For many years, Zen Studios has been making original video pinball tables for their Pinball FX and Zen Pinball outlets.  Now they’re tackling real life classic pinball machines in video form from the Williams and Bally lineups.  Volume 6 of this set includes three more tables, all from the late 80s.  To play them, first you need to download the Pinball FX3 hub (available for most current consoles, PC, and mobile devices, but reviewed on PS4 here).  And then you can buy and download table sets.

The Williams tables are handled a bit differently than the other Zen Studios’ originals.  First, you can play with either the Pinball FX3 table upgrade system or the original specs from the arcade.  And with a push of a button, you can switch visuals to make the tables look like the other Zen Studios tables with extra graphics, or the original way the tables looked in real life.  Also when you start a game, you get a full view of the machine with facts and history on each one.  In a way, I like this setup and gameplay better than the Zen original tables.  Maybe it’s because I’m more familiar with these tables, but I also felt the ball physics were better, too.  Anyway let’s take a look at the three tables in this volume.

Funhouse

The first table is the only one I’m familiar with in this set: Funhouse.  This table features a ventriloquist dummy named Rudy, and he has a giant head at the top of the table and the eyes move around to follow the ball and his mouth moves as he talks to you.  But you can barely hear what he says in this game.  Your goal is to go up ramps to make the clock go to midnight, then Rudy will fall asleep and you can shoot the ball in his mouth as he snores.  I remember hearing about this game all the time when it first came out, even in video game magazines!  And I saw it a lot, too.  Even in the last arcade I went to before COVID had it!  I bet that dummy head is a pain in the butt to maintain in real life, though!

Space Station

The next table has a space theme, obviously, with a space shuttle and station.  It’s fun and easy to dock balls and start multiplayer, but otherwise this is a fairly generic one.  If I saw it back in the day, it certainly didn’t stick out in my mind.

Dr. Dude and his Excellent Ray

I wonder if since this table was made in 1990, if stuff like Bill and Ted and Wayne’s World had any influence?  Anyway, Dr. Dude has invented an “Excellent Ray” that turns people hip and cool.  He used it on himself and now he setting up appointments for you!  I liked the colorful comic book style and this is probably the most fun table of the three in the set, despite the dumb premise.  I don’t remember playing this one in arcades either.

Since all these tables were made in the late 80s and very early 90s, they don’t have things like a dot matrix display or other quality of life features like ball saves, so these tables are a bit harder.  I think the last volume had better tables, but if you like pinball games from the late 80s, you may want to check this set out.

Kid Factor:

All Pinball FX3 tables are rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Language.  Nothing really objectionable on these tables that I could see.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the menus, but not necessary just to play.  Just pure, simple fun.

Tags: Game Reviews