Welcome to our review of the Pinball FX 3 game on Nintendo Switch.
Well, review is not really the right word for it, as we all know what pinball is all about. I will obviously not go into detail on how to play, but I will be talking about wether or not I had fun with this FX 3 game and how it felt.
Straight from the bat, there are so many tables to chose from, many coming from big franchises like Bob’s Burgers, American Dad, The Walking dead or Archer. Just to name a few because of the variety of tables in this game, it is very big. The tables all come behind a paywall, which I actually consider to be an advantage. When looking at some of the tables, I know this sounds narrow-minded, but they just do not all appeal to me in the same way. Being given the chance to pick which ones I want to buy, for me, this is a bonus.
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I also got my hands on the Balls and Glory packs, sporting 4 famous cartoon franchises, Family Guy, Archer, Bob’s Burgers and American Dad. What is really nice about these tables, the original voice actors joined in and we have actual soundbytes from Peter Griffin or Stan Smith. The graphics on these tables are just plain amazing and even when entering the alternate views on them, it just switches so smoothly. When you pause the game in the middle of a session, you get a small countdown before the balls start moving again.
I also love the option to switch from landscape to portrait mode. Nothing beats a top-down view, more like the original way to play real-life pinball where you can see every part of the game. Something that was missing from certain views, where it was not always easy to keep track of the ball, especially when entering multiball.
But not all tables were equally fun to play, while I do not very much enjoy the actual Archer show, it was by far my favorite table until now and the exact opposite happened for Back to the future, a table that felt too dark for me. But they can’t all be winners.
One more thing needs to be said about this game, as you keep playing, you also unlock challenges and achievements, adding another level to the game on top of the nice tables they offer.
In conclusion, this game is much like any pinball game, what sets it apart are the nice franchise tables. It has way more features than the average game and that is where this game shines. I already mentioned that for me, the paywall is actually an advantage, I got the Stern pinball game physically and I did feel some tables were not something I would pay for if given the chance… A feeling I do not have here.
Even though pinball games are not for very lengthy gaming sessions, this game lends itself very well for the occasional 10-minute session and it pretty much a perfect fit on Switch. The chance to play pinball at my work during the break at noon, yeah, I love it already!
My rating stands at 80%.
