Title: Marvel Pinball Fantastic Four
Release: May 18th, 2011 on XBLA, PSN is TBD due to the network outage (we will let you know ASAP)
Platforms / Price:
Pinball FX2 on Xbox LIVE® Arcade – 240 MSP
Marvel Pinball on PlayStation®Network – $2.99, €2.49
If you’re a regular visitor then you should know by now that I’m biased toward Pinball FX2/Marvel Pinball. In no way am I a pinball enthusiast, and the only other pinball game I’ve really loved was Epic Pinball on PC – but Pinball FX 2 and Marvel Pinball (PSN standalone) just feel ‘right’.
The Fantastic Four table features all four characters of the group, and of course you’ve also got Doctor Doom and his Doombots, Galaxus, and the Baxter Building. Mini-games can be unlocked to defeat 2D skrulls as well as the silver surfer. Missions can be activated for each of the characters, some having different rewards over others whether it be activating kickbacks, multi-ball rewards, or just high bonus points.
[nggtags gallery=PinballFF2]
When I first went to play the table I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. There are four ramps on the table that are relatively simple to strike, at least when you’re not ‘required’ to do so. Missions will ask to hit certain areas, strike down Doombots as The Thing. If you activate the mission for the Human Torch, you’ll activate a flame on the table and with enough visits to the flames you’ll enter Nova flame state which can light entire ramps on fire, and of course the famous Fantastic Four symbol that lies in wait. The table seems to generally friendly to beginners, but those side points can be a real killer if your kickbacks aren’t activated.
The greatest part about this table is its background music and the voiceovers for the characters. If you remember my Marvel Pinball review then you’ll know I really mocked the voiceover work for those tables. Honestly, they were pretty cheesy and….well, terrible. I’m glad to say this isn’t the case with the Fantastic Four. Zen Studios even told us they went with higher quality voice actors (Rather than the dev team themselves, maybe?) and it’s definitely noticeable when playing this table. There are roughly twice as many lines of dialogue on Fantastic Four when compared to the other Marvel tables, and you’ll hear each character with classic lines, including my all-time favorite…. IT’S CLOBBERING TIME! That’s about the point that I decided I loved the table. As for the background music, it just seems to fit well with the table though I’m personally unsure if its’ related to the table theme at all.
As mentioned in the details about, the Fantastic Four table will run you the standard 240:MSPoints: price tag and for the amount of time you’ll spend playing and trying to beat your friends high scores, superscores and more. I’ve only had the table for 36 hours and I’ve spent about least four hours playing it. In fact, I’m about to try again because I’m stuck 7 million points behind the top score of @zen_studios and I refuse to stay there! It’s definitely the highest quality Marvel-themed table and there’s a lot of hidden goodies to find, so do yourself a favor and add this to your collection immediately!
Looking to download a trial or purchase the Fantastic Four table? Here’s a direct link to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace
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