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Review: Zen Pinball FX2 “Dr. Strange” table

Christmas is right around the corner, but for me Christmas came early when Zen Studios announced that their newest Marvel table featuring Dr. Strange was available from this week. I make no secrets about my love of all things pinball. It was the first thing I ever played in an arcade and I fell in love with it. Fast forward to the day I found Pinball FX on Xbox Live Arcade and that love of pinball was rekindled. I’ve been a fan on Zen Studios since and have been able to watch them grow and refine their craft.  Their newest table, “Marvel’s Dr. Strange”, does nothing to temper these feeling.

The first rule of pinball is to make sure you know where all your flippers are. Sometimes there are flippers cleverly hidden, or on different levels of the playfield. Once you know where they are you begin, but missions and objectives are not primary concern the first couple times. The first few times I play a table the only thing I am really interested in is – is it fun to just smack the ball around. Are ramps easy to hit, where are the precice shots, and danger areas where you can easily lose the ball. This initial couple of tries gives me an idea of how the scoring works for the table as well. My initial impression of the table was it’s lots of fun. If you are a fan of easier lanes, chaining ramp combos and an all around easy flow. I can see this being a high scoring table, my first run I finished with 81 million points and that’s not understanding the scoring mechanics or missions of the table.

Zen Studios has been releasing Marvel themed tables for a couple of years now; they run the gambit of high profile characters such as Spider Man, Hulk, and Captain America to lesser known characters such as Moon Knight, Infinity Gauntlet, and Fear Itself. Dr. Strange, for me at least falls into the second category. I have heard the name before in passing, but to be honest I don’t know much at all about the character. Yet, it was never an issue for me as the folks at Zen do a fantastic job of telling the Dr. Strange story via gameplay and mission. I honestly have learned a lot about some of the Marvel characters just from playing pinball, really, how cool is that?

Gameplay and physics are the standard of Zen Studios tables and they are as crisp as ever in this table. At the end of the day, playing pinball – either virtual or in real life – is about having fun and just being enchanted by the table. Zen Studios is the gold standard for virtual pinball tables. The old ad slogan “Easy to pick up and play, a lifetime to master” certainly applies to their tables. The latest edition to their impressive portfolio of tables doesn’t disappoint in any way. Count me as one of the people who is eagerly waiting to see what they have in store for 2014 and beyond. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go secure my spot on the leaderboards.

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About the author

Andy Gray

From the frozen land of Minnesota, I was the weird kid that begged my parents for an Intellivision instead of an Atari. My love for gaming has only grown since. When I’m not gaming I enjoy ice hockey and training dogs. I’m still trying to get my Elkhound to add to my Gamerscore though, one day this will happen.