*ZEN PINBALL 2 Impressions Thread*

[Tberg]

Indeed. El Dorado, Shaman, And TESLA play so much better now. Great Job. All the other pre-marvel tables like Earth Defens, Excalibur are just as fun. I'm even enjoying SF2 which I have never played until ZP2.

I agree, SF2 is actually quite fun now, never really cared for it either. I like how the table is kindda small and the ball is bigger/closer, and in 3D on my LG 47" with the new sharp graphics it looks freaking awesome! Hadouken!

Regarding 3D, never been a fan, and ZP2 did hurt my eyes the first couple of tries in 3D, but after half an hour (with breaks!) my eyes got used to the 3D and the pain was gone! Now, I can almost NOT play in 3D as I miss the depth and visibility already!
I have LG's Cinema 3D and can HIGHLY recommend it, give it a try whenever possible. Guess Barbie wasn't joking with the 3D awesomeness in this game

Which reminds me!!
@Barbie: I have a dual-play TV, but ZP2 doesn't support the view, since it stretches the splitcreen views. Could you possibly make a dual-play fit-to-screen option? In same res as in singleplayer of cause.
For those needing to know, a dual-play TV displays both views in a splitcreen game on the entire screen at the same time, which look The players then wear two different pair of 3d-glasses, marked A and B, and this filters the views so each player only see his or her own screen.

[snakeman07]

Just beat Skadi, Thanos, and Loki(Thor table) one after another tonight, it was great. Just thought I'd share lmao.

[maink]

the views have been changed why ? you removed some why not have kept them in , for now im playing on view 4 because i don't like the flippers to disappear but i want em close , i use to play on view 3 on zp1 and mp why was that removed completly ? for the future views you could add one that doesn't move like 1 but more tilted from back to front but not like 6 , i don't have a 50" inch tv yet...

[Rafie]

Just beat Skadi, Thanos, and Loki(Thor table) one after another tonight, it was great. Just thought I'd share lmao.

Whoa! Congrats bro! That's HUGE! To beat those wizard modes on hard tables like that is a great feat! I'm falling behind! LOL

[shogun00]

Just beat Skadi, Thanos, and Loki(Thor table) one after another tonight, it was great. Just thought I'd share lmao.

That's sounds pretty close to my game (I already have 100% trophies), except for me it was one each day. I beat Skadi on the 10th, Loki on the 11th and Thanos on the 12th.

[ShoryukenToTheChin]

Just beat Skadi, Thanos, and Loki(Thor table) one after another tonight, it was great. Just thought I'd share lmao.

That's sounds pretty close to my game (I already have 100% trophies), except for me it was one each day. I beat Skadi on the 10th, Loki on the 11th and Thanos on the 12th.

Congratz both of you, I remember Loki driving me insane on PFX2.. but in the end he was defeated. PFX2 - 89/89 Achievements im good 2 lol.

[tenorhero]

That's sounds pretty close to my game (I already have 100% trophies), except for me it was one each day. I beat Skadi on the 10th, Loki on the 11th and Thanos on the 12th.

Did something similar this past week. Got a bunch of tables trophy awards with Captain America, PvZ, Fear Itself, Avengers, WWH, and since the PSN ZP2 league started I got X-MEN letters. Fired up Iron Man for a practice run for next weeks table today and got both trophies for Iron Man but failed to beat Ultimo. Forgot how tough he was to beat. I think that trophy for Marvel Pinball before ZP2 would have been tough to do all over again. So thank Zen that they didn't include Ultimo as the 2nd trophy.

Personally I thought the Blitzkrieg USA trophy is just as hard as beating Skadi and all the Worthy in Fear Itself.

In the light of all this, It's safe to say I will be able to get all the trophies for each of the tables at some point. I will take it slow though and try to experience all the tables as much as I can. As much as I hate V12 I will still have to get that 2nd trophy.

[oilyeye]

Impressions

So far I have to call ZP2 a success. I only found ZP2 after deciding to try ZP1 again last weekend and seeing that a new version was available. The overall sensitivity and responsiveness of the controls as well as the behavior of the ball makes it "feel" similar to the pins I used to play in the arcade, but with a noticeably cleaner and smoother user experience. I never played the Marvel tables prior to this version, so I started with the Mars table (my favorite on ZP1). It seemed like I had a slightly easier time controlling the ball than I remember even though what I felt like used to be the sweet spot for specific shots was eluding me during my first few games. I played through the rest of the tables one by one, and although I'm not capable of completing more than one or two missions at most on any given table, I was able to maintain a pretty good rhythm once I started to be able to hit ramps with some consistency.

The only criticism I have is that I don't really love any of the views. I find it very difficult to play using any of the views that move around (even the mini games and view change during ball launch are distracting to a lesser degree), and for fixed views the choices are pretty limited. There was a fixed view in ZP1 that I liked better which seemed like it was at a different angle than the ones here, but I don't recall which number it was. One suggestion for the launch problem would be to use some sort of floating picture-in-picture view of the plunger mechanism on the right side of the screen during ball launch without moving the view around.

One other thing I'd like to add since I'm playing the Marvel tables for the first time is how impressed I am with the creativity in design. In particular the Infinity Gauntlet table really seems to push the envelope of what a soft pin is capable of by incorporating gameplay elements that would never be possible in a mechanical pin but still seem to flow smoothly within the context of the game. I made an account on this forum mostly to compliment the team that put it all together both in the original ZP and this one. As an aging pinhead looking for something fun and interesting to play, I'm happy to see that people are innovating successfully in this space while maintaining the nuanced mechanical aspects of gameplay that have always attracted me to pinball.

[tenorhero]

So far I have to call ZP2 a success. I only found ZP2 after deciding to try ZP1 again last weekend and seeing that a new version was available. The overall sensitivity and responsiveness of the controls as well as the behavior of the ball makes it "feel" similar to the pins I used to play in the arcade, but with a noticeably cleaner and smoother user experience. I never played the Marvel tables prior to this version, so I started with the Mars table (my favorite on ZP1). It seemed like I had a slightly easier time controlling the ball than I remember even though what I felt like used to be the sweet spot for specific shots was eluding me during my first few games. I played through the rest of the tables one by one, and although I'm not capable of completing more than one or two missions at most on any given table, I was able to maintain a pretty good rhythm once I started to be able to hit ramps with some consistency.

The only criticism I have is that I don't really love any of the views. I find it very difficult to play using any of the views that move around (even the mini games and view change during ball launch are distracting to a lesser degree), and for fixed views the choices are pretty limited. There was a fixed view in ZP1 that I liked better which seemed like it was at a different angle than the ones here, but I don't recall which number it was. One suggestion for the launch problem would be to use some sort of floating picture-in-picture view of the plunger mechanism on the right side of the screen during ball launch without moving the view around.

One other thing I'd like to add since I'm playing the Marvel tables for the first time is how impressed I am with the creativity in design. In particular the Infinity Gauntlet table really seems to push the envelope of what a soft pin is capable of by incorporating gameplay elements that would never be possible in a mechanical pin but still seem to flow smoothly within the context of the game. I made an account on this forum mostly to compliment the team that put it all together both in the original ZP and this one. As an aging pinhead looking for something fun and interesting to play, I'm happy to see that people are innovating successfully in this space while maintaining the nuanced mechanical aspects of gameplay that have always attracted me to pinball.

Great insight and welcome to the forums. I think you pretty much captured my initial thoughts of ZP2 and how much more I like ZP2 over Pinball Arcade. Zen is cleaner, sharper and more easy to play. Could use more bounce as the balls seem to have too much weight. I just think it should be a little more hard to control than it actually is and pinball purists might levitate a little more to Zen pinball.

Love the design and originality of the missions they designed. All the tables have their own style and difficulty level and that's a big plus.

[shogun00]

Fired up Iron Man for a practice run for next weeks table today and got both trophies for Iron Man but failed to beat Ultimo. Forgot how tough he was to beat. I think that trophy for Marvel Pinball before ZP2 would have been tough to do all over again. So thank Zen that they didn't include Ultimo as the 2nd trophy.

Funny thing! I played Iron Man on day 2 (9/5) got both of the trophies and I actually defeated Ultimo on my first try. I was really surprised to say the least, since I could only beat him once (third attempt and never again after that) on Marvel Pinball. Same thing happened to me on both Mars and World War Hulk. I got the two trophies and defeated the wizard mode in my first game. Both games required me to beat the wizard mode to get a trophy in the previous versions.

[ShoryukenToTheChin]

Zp2

Got ZP2 today everyone,

Downloaded - ZP Classics Pack, Ninja Gaiden, Mars & Paranormal.... eventually hope to get em all since on PFX2 I got all 30+

The ZP2 Platform is defo a step up and for me is far more sleeker than PFX2, the BGM that plays is exquisite. As for the Tables I can defo see the improved Graphics, Physics and Dot - Matrix... dare I say it beats PFX2. Overall im very happy that I can now set my PS3 to more use, im still a PFX2 player but that stems from my hatred of the dreaded PS3 Pad Triggers.

So whats the genral consensus of what to map the Flippers to?

[snakeman07]

Got ZP2 today everyone,

Downloaded - ZP Classics Pack, Ninja Gaiden, Mars & Paranormal.... eventually hope to get em all since on PFX2 I got all 30+

The ZP2 Platform is defo a step up and for me is far more sleeker than PFX2, the BGM that plays is exquisite. As for the Tables I can defo see the improved Graphics, Physics and Dot - Matrix... dare I say it beats PFX2. Overall im very happy that I can now set my PS3 to more use, im still a PFX2 player but that stems from my hatred of the dreaded PS3 Pad Triggers.

So whats the genral consensus of what to map the Flippers to?

R1 and L1 for me!

[shogun00]

Overall im very happy that I can now set my PS3 to more use, im still a PFX2 player but that stems from my hatred of the dreaded PS3 Pad Triggers.

The easiest solution is to buy this 3rd party controller. It's for the PS3, but uses the Xbox 360's design.

It should be available in Europe as well. The only downside is that it doesn't have motion control (SixAxis) support.

[surf1der]

R1 and L1 for me!

Same here. The only thing I really use the triggers (R2/L2) for are racing games. And they work fine for that though I would prefer to use a gaming racing wheel, pedals, and gearbox but don't have the time or room for that kind of setup. Though I guess it is strange to get used to something you are unfamiliar with. I hate the xbox controller because I have always used the ps controller.

By the way, I just started getting into Blade. It's fun except that center/right orbit loves the center drain.

[snakeman07]

Same here. The only thing I really use the triggers (R2/L2) for are racing games. And they work fine for that though I would prefer to use a gaming racing wheel, pedals, and gearbox but don't have the time or room for that kind of setup. Though I guess it is strange to get used to something you are unfamiliar with. I hate the xbox controller because I have always used the ps controller.

By the way, I just started getting into Blade. It's fun except that center/right orbit loves the center drain.

Gotta lift that upper flipper before it passes