Zen Studios teased us late last year with their Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure game for their Pinball FX3 platform and we have been eagerly awaiting the release ever since!
Well, the day has come where we can now play the famous and popular 1993 Williams Indy pinball title right on our Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S! We loved playing the Mark Ritchie designed IJ:TPA pinball machine back in the day at our local arcade centre, with many many coins being pumped into it – it was very addictive. Luckily for us, this version doesn’t require coins to play it, but you will need Pinball FX3 (which is free!).
The Indy trailer that Zen Studios teased us with late last year!
source: Zen Studios
Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is the 100th table to Pinball FX3 and the first Williams recreation to Pinball FX and the newest classic to Williams Pinball mobile too. Zen Studios have recreated many other popular Williams titles, and we are here to tell you that this latest one is just as awesome, fun, addictive and faithful to the classic pinball machine.
The real pinball machine that this game is based on was released in 1993 as part of Williams/Midway’s “SuperPin” line of widebody games. It was also the very first pinball machine to use Williams’ DCS sound system (Digital Compression System). The Indy machine has a plethora of playfield features to keep you flipping, like pop bumpers, slingshots, active pinballs, standup targets, kick-out holes, ramps, 3-bank drop targets, captive ball and three video modes. The cooler features and toys are the player-controlled tilting upper playfield and the rotating idol head which releases the balls into play. Of course no pinball machine game is complete without multiballs! This one has plenty, with a 3-ball regular multiball, a quick 2-ball multiball, a “Well of Souls” 6-ball multiball and an “Eternal Life” wizard mode (6-ball).
Nothing beats playing Indiana Jones on our PinSwitch cabinet!
All of this grabs and immerses the player in Indy’s adventures and gets the heart racing. As soon as we started playing the game on our Switch, our heart was racing and we couldn’t wipe off the smile from our face – it was that awesome!
As far as getting the physics right, this is as close as you’ll get to playing the real pinball machine in the digital world. Zen has painstakingly and lovingly put together a brilliant recreation, remaining faithful to a timeless classic Williams pin. But that is not all, Zen have also injected a new way to play the machine with extra 3D effects in the ‘Enhanced’ version that includes side wall art, ball trailer effects, particle effects and a whip-wielding Indiana Jones. Playing this title was non-stop fun, from playing it on our 55″ TV, in handheld mode to playing it on our custom PinSwitch cabinet – it’s a whole lotta flippin action!
There’s a lot to live up to when a huge franchise is taken on, and we can confidently say, the Holy Grail of Pinball finally arrives in a first digital recreation. If you are into pinball games, then this is a must have!
Title: Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (Pinball FX3)
Available: March 10, 2022
Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Switch & PC (Steam)
Disclaimer: Nintendo Switch review code for Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure was provided by Sandbox Strategies.