Zen Pinball - Star Wars

[Eaton Beaver]

I tried the Han Solo table and really liked the theme music. I have only played it twice but feel it was worth it for $1.99.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

I like all of them. Now, going back to Episode V; let's hope that they don't take down my video again!

Currently have 720M banked with 2 EB's left. Still on Ball 1.

 

[9u1d0]

Just tried the free Empire Strikes Back. Physics are so much better on TPA. Did remove the game after a few minutes from my ipad.

 

[night]

Poor Greedo, may he rest in peace.

 

[WhiteChocolate]

had only had a little time so far to try each game one round; although some gameplay table-to-table seems a mixed bag, i'd say it's the best sw set yet! if only maybe this time, it's "two really good ones; two okay ones", instead of "one really good one; two okay ones". a lot of nice artistic touches; i had to chuckle that when i tried the far camera view out on "droids", to see that that background showed that the entire table took place in a moving sandcrawler.

 

[netizen]

Greedo got a raw deal in history:

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

LOL

 

[Kratos3]

All but Masters are pretty rampy. Not bad, just a lot of ramps.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

Already posted about it, but here's how it happened in action (SKIP TO 28:07 if edits are not finished): (Good thing I caught it on video!)

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

All but Masters are pretty rampy. Not bad, just a lot of ramps.

That seems to be Zen's overall style. I guess they really like ramps.

 

[Espy]

Already posted about it, but here's how it happened in action (SKIP TO 28:07 if edits are not finished): (Good thing I caught it on video!)

At least Zen have a good way of rectifying ball messups. If a ball gets caught somewhere, or flies offscreen, it will remove it and fire a new one. Just a shame emulation makes things like this so much more difficult to do in TPA.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I made a post on Zen Pinball Forum about how AWESOME it was to see powerful sling shots coded on "a new hope".

The table designer responded that it was his decision to design the table this way, to try and bring tables more in line with real pinball.

He's encouraging other designers to use the new strength tuning.

He did comment that if this tuning was retrofitted onto older tables, you'd see balls flying off the table regularly.

So, expect this tuning on newer tables, but not on older tables unless the devs get directive to retune.

 

[Baron Rubik]

I made a post on Zen Pinball Forum about how AWESOME it was to see powerful sling shots coded on "a new hope".

Saw that post, and it's very good news.
'A new hope' is my current favourite Zen table.
Unlikely to happen, but it would be great if the older tables got a revisit.
Good news for the future though.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

I made a post on Zen Pinball Forum about how AWESOME it was to see powerful sling shots coded on "a new hope".

The table designer responded that it was his decision to design the table this way, to try and bring tables more in line with real pinball.

He's encouraging other designers to use the new strength tuning.

He did comment that if this tuning was retrofitted onto older tables, you'd see balls flying off the table regularly.

So, expect this tuning on newer tables, but not on older tables unless the devs get directive to retune.

Betting the real reason is because they want to make it tougher to spell REBEL to start a mode.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Betting the real reason is because they want to make it tougher to spell REBEL to start a mode.

I frankly don't care what the justification is. ;-)

All I want is for this developer to make snappy slings part of the Zen table experience.

 

[Daniel Osborne]

I bought the new star wars tables and I'm quite happy with them,few old issues but on the whole these are pretty cool.
Dan_ozzzy189 psn id.

 

[ChezRoxwell]

I really hate those out lanes on the New Hope table though. Bounce left, bounce left, bounce left, drain. everytime they're hit

 

[Espy]

Started playing last night. Opinions are likely to change after some more play, but these are my initial impressions:

A New Hope: Nice to see Zen make a table without any upper flippers. Gives it a more traditional feel (of course there are still lots of wacky ideas), and the new slingshot strength is great as well. Couldn't get too far into this one, so feels like a good challenge.
Droids: The "fun, easy" table of the pack. It's got a great flow and is fun to just ramp about the board. Didn't get too deep into the rules, but feels like it could be fun if not too challenging. And love the industrial theme.
Han Solo: Didn't get too far into it. Was trying to figure out how to start modes - got a few multiballs going, and the strange crane game thing, but wasn't sure if there were any "main missions" on this table, which is weird for Zen. Any help? I do like the theme of this one.
Masters of the Force: Looks really cool, but the flow is terrible. Especially for that upper left shot which I was unable to hit once. I'll need to see if this grows on me or not. P.S. am I right in understanding that this table's "gimmick" is that the flipper you hit the ball from affects the direction of certain mode progressions?

 

[Pinballfan69]

Started playing last night. Opinions are likely to change after some more play, but these are my initial impressions:

A New Hope: Nice to see Zen make a table without any upper flippers. Gives it a more traditional feel (of course there are still lots of wacky ideas), and the new slingshot strength is great as well. Couldn't get too far into this one, so feels like a good challenge.
Droids: The "fun, easy" table of the pack. It's got a great flow and is fun to just ramp about the board. Didn't get too deep into the rules, but feels like it could be fun if not too challenging. And love the industrial theme.
Han Solo: Didn't get too far into it. Was trying to figure out how to start modes - got a few multiballs going, and the strange crane game thing, but wasn't sure if there were any "main missions" on this table, which is weird for Zen. Any help? I do like the theme of this one.
Masters of the Force: Looks really cool, but the flow is terrible. Especially for that upper left shot which I was unable to hit once. I'll need to see if this grows on me or not. P.S. am I right in understanding that this table's "gimmick" is that the flipper you hit the ball from affects the direction of certain mode progressions?

A New Hope is a fun table. Much like the other 2 episode tables it has those scenes. What's different about this table though is that it doesn't save your process in the middle of each part of the scene, which is different from this designer. Stack modes galore and scoring opportunities other than doing the mission is a plus yer a bane for this table. Still fun though.

Droids- Yes the much easier table of the pack. The flow is nice and personally I though it too much of a 'Ramp Spam' table which is kind of dull and boring for tables that have had that. (Clone wars, World War Hulk) the missions are pretty cool but i found it interesting that when you light all the letters for each droid, you have around 10 seconds to shoot the ramp that's lit to level up the droid. Leveling up the droid will give you some big Jackpots when you reach the wizard mode. Also interesting is that when you finish a mission, you have 10 seconds to lock the balls in the center sinkhole to start the 3 ball MB. The other MBs aren't worth it IMO. The Jackpots are small yet ramp up (I think based on what level the droids are) to which at some point this table could be and is one of those Marthon tables as both 2 ball MB's are pretty easy to start.

Han Solo - Yes there aren't mission per say, but the 'modes' are interesting. Personally the challenge is getting all the modes done to get to General Solo, is the most alluring part of this table. Some mode are easy to start. 'Courage'
'Probe' as you just shoot the ramps and lanes relating to them spell those letters. The other modes are much more intricate to start like Smuggler. You have to get used to the crane. The 'Death Star' MB is probably the toughest of the modes as when you free the Princess you have light DEATH STAR and hit within a certain amount of time. If you fail you have to lock the 3 balls again which is a pain. I think this is one of the most challenging tables because you need to be accurate within the modes yet not as challenging or frustrating as Masters of the Force.

Masters - By far the most challenging table of the pack. That left orbit is just ridiculous to hit with any consistency which make me shout obscenities at the screen. You must hit that lane in certain fights or lock balls. There is an easier way to lock balls but if you want to raise jackpots in the Sith Rage MB, you have to hit that lane. I manage to win all the fights on the light side but yet to win the first fight for the dark side because of that stupid left orbit. The accuracy needed on this table is what makes it challenging and that IMO is a good thing.

The 'gimmick' is based on the spinner shot. If you want to start the dark side missions When 'FORCE' is lit, and you want to start the dark side, hit the spinner lane with the left Flipper, light side with Right flipper. Lastly getting Holocrons through the little table mini table somehow relates to scores for Jackpots depending which side you fight. Also getting holocrons for each side does change the balance of the force. Idea is to balance the force by winning all 6 fights and balance the force.

To add the designer of Han Solo and Masters designed Fear Itself my all time favorite of Zen's tables. The balance and challenge of that table really grabbed me. That's what I like about Masters and Hand Solo. Looking forward to more table from this guy.

 

[Espy]

A New Hope is a fun table. Much like the other 2 episode tables it has those scenes. What's different about this table though is that it doesn't save your process in the middle of each part of the scene, which is different from this designer. Stack modes galore and scoring opportunities other than doing the mission is a plus yer a bane for this table. Still fun though.

Droids- Yes the much easier table of the pack. The flow is nice and personally I though it too much of a 'Ramp Spam' table which is kind of dull and boring for tables that have had that. (Clone wars, World War Hulk) the missions are pretty cool but i found it interesting that when you light all the letters for each droid, you have around 10 seconds to shoot the ramp that's lit to level up the droid. Leveling up the droid will give you some big Jackpots when you reach the wizard mode. Also interesting is that when you finish a mission, you have 10 seconds to lock the balls in the center sinkhole to start the 3 ball MB. The other MBs aren't worth it IMO. The Jackpots are small yet ramp up (I think based on what level the droids are) to which at some point this table could be and is one of those Marthon tables as both 2 ball MB's are pretty easy to start.

Han Solo - Yes there aren't mission per say, but the 'modes' are interesting. Personally the challenge is getting all the modes done to get to General Solo, is the most alluring part of this table. Some mode are easy to start. 'Courage'
'Probe' as you just shoot the ramps and lanes relating to them spell those letters. The other modes are much more intricate to start like Smuggler. You have to get used to the crane. The 'Death Star' MB is probably the toughest of the modes as when you free the Princess you have light DEATH STAR and hit within a certain amount of time. If you fail you have to lock the 3 balls again which is a pain. I think this is one of the most challenging tables because you need to be accurate within the modes yet not as challenging or frustrating as Masters of the Force.

Masters - By far the most challenging table of the pack. That left orbit is just ridiculous to hit with any consistency which make me shout obscenities at the screen. You must hit that lane in certain fights or lock balls. There is an easier way to lock balls but if you want to raise jackpots in the Sith Rage MB, you have to hit that lane. I manage to win all the fights on the light side but yet to win the first fight for the dark side because of that stupid left orbit. The accuracy needed on this table is what makes it challenging and that IMO is a good thing.

The 'gimmick' is based on the spinner shot. If you want to start the dark side missions When 'FORCE' is lit, and you want to start the dark side, hit the spinner lane with the left Flipper, light side with Right flipper. Lastly getting Holocrons through the little table mini table somehow relates to scores for Jackpots depending which side you fight. Also getting holocrons for each side does change the balance of the force. Idea is to balance the force by winning all 6 fights and balance the force.

To add the designer of Han Solo and Masters designed Fear Itself my all time favorite of Zen's tables. The balance and challenge of that table really grabbed me. That's what I like about Masters and Hand Solo. Looking forward to more table from this guy.

Will try to get into Master of the Force, but one of the big faux pas of a digital pinball table for me is a shot that is near impossible to hit, if it is regularly required to do so. Some shots should be difficult, but with practice you should be able to get a feel for it. A shot that basically relies on luck is game-breaking for me. Other examples are Mars (the targets on the left hand side that you need to hit during multiball - NOT possible from the flippers, you need to rely on a chance ball collision) and the right orbit on TOM. Not fun in my book.