Review: Star Wars - Balance of the Force Pinball (360)

For those among us who can actually remember visiting an arcade instead of the few machines attached to your movie theatre, the Pinball Machine should bring back fond memories. Simple to learn, complex to truly master and deceptive enough to drag you into the "zone" and away from the outside world. While I was good enough to earn an extra ball on a single quarter, I never would be called a pinball wizard and apparently over time and as evidenced by my time with Star Wars Pinball, my talents have atrophied significantly.

The first few games were equal parts infuriation and shame – games were over in a handful of minutes rather than the usual quarter-hour/half-an-hour of my previous years. If it weren't for the engaging atmosphere of the tables, this experience would have been quickly hidden back in the annals of time. Swallowing my pride, I kept at the game until my dexterity reappeared and I started racking up scores that I wasn't completely embarrassed by.

The developers definitely deserve their praise for the stimulating tables that they've created. Incorporating animations and sound effects to punctuate a normally dull visual experience (the old flashing lights just don't stack up anymore). To punctuate the action, for certain missions you'll be pulled away from the table to complete a small mini-game.

My personal favorite table is the Starfighter Assault. Choosing to play as either the Rebellion or the Empire you get specific missions to try and help turn the tide of battle for your side. Some excellent incorporation of the fighters and borrowed effects from the original trilogy to pump up this table.

The Episode VI Return of the Jedi table focuses solely on the last portion of the movie, primarily on the action on Endor so there's some cool animation involving the speeder bikes, AT-ST walkers, and the pitched Ewok battle. As this table focuses on scenes from a specific movie the sound-alike voice acting is more prevalent here than on the other tables.

The Darth Vader table is my least favorite of the three, you can choose to either help assemble the Dark Lord of the Sith or you can re-create some of the iconic moments of Darth Vader's life. The table lacks some of the more frantic elements of the other two and comes across as a more of a throw-in addition rather than a truly well fleshed out table.

All in all – I particularly enjoyed my time playing with these Star Wars themed tables and had fine time reminiscing while using them and are definitely recommended for any Star Wars pinball enthusiast.

- Tazman

The Good:
- Visually stimulating incorporation of the Star Wars Universe
           
The Bad:
- No actual voice acting from the movie; sound-alikes only

Score: 8.0 / 10