The Pinball Arcade

 Xbox 360
The Pinball Arcade Image
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 14 Ratings

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  • Summary: The Pinball Arcade franchise includes real tables from Bally, Williams, Gottlieb and Stern, many of which feature well-known licensed themes. Two new tables will be released every month as downloadable content. Every new table will be available in trial mode, absolutely free.

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The Pinball Arcade Launch Trailer

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Gaming Age
    Apr 4, 2012
    100
    If you have any love for pinball, you should definitely pick up The Pinball Arcade. Its presentation and re-creation of actual pinball tables is second to none, and deserves to be seen and experienced by as many people as possible.
  2. Gamestyle
    Apr 4, 2012
    90
    At 800 Microsoft points, you are getting great value per table. Pinball Arcade is by far the most accurate representation of pinball there is and short of buying up the real things, you will not get a better option.
  3. XboxAddict
    Apr 23, 2012
    90
    If you can't afford an actual machine in the house or want to play some of the best rated machines ever, spend the 800 Microsoft Points and pick this up. It's clear that Farsight Studios took its time and care crafting this offering for all us pinball fans that miss the glory days.
  4. Giant Bomb
    Apr 20, 2012
    80
    The Pinball Arcade provides a safe virtual home for your pinball worship, complete with accurate re-creations of real tables and appropriately realistic physics.
  5. Vandal
    Apr 24, 2012
    80
    A game faithfull to its title, a pure pinball game at a very interesting price. Those fans of the genre will love the loyal recreation of the original machines, with great ball physics and response.
  6. Eurogamer
    Apr 23, 2012
    80
    It's hard to dwell on missed opportunities when a game gets the core gameplay so right, though. The emulation is superb, the physics are spot on and the prospect of more tables to come is downright tantalising. Between this and Pinball FX, flipper fans now have the best of both worlds.
  7. Official Xbox Magazine
    Apr 13, 2012
    75
    What The Pinball Arcade set out to do - lovingly and accurately re-create true genre classics - it does very well, and pinball purists won't be disappointed.

See all 12 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. Jobadkins
    Apr 17, 2012
    10
    Are you kidding me?An amazing replication at playing REAL pinball right on your tv with the best table physics ever made for a pinballAre you kidding me?An amazing replication at playing REAL pinball right on your tv with the best table physics ever made for a pinball game.Yes Pinball FX2 has more bells and whistles and a ton of fun,but this is Pinball pure and simple,own both,enjoy both cause at being the same type of game they are both night and day but in an awesome way!10… Expand
  2. bannjaxx
    Apr 21, 2012
    10
    perfect weight to the ball, flippers are deadly accurate - they've managed to exactly replicate the feel and heft of the physics - ignoreperfect weight to the ball, flippers are deadly accurate - they've managed to exactly replicate the feel and heft of the physics - ignore comments from people who've obviously never played pinball in real life - beautiful 10/10… Expand
  4. LemonJoose
    Apr 7, 2012
    7
    If you are a pinball fan, this is a must buy just for the faithfulness with which these tables have been recreated. However, Pinball ArcadeIf you are a pinball fan, this is a must buy just for the faithfulness with which these tables have been recreated. However, Pinball Arcade is missing many great features that Zen has put into Pinball FX2, such as the online multiplayer score race mode. Pinball Arcade needs more camera view options as well, and it would be nice to be able to see your friends ranking/position on the global leaderboard in addition to their actual high scores. Also, there is no cumulative score or average ranking leaderboard across all of the tables; while this is not essential, I find it to be a fun feature of Pinball FX2. Also the ball physics in Pinball Arcade do not seem quite right. The ball seems too fast and bouncy.

    There are also a few bugs that should be fixed. For example, on Arabian Nights I had the table lose track of a ball, and even the "Call the Attendant" option in the menu did not fix the issue. I had to quit the game and then restart from the Pinball Arcade game menu. On another occasion, the game all of a sudden decided not to respond to any of my controller inputs, and I had to exit the game back back to the Xbox 360 dashboard and then restart Pinball Arcade from there. Occasionally on Ripley's Believe It or Not, the LED scoreboard display starts off blank, and only corrects itself after you hit a target or ramp that refreshes the display.

    Overall Pinball Arcade lacks the fine level of quality and polish that Pinball FX2 has. However, it is still worth a buy if you are a pinball fan. Hopefully the developer will fix the bugs and add some of the features I mentioned. Zen does an amazing job of supporting Pinball FX2, so the bar is set high if Pinball Arcade wants to earn that level of fan respect and loyalty.

    If you are just getting into pinball and do not have any nostalgia for or interest in simulations of actual pinball tables from the 70's, 80's and 90's, I would recommend Pinball FX2 over Pinball Arcade. If you are an old school or hardcore pinball fan, then you should buy both games.    … Expand
  5. aspentitan
    May 4, 2012
    6
    At least for me the Williams collection reigns as the most realistic pinball on a console yet. Interestingly, 3 of the 4 tables in thisAt least for me the Williams collection reigns as the most realistic pinball on a console yet. Interestingly, 3 of the 4 tables in this collection are already within the Gottlieb or Williams collection available on Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 and in my opinion they are recreated more realistically on those versions. The difference I noted between the two versions are that the Gottlieb/Williams versions seem more accurate with respect to ball weight and feedback, which i prefer as it replicates real tables and gives one that sense of immersion. This version seems more fast and frantic, the ball travel and corresponding flipper speed seems "turned up" to give a faster adrenaline rush approach to the tables. They seem to have lost the feedback from feeling the balls bounce off the bumpers back and forth. People have been mentioning physics are great but I beg to differ. I went back and tried the Williams collection and it seems spot on throughout the tables. In this version the imperfection of the physics is revealed near the lower flippers, it is uncommon but we do see balls not know what to do at times and stutter then relaunch themselves in a direction to resume play. This happens very fast but if you really pay attention you notice it. As well and more troublesome is how the physics does not understand ball movement in a mania around the flippers and frequently balls pass through your flippers as if they were invisible quite often. This has been noted in professional reviews and i agree completely. Further, even if you fail to move your flippers to lose a ball, the ball rather than bounce on your flippers will just carry through your flippers and end your ball. This is very unrealistic. Another glaring hole in this game is lack of a plunger skill shot view when all tables contain skill shots. Can you spell loss of immersion? Another beef I have and as well with the other collections is they have table goals and as you unlock the goals they put the message that you did so right overtop your flippers while you play. This breaks concentration and its very annoying when you have a epic game going and have this happen to distract you. That said, these games are well worth the money and i still recommend them for 800 pts. If you have no pinball at all on your console I highly recommend the William collection, you can get 12 great games rather than 4 for the same price done better. If you already have them as I do then you have some duplicates here but this version is slightly different enough in terms of play speed that it is welcome in my collection anyway and you will acquire a previously unreleased table.… Expand
  6. frogwipe
    Apr 18, 2012
    4
    Awful game...the flippers are laggy and soft. It's pretty sad when the only user input is botched so bad. I felt like I was playing an oldAwful game...the flippers are laggy and soft. It's pretty sad when the only user input is botched so bad. I felt like I was playing an old worn out pinball machine was in need of maintenance. Tables are accurate and ball physics are good bu tthe game is a bore to play. There are better pinball options available.… Expand

Trailers

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2012