Cheesy Poofs, as far as the eye can see.
HIGH Butters in a bear suit. Need I say more?
LOW Getting excited over Mr. Hanky multi-ball. Shame on me.
WTF It's South Park in pinball form. The whole game is a series of ‘WTF' moments
As someone who's played dozens of video game pinball titles, it's easy to spot outstanding tables when they come my way. Zen Studio's South Park Pinball is one of the greats, and arguably the best in the Zen Pinball 2 collection to date. For diehard fans of the South Park series, please stop reading…and let Zen take your money.
South Park Pinball comes with two tables, one encompassing the entire series, and the second dedicated near-exclusively to Butters, one of South Park's most beloved characters. Each plays differently—there's an emphasis on ramp-based combos in the former, and a focus on building target hits on the latter.
The attention to detail on the tables is incredible, full of both well-known and inside jokes, as well as perfect voice work, sound effects and music. Casual fans will not feel shortchanged since knowledge gaps do not dilute the overall experience.
While Butters's table is hysterical, the South Park universe table steals the show with impressive diversity in missions and unlockables. Unlike other Zen Pinball 2 tables where combos are both redundant and monotonous (looking at YOU, Star Wars), South Park does not suffer this fate. An extraordinary array of goals sustains an omnipresent sensation of advancing score and missions.
Butters's table is (logically) less diverse since it's based on a single character, but it's still a great time. There's lots of tender loving care apparent in capturing Butters's best exploits in pinball form, and the sub-table areas are great to work towards.
Visually, South Park Pinball is outstanding. While other Zen Pinball 2 offerings can look a bit blocky and robotic in environmental design, South Park is eye-popping and truly interactive. The game flows even on a PlayStation Vita, with the hardware's crisp display capturing the cartoony visuals.
Most importantly, South Park hits a home run when it comes to the physics. There are no irritating bumpers or edges that send balls illogically to their doom, and there's no glut of empty table space to create speed discrepancies between the mid and lower regions of the table. The flipper feel is also spot-on, with transfers across them feeling solid.
Nothing else needs to be said—Zen Pinball 2 owners should buy South Park Pinball. South Park fans must buy this table pack.
Disclosures: This game was obtained via PS Plus program on the PlayStation 4/Vita. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E for Everyone.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing: Unfortunately, much of the humor in this game lies in audio feedback. These cues aren't relayed via subtitles or similar signals, but the game is perfectly playable without any sound.
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