Fans of the latest movie tied to Luke Skywalker and his friends have a new way to interact in a galaxy far, far away.
The latest Star Wars Pinball pack (Zen Studios, rated Everyone, reviewed on Xbox One, $4.99) offers a pair of new tables for video-game consoles — “The Force Awakens” and “Might of The First Order” — highlighting the good guys and bad guys of the new live-action film.
All of the Zen Studios virtual pinball tables are tied to pop-culture licenses (including Marvel superheroes and Fox cartoon characters), and these “Star Wars” tables are no exceptions.
“The Force Awakens” and “Might of The First Order” offer physics-based play and a blend of traditional pinball action with mini-games, three-dimensional characters popping up, dot-matrix animations, music, sound effects and dialogue.
That translates into some wonderful moments for casual gamers more comfortable with firing a silver orb rather than blasters.
(Note: the following description may contain spoilers for the few remaining humans who have not seen “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”)
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Let’s start with the “The Force Awakens” pinball table that is dropped right in the middle of a Jakku scavenger outpost. The table has a beautifully illustrated inlay featuring the characters Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron.
Use Rey’s clunky speeder to push the ball into play.
Or watch 12 scenes based on the movie play out around the table by travelling along the right course of lighted ramps, sinking a ball in the right hole or hitting a sequence of targets.
For example, hit the right combination of ramps and an nicely detailed, animated version of Rey will walk on the table and begin to climb across the bumpers to eventually set BB-8 free from a scavenger’s net.
More cool moments on the table include the following:
• A visually confusing multi-ball maelstrom plays out below a dogfight between the Millennium Falcon and a squad of TIE Fighters.
• At points during the action, a player may find they are using BB-8 or a thermal detonator as a pinball.
• Some ramps are occasional blocked by the tentacles of monsters called rathtars. The full beasts also show up to block entrances and must be targeted with the pinball.
• It’s rumored that a player can control a Star Destroyer with the help of a special magnetic upside-down ramp. I’ve yet to view that spectacle.
• Dialogue nuggets (not from the original actors) include “there is no Jedi that can save you now” from Kylo Ren, and “keep shooting” or “we’re doomed” from Rey.
Next, “The Might of The First Order” table makes life for pinball connoisseur much more complicated. With the table plopped in a Star Destroyer hangar, a player will notice beautiful illustrations of a sandtrooper, General Hux and a TIE Fighter pilot in the middle of the table.
Right before using a TIE Fighter to bump the ball into play, a Stormtrooper wielding a flamethrower lights up an exhaust port, and a Star Destroyer hovering above enacts a tractor beam. Captain Phasma, hanging out in her shiny trooper gear on the left side, then beckons a player to extinguish the flame or get caught in the ship’s beam with a well-positioned shot.
The key complexity of the layout is a second, mini-playing field under the table adorned with art of Kylo Ren and more Stormtroopers.
A ball hitting the right hole will drop down into a row of slots, and Kylo Ren will cajole a player to use a second set of paddles to move the ball along and get it in position with other pinballs for a multi-ball event. It’s as challenging as it sounds.
Other moments to savor include:
• Positioning a hologram version of a Star Destroyer to target X-Wings whizzing by the table.
• Sending the pinball up a ramp and watching it turn into a molten orb by the flame-spewing Stormtrooper.
• Hearing Captain Phasma bellow “You pathetic, worthless grunt” when I failed at any key shot.
• Landing a ball in the sinkhole multiple times to eventually watch Poe Dameron and a Stormtrooper (wielding a riot shield and rifle blaster) get into a firefight at the bottom of the table.
All of the action features John William’s booming musical score that focuses often on the popular fanfare and the First Order’s powerful themes.
It’s worth noting that multiple players can take part in matches via split-screen or by passing the controller.
Also, it will take many hours of methodical gameplay, using the patience of a Jedi Master, to actually unlock all of the hidden surprises on each table.
However, that may lead to some definite pain in the forefingers for Xbox One fans. I found using the Microsoft controller’s bottom triggers to work the paddles a bit painful after a few hours of matches.
By the way, I did not find that to be the case when playing previous “Star Wars Pinball” games from Zen Studios on the PlayStation 4 and its DualShock controller.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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