If you have played ZEN Pinball for PS3, you know that it’s simply the best pinball machine simulator out there, you know that it’s fun too. With all its modern pinball technicalities, it’s as good as it gets when it comes to pinball games for gaming consoles. And it looks like ZEN Studio, the developers of ZEN Pinball, aren’t going to stop there.
ZEN Studio announced its first DLC for the ZEN Pinball on PS3, though they took some time before they spilled the beans. It wasn’t a huge deal anyway, since we already knew that many developers are trying to satisfy their fans (and their financial status) by releasing DLCs from time to time. It was almost expected. Almost.
But then we heard it was going to be one of the most respected franchise of all time: Street Fighter II.
Nice. Very nice.
In partnership with Capcom, ZEN Studio promised that gamers will be able to see and feel the originality that Street Fighter II has brought us since its memorable debut. And since we’ve already seen what to expect from our ZEN Pinball review, we will focus more on the DLC instead of the whole game itself.
The Stree Fighter II Tribute Table DLC features a total of nine characters from the SF series; Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Sagat, Akuma, Vega, Balrog and M. Bison. Those are just the playable characters though. There are other characters like Blanka or Zangief that help you out to get boost your score. One of the great things about this DLC is that it uses the original sound effects from the Street Fighter series. Whenever the player hits a target and hears the sound, it just brings back so many memories (at least those of you old enough to have experienced Street Fighter II in the arcade). All the quarters we invested, that certain aroma only the arcade has, kids having seizures all over the ground.. Ahh, good times.
The table layout is high quality, as expected. It isn’t an exact replica of real-world Street Fighter II pinball machines out there, but with the unlimited resources the in-game environment has, ZEN Studio came up with their own creative design. We’re glad they didn’t go too far to break the physics though; it feels like a genuine ZEN Pinball table that simulates real pinball machines. All the challenges are well balanced to provide many hours of gameplay, and you can relive some old school SF moments like crushing a car with a flurry of kicks and punches or barrels just waiting to be broken into pieces.
With everything well placed and designed, some of us actually wanted more out of it. It’s as good as any ZEN Pinball player would expect, but some might say that it’s just that; it doesn’t go beyond expectations. For the price, ($2.49 US and €1.99 ) it’s understandable that people would want more. It’s a high quality DLC for sure, but considering that some full downloadable games go as low as $5, the price can seem a bit expensive for one table. But then again, this one table translates into many, many hours of gameplay.
This is the first DLC for ZEN Pinball and so far, we love it. The nostalgia effect is just awesome. It is a high quality DLC that both pinball and Street Fighter fans can enjoy, and we can only hope that ZEN Studio brings us more high quality tables.
