Marvel Pinball is a four table DLC bundle for Pinball FX2 on Xbox Live Arcade. It is releasing tomorrow, December 8, 2010, for $10 (800 Microsoft Points). At release the four tables included are Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine and Blade. Coming down the line they are look at possibly adding Captain America, Hulk, Fantastic Four or Ghost Rider tables, but for now we’ll take a look at the four new tables. Each table was crafted to capture the personality of each character without having a set story-line. Instead the tables use moments in history for each character. Each tables include elements specific to its character, such as weapons and enemies.
Spider-Man facesoff against Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin and Mysterio on his table. I like the layout of the Spider-Man table because it is pretty open in the middle with a good amount of room to work. There is an upper area where you can hit Doc Oc and Mysterio. Just watch out for Mysterio because you mess with him enough and he’ll flip the controls for the flippers which requires a lot of concentration to adjust to. Green Goblin spawns multiple balls when attacked but some of them are bombs so be wary of the orange balls.
Wolverine’s table features Silver Samurai, Sabertooth and a Sentinel. This was the one table where I noticed something I did not like with the comic aspect of the table. In my memory Wolverine’s voice is the one from the of the X-Men animated series of my childhood. His voice on the table voice just seems off to me. It is not a huge deal but just something I noticed. Fortunately the rest of the table is a blast to play. There is an area with Sabertooth in the center near the top with a break away wall. Once you get the ball in there it spins around and hits him repeatedly. The Sentinel makes for some easy skill shots when you launch the ball if you are careful and launch it manually. Also, the Sentinel heads for the bumpers are really funny to see bouncing back and forth.
Iron Man starts off each time with Tony Stark standing there waiting for you to unlock his suit so he can face Whiplash, Mandarin & Ultimo. I found this table frustrating because the wall to get to the Iron Man suit is right in the middle of the table and it is extremely bouncy. I lost many a ball just trying to open up the suit. Once the suit is on the table is pretty fun with Iron Man attacking his enemies but just getting to that point was much harder than any of the other tables. The fights with the enemies ones you do have the suit on are pretty fun, but for me those did not come very often.
Blade’s table is probably my favorite. It has a day/night cycle that changes how the table looks quite drastically. As you play the table you have Hannibal with you facing off against Deacon Frost. The table has a money mechanic where you can buy Blade upgrades for his fight with Frost. The flamethrower upgrade is fun every time I buy it as it makes the ball look like it is on fire. The extra flipper on the upper right side is placed in just the right spot where you using it carefully can get you a ton of points, but is close enough to the top that you have to anticipate the timing for it. Overall it is just a great table.
Overall, the four tables are a nice addition to Pinball FX 2. The character specific elements fit their tables well and each table brings an additional 50 gamerscore points to the game. Since this is an addition to Pinball FX 2 the tables add to your Superscore and Wizard Score. The $10 price for 4 tables is the same as what the original game was and I expect will be the price for additional tables going forward. For fans of these comic characters the tables are a fun way to remember some classic story elements from their past.
