Is there any hope left for Lucas Arts? Probably not. After Disney acquired the whole Lucas group, this Licensed Pinball gaming titled from Zen Pinball will probably be the last you'd see, unless of course it was signed much earlier with a slew of would be Pinball titles.
Now Pinball is a tricky thing to master, the virtual controls on every mobile device is different, and thanks to sensitivity of the touch device, it feels different too. For this I must add that playing pinball on a Android tablet is pretty visual, you don't get to feel your way through the game but instead rely on it visually to track you ball angle. This is bad and is where the game suffers the most problem.
The controls are difficult to master and there are just too many side pockets to shoot because it is spaced poorly. You could be shooting the right most side pocket but your timing and visual control only allows you to hit this with less precision or miss altogether. And the speed of the ball differs with the type of device used. I noticed a lag when it ran on ICS enabled devices but it played smoother with Jellybean devices.
For your info, this Pinball game is NOT a faithful reproduction of the actual Star Wars Pinball table from the 80s and 90s, so it is completely virtual. The nice virtual touches include animated characters from Star Wars coming round to mess with you and at times, these form a kind of a distraction, which is fun for some and downright annoying for others.
The good part of the game, hmmmm let's see. There are plenty of scoring options. Yup, no dull moments here as you rake in the big ones from some precise shooting. My main beef is still with the table design.
Romance of the Three Episodes
How was there no thought to the multitude of scoring possibilities? Well, the folks at Zen saw it fit to squeeze all THREE original episodes of the story into ONE table. So for one moment, you'd be given a scoring system based on scenes from ANY three movies. The fun part is that you won't have a dull moment as you constantly chase after the scores. The bad part is that the scoring will evolve into a sub scene of the movie and that's where you have to battle your way through the challenges.
The soundbites are nice, along with the original music and animation but personally I think it is a little over the top. As much as I love the soundbites from each movie scene, I feel that too much attention has been paid to making it more eye candy. The layout of the table could habe been better along with the design. I would quite happily pay for a pinball that focuses on ONE movie at a time instead of all three. After all, I am a Star Wars Generation kid. But as much as I love the characters, I wish the game will would have been simpler in scope and virtue.
For example, there is a Jedi Training challenge where you try to block the laser fire from a training drone. This is completely virtual and unnecessary. Zen folks have a bad habit of putting that sort of eye candy as part of the gameplay to the disappointment of die-hard Jedi Pinball players.
Conclusion
So is this game worth your time? I suppose it is in some ways but the verdict is still open. For me, the bewildering array of scoring options makes it a confusing table, the layout isn't one of the most creative. I am not a fan of the layout even though the game is relatively playable for those who are desperate to get a pinball fix.
It plays worst on the tiny screens of the iPhone as the tiny and narrow real estate just doesn't quite allow your thumbs to move the paddles. It plays best on Android tablets and phones with a wider screen without a doubt.
Zen Star Wars Pinball on Andriod
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