Zen Pinball 3D Review (3DS eShop)

Despite the sheer size of real pinball tables, the idea behind them is very suited to portable play; a game with minimal plot driven by score attack mechanics and nothing like save points means you could play them for as much (or little) time as you see fit while on the go. Zen Pinball 3D is a clear acknowledgement of that, bringing four tables from the developer’s previous console offerings to the 3DS. This does result in a few inevitable problems, but for the most part any fan of pinball will find a lot to like.

The controls are pretty straight-forward; you pick the table you want to play, select single-player or ’hotseat’ (pass the 3DS around between players, as wireless play is not supported) multiplayer, and you’re good to go. One button launches, another controls camera angles, the circle pad handles tilting the table, and the shoulder buttons work the flippers so it’s no more complex than physical, modern pinball design tends to be. Each table has plenty of ramps and target holes to aim for, some of which award plenty of points just for hitting them while others offer pinball-style mini-games; either ones requiring specific shots on the table or very basic video games played on the score display.

Zen Pinball 3D comes with four tables, all taken from the company’s previous releases. Excalibur is set in the Arthurian legends, with deep ’epic adventure’ music, castles, knights and swords, jousting tournaments, and so on. Eldorado has you exploring historic tribal ruins with lots of traps and secrets in the intricate stonework, drawing obvious comparisons to the Indiana Jones films. Shaman runs with a similar tribal theme, but focuses on the player serving as a magic-user with ties to the classic elements invoked through various rituals. Earth Defense takes its cues from old alien invasion sci-fi, with civilians fleeing from ’retro futuristic’ monsters while your ball represents the soldiers fighting to protect them. All of these tables feature an operator menu to let you tweak them in various ways, and are otherwise similar to their console versions. The ’3D’ in the title comes from two things. The obvious part is the 3D display, which brings out a few details in each table more clearly but is otherwise optional. The other half could be derived from the various creatures and other non-flat features built into each table, some of which are decorative while others are actually part of how the table is played. All of them are appropriate for their setting, such as Eldorado featuring large stone columns with hidden doors, Excalibur having a castle, Merlin, and a jousting knight, while the other tables offer similar touches. Of course, these elements were present in the original, non-3D-display versions as well; it’s probably fair to say the ’3D’ is thus mostly a nod to using the 3DS’ display.

Zen Pinball 3D is about $7 USD, which nets you all four tables in a single download. Though a few tables are a little hard to understand due to their console-sized graphics being brought to a much smaller display, you’ll be having fun far more often than not and most of the table elements made the transition to a portable system well enough. It’s true these are simply ports of existing tables, but they’re good tables with pretty convincing physics and great presentation. If you enjoy pinball, then be sure to check this out!