Pinball, and virtual pinball especially, has a way of being able to transcend almost any genre or topic. Zen Studios have cemented themselves as the digital pinball masters. They have tackled some mammoth franchises such as Marvel-based tables (Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and more), Star Wars, and most recently The Walking Dead. Each table holds true to its namesake, but also seamlessly reinvented with a pinball flavour. I am always curious how Zen Studios will interpret an existing franchise not only for pinball fans, but also for fans of the franchise who are not pinball fans. With its latest DLC table pack Zen Studios brings the world of South Park to virtual pinball.
With its latest DLC, Zen Studios releases a two pack of South Park-themed tables. The first “Super-Sweet Pinball” and the second “Butter’s Very Own Pinball Game”. Before I go any further with this review I have something to say; I have never been a South Park fan. I never was interested in the show so all my knowledge about it is cursory at best. So, I went into playing these two tables loving pinball, but needing the game to teach me about South Park.
The two tables really could be more different in terms of how they play. The “Super-Sweet” table plays very fast and has a lot going on. Keeping an eye on the Dot Matrix in the upper left part of the screen, watching the drop down messages in the upper middle of the screen and actually trying to string together a decent sequence of shots can be challenging. One drawback of the crazy frenetic pace is I often felt like I was missing things and not always getting the full effect of what was going on. Conversely, the “Butter’s” table plays much more like a traditional table; needing to hit lanes and orbits, easy to start missions, just a general traditional table feel.
Being that I am not a South Park fan, I was very curious how the tables would play for me. Would I feel like something as lost in translation, would I feel like I was missing a major piece of the puzzle, or would I have the same experience as a South Park fan? The answer lies somewhere in between. I’ve said before the first thing a good table has to do is just be fun to hit the ball around the playfield, that’s certainly the case with both of these tables. Neither have very hard to hit shots, the layout is very forgiving and the general table flow is solid. Although the “Super-Sweet” table plays faster than most other tables so will take newer players a little bit to adjust to it.
There were certainly things that I didn’t understand the first time or two playing the tables, but the more I played the more I understood. I imagine for someone who is a big South Park fan those subtle nuances, and sayings will be much more entertaining right away. My brother-in-law is a huge South Park fan and texted me that he knew every episode reference, and thought the voice acting and sound effects were spot on. As was the music, which even I will admit is very catchy and will no doubt be stuck in your head throughout the day.
At the end of the day both tables add to an already impressive lineup of top notch tables. Without being a South Park fan I was still able to enjoy the tables quite a bit. I imagine if I was a South Park fan that enjoyment would be ratcheted up a couple notches due to all the nuances that are used. For the South Park fans out there, who have thought about tinkering with virtual pinball this is a perfect starting point. For those traditional pinball fans that don’t have a lot of interest in South Park these are still two very good tables. Neither of these tables will supplant my top three (“Epic Quest”, “World War Hulk” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”) but I can easily see myself playing them quite a bit. Whichever side of the fence you are on, these are certainly worth adding to your collection.
The “South Park” table DLC is available now on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, and PC for $4.99 USD. It’s also available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Amazon for $1.99 USD per table.
Pinball FX2 “South Park Pinball” DLC
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