Marvel Pinball Fantastic Four Table

SCORE: 82

ZEN Studios has released their first downloadable expansion for Marvel Pinball. Players can celebrate the Fantastic Four’s 50^th anniversary by adding this table to their collection. If you haven’t already checked out our coverage of Marvel Pinball, you can read the full review here: http://www.familyfriendlygaming.com/Reviews/2011/Marvel%20Pinball.html.

The Fantastic Four table looks, well, fantastic. It’s a brightly colored table featuring mostly blue tones with a galactic backdrop. Mister Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, and The Thing all appear in full animation showing off their various abilities around the table. Doctor Doom and Galactus serve as the anti-heroes and do battle with the Four at various points throughout game play. The game displays some cartoon violence as heroes and villains square off, but this is very mild. The details on this table are superb as with the other Marvel Pinball tables and will be sure to please fans.

The sound and music in the Fantastic Four table meets the quality of the graphics. The sound effects are loud and satisfying and create a great pinball atmosphere. The characters will speak to you and to each other as you battle to keep the ball in play. The voice acting is excellent and our heroes give you words of encouragement (usually) to help keep your spirits up. “The Thing” can be a little on the gruff side, though I found no trace of offensive language or dialog during my time playing the game. The music for this table has an epic feel to it and transitions the mood from tense to victorious and back again. If you enjoyed the quality of the audio in the first four Marvel Pinball tables, this one won’t disappoint.

The Fantastic Four table is loaded with missions, challenges, and trophies to keep players coming back for more. And since the game is simply fun to play, you’ll be sure to come back again and again just to try to beat your high score. On-line leaderboards also add some serious competition to the game as players vie for the top spot. And, if you can believe it, the Fantastic Four table will only set you back $3 on the PlayStation Network. ZEN Studios has kept the cost on this excellent add-on down to a very reasonable price making it easily affordable for families.

This table features the same simple controls as previous tables. The gameplay of the Fantastic Four table is very rapid and exciting. The ball glides around the table so quick and smooth you’ll need to hone your reflexes to keep up with it. The controls are quick and responsive as well and are really quite intuitive. The game takes advantage of the PS3 controller vibration feature which gives the player excellent feedback during gameplay. With several missions to complete, players will progress through an unfolding story as they play this table. You’ll find out if you have what it takes to save planet Earth from Galactus…no pressure.

Other than some mild cartoon violence and a little grumpiness from “The Thing”, this table expansion is very family friendly. I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the work ZEN Studios has put into this game and I look forward to many more tables from the Marvel universe down the road. If you own Marvel Pinball and are looking for some fresh material, the Fantastic Four table will give you some more good clean fun that you can enjoy together as a family.
-Roger

Graphics: 80%
Sound: 79%
Replay/Extras: 81%
Gameplay: 89%
Family Friendly Factor: 79%
System: Xbox 360/Playstation 3
Publisher: Zen Studios
Rating: 'E' for Everyone

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