dogmeat
06-09-2009, 02:57 PM
Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster - Publisher X
$4.99 10.0MB
http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster.png http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster1.png
http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster2.png http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster3.png
Graphics
When you first load up Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster you are met with a black screen which lasts for about 10 seconds, followed by the ZEN and Publisher X screens and finally the intro screen with a small logo with the name of the game. The game then unloads you directly into the table screen with a confusing menu overlay. I have to admit, I was really confused at first, when I saw this overlay as I was expecting some sort of menu screen, hi-scores screen or even an instruction screen. Judging and playing with the menu overlay I could gather the things on top and bottom were displaying the paddle areas and the stuff in the middle controls the camera, play/pause button, a help screen and audio controls. I didn't really like the presentation of the "menu" and it seemed more like an afterthought rather than a design decision. You can see an example of this overlay in one of my screenshots above, its not hard to miss.
After you hit the play button you are suddenly slammed right in the face with a massive quantity of decals, lights, flippers, wires, frames, volcanos and a whole slew of other things that are hard to make out. The first word that came to my mind was "overkill" then "whoa". Usually "whoa" comes before, but not for this table. If you tap the middle of the screen, you find a camera control. If you tap the control, and move your phone around, you can control the camera angle. If you leave this unlocked, you can control the camera while you play. Being able to get the angle you want and fix the camera, was crucial for me, since the table was hard enough to see as it was.
When playing the table, the graphics move very quickly and when your ball hits bumpers, buttons and pins, lights are going off everywhere. I definitely found myself craving pinball dreams simplicity while playing this, as everything was almost overwhelming and it was frustrating to try and follow the ball through the gauntlet of decals and rails.
One last thing I want to mention, and this is just my personal opinion, is that the game is REALLY dark and it almost felt dreadful to play this game. It gave me the feeling that I was playing pinball down in some dank boiler room waiting for my turn to be tied up and locked away to be tortured later if I didn't get a hi-score.
Sound
When you first load the game, the game is absolutely quiet until you actually start playing the table. Once you start playing, the sounds are decent. Lots of bells, dings and of course roller coaster sounds. When you launch the ball, it sounds like a roller coaster going down that first large hill. The more you work the ball into rails and ball holes, the more you amplify the "roller coaster experience" with these roller coaster sounds.
All in all, the sounds in the game match the theme of the game but generally didn't match the dark gothic feeling of the visual representation of the table. The sounds in this game were the only "cheerful" element present.
Handling
This is a fast pinball game, the ball really moves around the table at some epic speeds and when you can really work the ball you can build up some really nice combos. The table itself is a step up in complexity from the pinball dreams tables, you have multiple gutters, some of which will repel the ball away. You can also earn "free ride" balls which, when you loose your ball, will pop out and keep your turn going. Aiming for ramps, holes, etc.. is actually quite easy, and this is where the game really shines, its a pretty decent table and even has a flipper in the upper playground which is crucial for special rails and releasing your held balls for multiball fun!
If the table was less cluttered, or if the table had a better camera like say Wild West Pinball, I think the handling would have gotten a better score. All in all, the gameplay is fast, reliable and satisfying.
Fun
While the gameplay was fast and satisfying I really struggled to have fun with this one, and I think thats why the review has taken over a week now. I wanted to play the game enough to give a well thought out review, but I didn't find it to be as fun and satisfying as some of the other tables with a more simplistic approach to the gameplay. While a great homage to real pinball tables, it doesn't translate well to the iPhone/iTouch.
Don't get me wrong though, if you have eagle eyes and don't mind the depressing dark theme you can definitely have some fun times with this table. Scores go into the millions easily, and if you're a hi-score fiend, this may be a worthy challenge if you're willing to endure the eye strain.
Price
I can understand why the developer would want 5$ for this game, they obviously spent a lot of time constructing the table, the camera element, placing all the decals and working on the gameplay but in the end, they stuffed the burrito too much and you find yourself sitting there with a 5$ guacamole & sour cream mess all over your shirt. For what you get, the level of polish and replayability I would pay 1.99$ at most for this title. In comparison to other similar pinball games on the appStore this one is a little expensive and I can't really justify paying the extra few dollars for one very complicated table.
I did pay the 5$ though, and managed to play the game for a whole week. If I was in the Arcade I would have blown through 5$ in a few hours so if you look at it this way, good buy.
In the end, Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster is an OK pinball game with a load of things to do on the table and a ton of points to score, if you have the desire to get every pinball game there is for the iPhone, go for it. I personally have a hard time recommending this without a price drop or visual improvements to the game.
$4.99 10.0MB
http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster.png http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster1.png
http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster2.png http://www.mindcrank.com/reviews/rev_zenrollercoaster3.png
Graphics
When you first load up Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster you are met with a black screen which lasts for about 10 seconds, followed by the ZEN and Publisher X screens and finally the intro screen with a small logo with the name of the game. The game then unloads you directly into the table screen with a confusing menu overlay. I have to admit, I was really confused at first, when I saw this overlay as I was expecting some sort of menu screen, hi-scores screen or even an instruction screen. Judging and playing with the menu overlay I could gather the things on top and bottom were displaying the paddle areas and the stuff in the middle controls the camera, play/pause button, a help screen and audio controls. I didn't really like the presentation of the "menu" and it seemed more like an afterthought rather than a design decision. You can see an example of this overlay in one of my screenshots above, its not hard to miss.
After you hit the play button you are suddenly slammed right in the face with a massive quantity of decals, lights, flippers, wires, frames, volcanos and a whole slew of other things that are hard to make out. The first word that came to my mind was "overkill" then "whoa". Usually "whoa" comes before, but not for this table. If you tap the middle of the screen, you find a camera control. If you tap the control, and move your phone around, you can control the camera angle. If you leave this unlocked, you can control the camera while you play. Being able to get the angle you want and fix the camera, was crucial for me, since the table was hard enough to see as it was.
When playing the table, the graphics move very quickly and when your ball hits bumpers, buttons and pins, lights are going off everywhere. I definitely found myself craving pinball dreams simplicity while playing this, as everything was almost overwhelming and it was frustrating to try and follow the ball through the gauntlet of decals and rails.
One last thing I want to mention, and this is just my personal opinion, is that the game is REALLY dark and it almost felt dreadful to play this game. It gave me the feeling that I was playing pinball down in some dank boiler room waiting for my turn to be tied up and locked away to be tortured later if I didn't get a hi-score.
Sound
When you first load the game, the game is absolutely quiet until you actually start playing the table. Once you start playing, the sounds are decent. Lots of bells, dings and of course roller coaster sounds. When you launch the ball, it sounds like a roller coaster going down that first large hill. The more you work the ball into rails and ball holes, the more you amplify the "roller coaster experience" with these roller coaster sounds.
All in all, the sounds in the game match the theme of the game but generally didn't match the dark gothic feeling of the visual representation of the table. The sounds in this game were the only "cheerful" element present.
Handling
This is a fast pinball game, the ball really moves around the table at some epic speeds and when you can really work the ball you can build up some really nice combos. The table itself is a step up in complexity from the pinball dreams tables, you have multiple gutters, some of which will repel the ball away. You can also earn "free ride" balls which, when you loose your ball, will pop out and keep your turn going. Aiming for ramps, holes, etc.. is actually quite easy, and this is where the game really shines, its a pretty decent table and even has a flipper in the upper playground which is crucial for special rails and releasing your held balls for multiball fun!
If the table was less cluttered, or if the table had a better camera like say Wild West Pinball, I think the handling would have gotten a better score. All in all, the gameplay is fast, reliable and satisfying.
Fun
While the gameplay was fast and satisfying I really struggled to have fun with this one, and I think thats why the review has taken over a week now. I wanted to play the game enough to give a well thought out review, but I didn't find it to be as fun and satisfying as some of the other tables with a more simplistic approach to the gameplay. While a great homage to real pinball tables, it doesn't translate well to the iPhone/iTouch.
Don't get me wrong though, if you have eagle eyes and don't mind the depressing dark theme you can definitely have some fun times with this table. Scores go into the millions easily, and if you're a hi-score fiend, this may be a worthy challenge if you're willing to endure the eye strain.
Price
I can understand why the developer would want 5$ for this game, they obviously spent a lot of time constructing the table, the camera element, placing all the decals and working on the gameplay but in the end, they stuffed the burrito too much and you find yourself sitting there with a 5$ guacamole & sour cream mess all over your shirt. For what you get, the level of polish and replayability I would pay 1.99$ at most for this title. In comparison to other similar pinball games on the appStore this one is a little expensive and I can't really justify paying the extra few dollars for one very complicated table.
I did pay the 5$ though, and managed to play the game for a whole week. If I was in the Arcade I would have blown through 5$ in a few hours so if you look at it this way, good buy.
In the end, Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster is an OK pinball game with a load of things to do on the table and a ton of points to score, if you have the desire to get every pinball game there is for the iPhone, go for it. I personally have a hard time recommending this without a price drop or visual improvements to the game.