So, I am beginning to wonder if getting paid in free review copies of pinball tables is in fact a “salary” that I need to claim on my tax returns. This week 2old2play hooked me up with the latest South Park tables from Zen for the PS4 (Wooohoo, like the 3rd game I’ve played on my one year old “new” console).
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Zen dropped a pack of two brand new tables on all the platforms including Sony cross buy for $4.99 (so long as you bought them first on PS3 or Vita and then exported to PS4). I missed all the press releases and marketing blitz for these and was assuming one was a virtual version of the actual 1999 Sega physical South Park pinball machine. Instead, this is two brand new virtual tables.
Sony is still the worst at shutting up and taking my money!
OK so not exactly since I did get these free, but getting things in the Sony store with codes is always a confusing odyssey through menus that seem to be designed by sociopaths.
Once I figured out where to put the codes, they downloaded fairly quickly, but then the Zen app also needed an update. So you know an hour later I was actually ready to play pinball! While I’m whining about first world problems, for a studio that calls themselves Zen damn their menu music is annoying!
Super Sweet Pinball
Super Sweet Pinball was the first table I checked out. While not the same as the physical table it seems like an updated homage to the original. The South Park crew of Cartman, Kenny, Stan, and Kyle are back along with other old favorites, like Mr. Hanky and Chef. There’s a lot of attention to detail with inside jokes and obscure details from the show throughout the playfield.
The table was a lot of fun and had all of my favorite features, like a double outlane on the right and lots of ramps,targets, and bumpers to keep things interesting. It also has excellent sound effects and cool modes, like one for Timmy, that played the Timmy, and the Lords of the Underworld song. The cabinet art was really well done and the environment around it was like it was plunked right down in the middle of downtown South Park, Colorado. The upper football game playfield that showcases Randy Marsh’s ill-fated attempt at being a football coach is a neat unique feature I haven’t seen before.
There’s a toilet skill shot as well as getting in Mr. Hanky mode that gives you 3 brown multiballs. I guess that’s better than Chef’s Chocolate Salty balls mode (which I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually a thing I never unlocked). I’d say my one complaint with the tables is that multi-ball automatically switches you to a different view although I believe that happens on all of Zen’s tables. I should look around some more and see if that’s a setting.
In poking around the menus I did find a feature I never realized Zen had in all their tables: you can actually get to the Operator’s menus just like on a real pinball machine. It gives you access to all the tweaks like bookkeeping, tests, and all the feature individual settings. You can do all sorts of things to make the table harder or easier (though if you mess with the settings your scores won’t count on leaderboards). The really neat feature especially for licensed tables is you can go through and play all the sounds to hear the cool South Park quotes even for modes you’ll never actually make it into if you aren’t a Pinball Wizard.
Butters’ Very Own Pinball Game
This is a very apt title, since this table really feels like it came directly from Butter’s brain. It’s colorful, Saturday morning cartoony, and full of Butters banter. The sides of the cabinet look like they’re made out of cardboard and the background makes it look like its setup in Butters’ room.
The table has a lot of ramps and different rules modes. Bumper hits help you collect different outfits, which was a clever game mechanic. Some modes can get his alter-egos to show up on the side stage and let you relive different moments of classic Butters-centered episodes. The vortex on the left side is almost like a Turkish twist ride that spins your ball as well as moves up and down. There’s also cool Professor Chaos mini-playfield you can get yourself into. AWESOM-O. This table plays a little slower than Super Sweet: the way the ramps are centered and shorter so they both feel like really different games.
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Buy it now?
Zen always does an great job on their tables and these are no exception. Their attention to detail is second to none, right down the the amazing reflections in the pinball itself. They do well by the South Park franchise and vary up the gameplay for pinball enthusiasts. These tables are definitely worth picking up ASAP!
