinball is the greatest game of video pinball ever released on a home console. Zen Pinball: Earth Defense has hit the PlayStation Network, and it will meet the expectations of anyone who's ever played the original Zen Pinball. It's loaded with more than enough goofy humor and fiendish skill-based challenges to merit paying the almost non-existent price. The visuals are great, the sound design is excellent, and the nostalgia factor nearly hits home video levels. In short: buy this table.

Graphics and Sound:
This is really the only component that isn't exactly shared by all of Zen Pinball's downloadable tables. To be honest, I was expecting another game-themed table. Based on the trend Zen Studios seemed to be following, I predicted a table based on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, God of War III, or inFAMOUS. I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if they eventually decide to go down any of those paths, but here, I was surprised. When I got my review code for Zen Pinball: Earth Defense, my mind immediately jumped to the cult classic Earth Defense Force 2017. Well, there aren't any giant ants on this table, but the table is certainly loaded with Japanese-style quirkiness.

Oh noes, aliens! Yep, Zen Pinball has taken that ages-old B-movie cliché and given it the Tommy treatment. The aliens themselves look really, really stupid. It's not a sign of bad artistic design; rather, it's a sign of reverence for the subject matter, which has been heavily (and deservedly) lampooned over the years. Did I mention that the aliens also happen to be ROBOTS?

Zen Pinball is all about the details, and Earth Defense is full of them. First off, I dare you not to laugh when you see the tagline at the center of the table. The giant robot alien that looms over the table has a red dot matrix face that takes many forms, from an angry face to a snide face to... a game of tic-tac-toe. When your ball is saved, the alien fires the ball out of his cannon, giving the little metallic sphere a bright magenta hue for a few seconds. But in all honesty, they had me at "hostile robot aliens from the deep reaches of space in a pinball game."

I don't really have anything to say about the sound, other than the fact that it's on par with that of the other tables. Read my original review of Zen Pinball for a full explanation. If you want the short version, all you need to know is that the game sounds like pinball, and you'll hear everything you'd expect to hear at the arcade.


GamePlay:
I've covered Zen Pinball quite extensively, from the original release to the first two downloadable tables. My high opinion of the game has been documented and archived, and it hasn't changed. Each new table that springs onto the PlayStation Network brings a fresh, new theme and a unique slew of challenges, but the game has remained the same -- and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that the fine folks at Zen Studios will continue to deliver high-quality video pinball action.

All that you need to know about Zen Pinball is that it's fine-tuned old-school gameplay with modern visuals. The tables of Zen Pinball are packed with special effects that are just out of reach for actual tables. The classic mechanics and rules keep the game tethered to reality, while the special effects give the experience a fantasy edge. It's a successful synthesis that Zen Studios seems to have gotten down pat from the start.


Value:
We've been through this twice before, and at the rate Zen Studios is working at, I'm sure we'll go through it several times more. Still, let's go through the motions. This table is $2.50. Two dollars and a half. Ten quarters. Twenty-five dimes. Fifty nickels. Two hundred and fifty pennies. Seriously. Some modern pinball tables charge half that much for a single game. Zen Pinball: Earth Defense is as good as free. If you've got Zen Pinball, chances are, you already have an eye for quality and value. You probably also own all of the downloadable tables, at that. If you have a weakness for pinball, and are connected to the PlayStation Network, you should own Zen Pinball and all of the downloadable tables. If you fit these criteria and don't own any of them, you're seriously missing out.

-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications
AKA Jon Carlos

Related Links:



Sony PlayStation 3 Heavy Rain Chronicles: The Taxidermist Microsoft Xbox 360 Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening


This site best viewed in Internet Explorer 6 or higher or Firefox.