[3DS Ware / Nintendo Life]

As gaming arcades and old-fashioned pinball tables become increasingly rare in public spaces, pinball enthusiasts can now revert to digitised versions for their fix. It’s good news for these gamers as the 3DS eShop’s latest 3D offering isZen Pinball 3D, a stereoscopic edition of the highly rated PlayStation Network release. We found a room with a sticky floor, lots of noisy gamers and walls of bright flashing screens, and put these tables to the test.  …

Conclusion

Zen Pinball 3D is an excellent representation of pinball, with the attractive stereoscopic visuals adding an extra sense of immersion. Four challenging, well-constructed tables are joined by a number of pleasing features, the extensive online leaderboards being a particular highlight. Our only complaint relates to the initial disconnect between the detailed tables and the small 3DS screen — in some respects this was unavoidable, but alternative designs would have removed the initial trial-and-error gameplay in favour of more immediately intuitive tables. That’s a minor issue in the overall scheme of things, leaving a high quality pinball experience that is genuinely heightened with the 3DS’s capabilities: worth serious consideration for all gamers.

Read the full story here: http://3dsware.nintendolife.com/reviews/2011/12/zen_pinball_3d_3dsware