Regulation pinball machines are big, bulky, and quite expensive, all of which make them a hard sell for personal use in a home game room. That's where Arcade1Up's new virtual pinball machines come in. Much like it did with arcade machines, Arcade1Up has designed a digital pinball table that's both size-appropriate and much cheaper than standard pinball machines. Three models are available--Star Wars, Marvel, and Attack from Mars--each of which is loaded with a bunch of different digital pinball boards in place of a traditional pinball playfields. For the purpose of this review, I tested Star Wars Pinball. While it doesn't offer a wholly authentic pinball experience, it's still a well-designed machine with lots of variety and a great addition to your home arcade.
Each of the 10 boards has a unique look.Gallery
Unlike Arcade1Up's cabinets, Star Wars Pinball doesn't replicate games from an actual machine released in arcades. The machine is loaded with 10 game boards from Zen Studios' popular Pinball FX3 game, which you can also play on traditional consoles and PC:
A New HopeThe Force AwakensThe Empire Strikes BackAhch-To islandBattle of MimbanDarth VaderStar Wars: RebelsHan SoloBoba FettMasters of the ForceEach of the 10 games features its own theme, sounds, and general layout, which truly does make the gameplay experience of every single board unique. In this respect, Arcade1Up's pinball machines have an advantage over conventional tables in terms of variety. I've put in a couple of hours of game time on each board, and all of them are exciting in their own way.
The 7.5-inch LCD score screen reacts like a dot matrix display, adding points and multipliers to your score in furious fashion as the ball clangs around the board. Up to four players can take turns competing on each board to see who can rack up the most points.
The compact size makes Star Wars Pinball great for home use.Though each of the 10 games works great without a hitch, there is a fairly sizable issue with each of the boards. All of this leads back to the 720p display, which muddies the on-screen text and dulls the colors. There tends to be a lot of text on each game board, so this does hurt the overall presentation. Characters and obstacles are still easily discernible, but it did take a bit for my eyes to adjust to the image quality. The screen is actually capable of running in 1080p, but apparently Arcade1Up locked the games at 720p to keep the frame rate steady. It's a trade-off that's probably worth it considering the overall performance is so smooth.
The artwork features Star Wars characters from past and present.Gallery
The build process is pretty simple as well. While I put it together myself in under an hour, it would be much easier with two people. This is in large part because the table itself comes in one (heavy) piece. You only have to build and connect the scoreboard, attach the adjustable metal legs, and then you're good to go.
At 59.5 inches tall (measured from the top of the scoreboard to the floor), it's taller than other Arcade1Up machines with risers attached. The table is 35 inches from the floor, so if you have other Arcade1Up stools, you can use them with Star Wars Pinball. It's only 36 inches long, which helps it fit against walls without sticking out excessively. While a 3/4 scale pinball table does look somewhat odd at first, I quickly got used to the constrained dimensions. The Star Wars art on the sides and scoreboard looks great and features many of the most iconic heroes and villains from the franchise.
Arcade1Up Star Wars Pinball
Walmart is selling the machine for $50 off
See at Walmart
The Good
Haptic feedback admirably recreates real pinball on a digital screenLots of variety thanks to 10 game boardsGreat build qualityCompact sizeMuch cheaper than real pinball tablesThe Bad
720p display makes text hard to read and muddies colorsAbout the author: Steven Petite tested Arcade1Up's Star Wars Pinball for about a month, racking up dozens of hours of play. Arcade1Up provided Star Wars Pinball for review.