Zen does it again - “Zen Pinball Party” for Apple Arcade

[Scared Stiff]

Aw geez...now I have come across another problem. So I noticed there was a new “one ball challenge” event for Theatre of Magic and I went to play it. After a few games it became clear that it wasn’t even saving my scores to the leaderboard. In fact, going into the leaderboard itself revealed that there was no leaderboard at all, only returning a red error message box saying “Warning no scores found”.

Ugh. Come on Zen. Why can’t you sort things out and get it together? So frustrating. It feels like I am on a beta version with all these problems.

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

I don't know about the mobile versions, but the MacOS version of the app is a HUGE downgrade vs Pinball FX3 on Steam.

Firstly, the rendering resolution is tied to the desktop scaling so on my 4K monitor with no scaling it tries to run at 4K which is hilarious.

Worse still is even if I switched the scaling to 1080p or even go to low resolution mode 720p, I get 60fps but some tables stutter and the scaling causes shimmering graphics, particularly My Little Pony which the DMD stutters before you even launch the ball.

I compared a few tables to the Steam version on my Ryzen 2500U laptop and its a night/day difference. The graphics just look a whole lot duller/flatter (lack of dynamic lighting?), its really stark on Attack from Mars for example. Now perhaps the M1 is just THAT weak for gaming, but I'm dubious as the 2500U is hardly a powerhouse either. I'd be very curious to see it on a Mac using a dedicated GPU to see if this is just a downgrade for the M1 specifically because the Switch version looks better than this.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is you can't even remap the controller to use the bumpers instead of triggers.

I also just managed to accidentally open the Apple Arcade overlay over the game multiple times by pressing the left bumper, which left me locked out of the OS entirely as only the last one would close. Oh and that overlay cannot be controlled using the controller, even the achievements screen (which I only just stumbled onto). Good going Apple.

 

[Scared Stiff]

Oh geez Zen. What is going on there? They started a new “100 flips” event today which instead turned out to be 100 balls. I gave up at the 70 mark when my hands started cramping up!

 

[pinballmonster]

This is definitely a quick cash grab from Zen. The graphics quality is absolutely awful. Too bad about the lack of controller remapping as an option.

 

[shutyertrap]

This is definitely a quick cash grab from Zen. The graphics quality is absolutely awful. Too bad about the lack of controller remapping as an option.

Uh, quick cash grab?

First, it’s part of the Apple Arcade subscription, where you also have access to hundreds of other full ad free games. Second, and Zen has made no bones about it, this is reaching out to an audience that might not otherwise pay attention to pinball. Based on ranking of Apple downloads and being tops on the store, seems mission successful. Lastly, please show a side by side comparison of this to previous mobile releases by Zen to show exactly how ‘awful’ these graphics are. I’m just trying to figure out your baseline.

And yes, it does suck that you can’t remap the controller settings.

 

[Scared Stiff]

This is definitely a quick cash grab from Zen. The graphics quality is absolutely awful. Too bad about the lack of controller remapping as an option.

I have heard several mentions of graphics quality and I just don’t see the same problem. The graphics look great to me. Absolutely awful was Farsight’s TPA. Pinball Party both looks better and plays better physics wise. Now if only they could reign in the obvious bugs that should have been fixed before it was ever released!

 

[pinballmonster]

The tables are definitely fun to play. I'm not sure why but the same tables are more enjoyable to play in PP than in Zen or Williams Pinball.

The graphics are a huge step down unfortunately. The shadows, lighting, detail and reflections are all subpar compared to their 2018 to 2020 counterparts. PP is cartoonish. The only benefits are adjustable lighting and variable views rather than fixed views.

 

[Scared Stiff]

The tables are definitely fun to play. I'm not sure why but the same tables are more enjoyable to play in PP than in Zen or Williams Pinball.

The graphics are a huge step down unfortunately. The shadows, lighting, detail and reflections are all subpar compared to their 2018 to 2020 counterparts. PP is cartoonish. The only benefits are adjustable lighting and variable views rather than fixed views.

Cartoonish? I just don’t agree with that at all. Not on the Williams tables. The lighting is better than what the Williams Pinball app had on ios. The fonts look better too. I think it’s fantastic. I stopped using the Williams app altogether now as I just can’t go back to something that I think both plays and looks worse. Just like I couldn’t go back to TPA after Williams Pinball came out.

 

[Scared Stiff]

Got some news in case you all haven’t seen it yet. Just in time for Halloween Zen has released.....

A monster themed table? No.
Elvira? No.
Another Williams Table? No.

Nope. None of those. Instead they released Peanuts Snoopy Pinball. Good grief. LOL

I like Snoopy and all, and the table looks okay, but I wish another Williams table had been released instead of yet another original table. Crossing my fingers for next time. They really need to get some more Williams content out.

This release is also supposed to address some of those bugs I have been mentioning, so I will be looking into that more.

 

[yespage]

They are clearly looking to broaden the pinball player base.

It'd never happen, but if done right Peanuts v South Park would be epic!

 

[Scared Stiff]

They are clearly looking to broaden the pinball player base.

It'd never happen, but if done right Peanuts v South Park would be epic!

It would indeed. The Peanuts table reminds me of South Park in a way with the animated Characters coming to life in cartoon and yet 3D form. It’s much better play-wise than South Park though. Snoopy looks absolutely amazing here, and I love how the game starts out focused on him and then pans out to reveal the table. It’s very well done. As are the different things from the Peanuts universe. Woodstock’s nests are bumpers. Snoopy’s doghouse is where modes are started. Red Baron mode is interesting. Even the kite-eating tree is present. I never thought about Peanuts in pinball form, but wow, it really works good. It seems fairly challenging too. It’s not a cakewalk. And the audio and music are just spot on perfect. This might just be my favorite Zen original. They really put a lot of work into this one.

 

[Gibsons Pinball]

On the iPad if you enlarge it's clear that the graphics of PP are less sharp. Also the transparencies are worse. For adventureland it looks they upgraded the graphics and lighting.
Concerning gameplay The physics are floatier and ball movement is slower and more forgiving. Going for multiball in AFM is much easier in PP. But they did change the physics later on because in the beginning it was ridiculously easy. All in all more of a family and general gamer oriented game. But hoping for better online gaming against others on IOS. And yes, on imac the game is horrible.