Review: Zen Pinball 3D (3DS)

I am near-sighted and wear glasses. Because of this, 3D doesn't always work, is often irritating thanks to glasses over glasses, and is prone to giving me headaches. I don't have to worry about wearing glasses over glasses with the 3DS, but my other issues still exist and I tend to play most games with subtle to no 3D. This may seem like unneeded information, but I believe it's important to know where I'm coming from if, perchance, you suffer from the same problems.

I didn't expect much from Zen Pinball 3D in terms of actual 3D—I mean, it's just a pinball game after all—but the 3D is the reason I kept playing and continue to play. I love pinball and Pinball FX2—the XBLA pinball game from Zen Studios, the same studio behind Zen Pinball 3D—so I expected a great game, but I never expected a pinball game to deliver my best 3D experience to date—keep in mind, my experience with 3D is limited, but thanks to my skinny frame and living in the "Windy City," I was blown away.

Screenshots in 2D don't do the game justice; it's absolutely beautiful in 3D.

The 3D is simple, adding depth and making each table feel like I was playing a table in real life, shrunken down of course. The 3D was a tad off-putting at first as it affected gameplay more than I expected—it takes a little time to get used to real depth over faux depth—but I soon adjusted and was in a state of awe during my first few playthroughs. Having the ball actually move into the background and decrease in size is more thrilling than it should be and the tables pop out (technically inwards) to great effect. And let it be known, Zen Pinball 3D is the only 3DS game I've ever played with the 3D slider at its highest setting.

The 3D, as great as it is, doesn't add anything unique gameplay-wise and the tables included are a bit on the weaker side when compared to the newest additions to its console siblings. It's not that the tables included are bad, but I've been spoiled by the newer console tables with their larger-than-life interactive elements; whereas, the tables in Zen Pinball 3D are much more traditional in nature. I still really enjoy the tables included, but it would have been nice to see something fresh and designed specifically for the 3DS.

If you're a fan of pinball and want to feed that love for cheap, Zen Pinball 3D is available now in the European eShop for €4.99 and will be hitting the North American eShop this Thursday (01/12/12) for $6.99, which is a great price for everything included. The game features four tables—Earth Defense, Shaman, Excalibur, and Eldorado—online leaderboards (I know, right!), a nice interface where table details are shown on the touch screen, and more balls than you'll ever need.