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Review: Ms. 'Splosion Man - Can Zen make Stern pink with envy?
The announcement of a Ms. 'Splosion Man table must have come as a surprise to Pinball FX 2 fans. Eager for Mortal Kombat, Halo, and Duke Nukem tables, many were curious how Twisted Pixel's latest 2.5D title would translate into pinball. Six weeks after the platformer was released onto the Xbox Marketplace, Zen has delivered its flippered counterpart. Their prior experience adapting video game franchises (Street Fighter, Ninja Gaiden) has paid off; Ms. 'Splosion Man is the studio's most faithful and impressive effort to date.
Tiwsted Pixel's hyperactive puce protagonist explodes across a stunning azure playfield flanked with pink overtones. The Mighty Eternal stands guard beneath the backglass, pleading with Ms. 'Splosion Man as she rockets barrels at his gaping, surfer dude maw. The table is stocked full of Zen's signature goodies gleaned from the source material: rollerbots, electric beams, glass walls, goofy scientists, an actuating canon, and a Mr. Destructoid zip line. In a clever innovation, the kickbacks have been replaced by conveyor belts, which escalate the ball back onto the playfield. An exploding barrel hurtles lost balls up the center ramp rather than dumping them into the plunger lane. The ramp layout is fresh and exciting, a welcome change from Captain America's generic design.
The table's audio design will be familiar to anyone who's played Ms. 'Splosion Man. The soundtrack and voice clips have been recycled, sucking players back into the glass filled corridors of Team Science. In theory this should become tiresome, but the lively beats cement the immersion. In lieu of new tracks from Attila Heger, the team has resampled most of the mechanical sounds. The flippers, bumpers, and pit holes all resonate with discernible metallic THUNKS, providing an arcade realistic experience.
Zen has listened to its fans and addressed multiple issues from previous tables. While view four remains near identical to the zoomed out view six, there is now a seventh table view. Further, it is possible to toggle between four of the views during multiball modes. Another improvement is an announcer who alerts players to important events on the table (e.g. ATTENTION! YOU HAVE AN EXTRA BALL!). The difficulty also appears to have been tweaked for expert players who spend hours on a single game. Extra balls are limited, multiball jackpots cap at low vaules, and the conveyor belts make it difficult to save kickbacks via nudging. The counterbalance is a deep combo system which can reward bonuses up to ten million points.
The gripes are negligible. Only about twenty lines of Monica Rial's dialog have been included. Ms. 'Splosion Man may be as truly, truly outrageous as Jem, but those who've played through the full arcade game know these by heart. There are only five core missions, two of which are the wizard mode. Novice players may become frustrated with the reverse difficulty: the initial unbreakable glass mission is the hardest, while the final mission against the Mighty Eternal is perhaps the easiest of the entire Pinball FX 2 library. The only reward for completing all five modes is a [Mr.] 'Splosion Man cameo, which often leads to a lost ball as the table resets. Quality control has improved significantly from Fantastic Four and Captain America, although there are a few bugs associated with multiball.
Despite these minor quirks, Ms. 'Splosion Man is one of the best deals on the Marketplace at a mere 240 MSP ($3 USD). This table is worthy of a spot next to the latest pin from Stern. If Zen are able to maintain such a high standard for an indie title, there is no limit to what they can pull off with a big budget franchise. Any developer interested in having their game immortalized as a pinball table should contact Zen immediately. The line forms behind CliffyB.
Tiwsted Pixel's hyperactive puce protagonist explodes across a stunning azure playfield flanked with pink overtones. The Mighty Eternal stands guard beneath the backglass, pleading with Ms. 'Splosion Man as she rockets barrels at his gaping, surfer dude maw. The table is stocked full of Zen's signature goodies gleaned from the source material: rollerbots, electric beams, glass walls, goofy scientists, an actuating canon, and a Mr. Destructoid zip line. In a clever innovation, the kickbacks have been replaced by conveyor belts, which escalate the ball back onto the playfield. An exploding barrel hurtles lost balls up the center ramp rather than dumping them into the plunger lane. The ramp layout is fresh and exciting, a welcome change from Captain America's generic design.
The table's audio design will be familiar to anyone who's played Ms. 'Splosion Man. The soundtrack and voice clips have been recycled, sucking players back into the glass filled corridors of Team Science. In theory this should become tiresome, but the lively beats cement the immersion. In lieu of new tracks from Attila Heger, the team has resampled most of the mechanical sounds. The flippers, bumpers, and pit holes all resonate with discernible metallic THUNKS, providing an arcade realistic experience.
Zen has listened to its fans and addressed multiple issues from previous tables. While view four remains near identical to the zoomed out view six, there is now a seventh table view. Further, it is possible to toggle between four of the views during multiball modes. Another improvement is an announcer who alerts players to important events on the table (e.g. ATTENTION! YOU HAVE AN EXTRA BALL!). The difficulty also appears to have been tweaked for expert players who spend hours on a single game. Extra balls are limited, multiball jackpots cap at low vaules, and the conveyor belts make it difficult to save kickbacks via nudging. The counterbalance is a deep combo system which can reward bonuses up to ten million points.
The gripes are negligible. Only about twenty lines of Monica Rial's dialog have been included. Ms. 'Splosion Man may be as truly, truly outrageous as Jem, but those who've played through the full arcade game know these by heart. There are only five core missions, two of which are the wizard mode. Novice players may become frustrated with the reverse difficulty: the initial unbreakable glass mission is the hardest, while the final mission against the Mighty Eternal is perhaps the easiest of the entire Pinball FX 2 library. The only reward for completing all five modes is a [Mr.] 'Splosion Man cameo, which often leads to a lost ball as the table resets. Quality control has improved significantly from Fantastic Four and Captain America, although there are a few bugs associated with multiball.
Despite these minor quirks, Ms. 'Splosion Man is one of the best deals on the Marketplace at a mere 240 MSP ($3 USD). This table is worthy of a spot next to the latest pin from Stern. If Zen are able to maintain such a high standard for an indie title, there is no limit to what they can pull off with a big budget franchise. Any developer interested in having their game immortalized as a pinball table should contact Zen immediately. The line forms behind CliffyB.
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