From legendary classics such as the Paranormal table, to fun licensed tables like the Alien Vs Predator Table, there’s something for everyone to check out. Thankfully, it does seem like those tables have a good chance at coming out further down the line, and what’s available already are great options. (including the stellar Street Fighter II Tribute Table that never got to shine on an Nintendo system) Unfortunately, the Switch version of the game lacks even more tables, with every single Star Wars and Marvel table being MIA on the handheld. Returning from Zen Pinball 2 is are a majority of the classic tables found from other versions of the game, with only a few licensed tables missing from all versions.

Luckily an option in the menu will disable these licensed tracks just for that instance.) Depressingly, a more generic track has been picked for the table select theme, replacing the classic one from the Zen Pinball series, but the tracks for newer tables such as Son of Zeus and the Universal Pack manage to get the job done, with the licensed tables still doing a great job at using remixes of the source material’s music and good sound-a-likes, with even a couple tables that use the original voice actors or audio! (Although some of the original licensed themes, are kept 100% intact, which may lead to issues with certain tables like Portal if you’re a streamer. The music for these tables remains the same as they’ve always been, meaning that Tesla still has that high-intensity score to go along with it while Paranormal keeps the moody, suspenseful score and all the tone changes, but a few new tracks have been added for both the new tables exclusive to Pinball FX3 and the main menu. Stick to the big screen for the newest of the new stuff, and only use handheld mode if you can get used to the locked 30FPS framedip like I did, since it’s still surprisingly playable. It’s a relief that most of the tables are old and don’t suffer from these problems, but for the select few that do, it can become a really irritating experience. Start up a new table like Son of Zeus, however and you’ll find yourself dealing with occasional drops below 30 FPS that can suddenly screw up the timing, with a few of these drops getting even worse depending on the camera angle you choose for the table. Normally a dealbreaker for me in any other game that makes such a sacrfice, Pinball FX3 manages to make the gameplay feel just as solid in handheld mode than on the big screen, once again on the older tables. However, framerate took a big hit, with the entire game running at half the framerate in handheld mode compared to docked mode. While the tables still look great in handheld mode, with no visibility problems in sight, some of the detail on the more recent tables has been toned down a bit, understandably to make up for the change in resolution. Handheld mode is where things get a bit messy. The lighting on these older tables have been tweaked so that way not a single table comes off as hard to see, and in the case of these older tables where some text and labels were difficult to see, this is a much-welcomed improvement. Other tables from the older days, such as the “so bad it’s good” Shaman and the addictive yet simple El Dorado have been given similar improvements, although not nearly on the same scale.

In Pinball FX3, Sorcerer’s Lair has received a massive do-over, completely changing the artwork on the table to more natural, cartoony designs that fit the tone of the story a lot better, making it a lot prettier looking by far. In Zen Pinball 1 and 2, the art of the characters on the table itself looked a bit too realistic for my liking, which made the art pretty ugly in comparison to the lighthearted story of the table. Plenty of visual improvements have been made to older tables from the original Zen Pinball, the most notable one being to the free pack-in table, Sorcerer’s Lair. In docked mode, this game looks absolutely stunning. (For example, tables based off movies or games tend to follow the plot of said licensed material, with some things going in a different order) Still, considering the rocky support of Zen Pinball titles on Wii U and 3DS, it’s nice that the company brought their newest version of their Pinball tables to the Switch as soon as they were able to. Taking the experience from Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX2 (The latter being a former exclusive to Microsoft systems) to the next level, Zen Studios unifies their brand with Pinball FX3, a pinball game for next generation consoles! There’s not really a story to be seen in this game, outside of the minor stories that each individual table contains, if applicable. Thanks to Zen Studios for the review codes Title: Pinball FX3

Pinball fx3 only shows one friend score