Return to the great days of the pinball action at the local pizzeria with Stern Pinball Arcade! Play your favorite pinball tables and rack up those high scores while doing it.
General Gameplay
Pinball table gameplay with licensed tables from some famous brands and movies to choose from. Stern Pinball Arcade is pinball table gameplay to its core. From the bumpers’ sounds to the pinball running through the rails, the pinball tables comes to life.
Audio
If you close your eyes and just listen to the speakers, you would believe that you are standing next to the actual pinball machine. The audio is wonderful and very authentic-sounding. From the bumpers being hit to the sound of the pinballs hitting each other in multiball, the game is the closest that I have ever heard to a real pinball game sound. With licensed music, sounds and effects, the tables come to life. For example, when playing on the Star Trek table, you can actually hear sound bites from the movies (Star Trek and Star Trek into Darkness) and see table goals that are based on the movies. The game supports 5.1 surround sound, but also is great to hear from a headset. During our playtest, we did not see any issues with the audio within the game as there is not any offensive language that would be offensive to any family gaming members.
Visuals
In action, Stern Pinball Arcade is a visual feat to see. The game’s attention to detail is wonderful, as almost all of the graphics reassemble what you would see from its real-life version of the pinball table. The game runs smoothly and reacts as if you were playing it on the real table. The game graphics are very sharp, but we did see some issues on a larger screen where there were some graphics that were appearing smaller, but this was a minor issue. Also, the display of the graphics from the table graphics wall are very authentic to see in action. In our playtest, some of our family gaming members found it hard to follow all of the action on the table, but once the camera angle settings were adjusted it was no longer an issue. For special needs gamers and family gamers that have color blind issues, there were no issues whatsoever with this game or any graphics being seen during gameplay.
Controls
With any pinball games, controls have to be spot on… and Stern Pinball Arcade’s controls for the pinball tables are exactly that. From the pressure of the flipper bats to hit the pinball to the overall physics, it all comes together perfectly with these tables. At first, the controller settings were not to our liking, but once changing them in the options it was very smooth. In our playtest we did not see any issues with the controller settings for any family gaming member. Also, there is no need for any special controller or accessory needed to play the game.
“Just close your eyes and the sound coming from the game will take you back to the days of playing your favorite pinball tables at your local arcade!”
Delivery
What is great about the Stern Pinball Arcade is that it brings the excitement of pinball arcade action to your home console, but at a price (more on this in our Family Friendly section). The game is very smooth in gameplay, and the sound in the game is top notch. However, as with all pinball table games, it is meant for fans that love this type of gameplay, as it is a very niche type of game. This game is more for family gaming members that are true fans of the pinball-style of gameplay; the beauty of the game is that multiplayers can play the game in a tournament style of gaming. This can set up hours of fun for families to play. That being said, Stern Pinball Arcade is a great game for gaming family members that love pinball.
Family Friendly
You get to start off with one pinball table for free (Mary Shelly Frankenstein) and you can grow your collection from there. What may be a put-off for families on a budget is the price. Now, with any game out there, there is accompanying DLC (Downloadable Content) and this is content that is created to be part of a game, however with lots – and I mean lots of content to come out from FarSight Studios – this can be a costly game to own over time. Is that a bad thing? No, but for parents that are purchasing this for their gaming family, do understand that the content will be priced around from $4.99-$9.99, so be prepared to pay for premium content. Also keep in mind that this will be for new tables that you want, so as new DLC comes out you can choose which tables that you purchase… I just wish that they had a way to download onto the console a demo/trial of the table so that you can test it out before purchasing. This is not a bad thing preventing you from enjoying the game, but something to keep in mind when building your digital library. Another concern that came up was that with our special needs testing, some developed some anxiety when playing the game. This is something to be expected with any game, so again, parents/guardians please monitor your families’ gaming habits if such issue arises.
Closing
Stern Pinball Arcade is a great pinball experience – one of the most realistic we’ve ever played. With authentic licensed tables and action on the table it is a game not to be missed. Remember that this is available on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC now for purchase.
