I’m willing to put some decent funds into a Pinball game but have heard so many mixed responses. Pinball FX seems to be one of the newer options but I read of several performance issues.
Pinball FX3 was another program I’ve tried and it seems to be my front runner so far. I used to enjoy the Williams Collection on the Wii and this seems to have several tables from that game I’m familiar with.
Pinball arcade also got a lot of thumbs down, again for performance and glitch, but at the same time a lot of the tables look super cool in terms of theme.
I guess I just wanted some opinions.
Sorcerer’s Lair on FX3 is fun enough so I’d use that as a baseline for an experience I’d be interested in. I’ve put like 15 hours into that table.
Any suggestions would be great!
Edit:
In case this post comes across anyone’s Google search in the future, wanted to provide a quick summary!
Demons Tilt and Yokus Island Express were both big recommendations I did not get to! But if the comments here are any indication, either of these two would have been the best bang for the buck, with Yokus being on sale at the time of this post and Demons Tilt seeming to have the greatest replayability.
That said, I’ve found my personal taste geared more towards arcade style/traditional tables and that’s where I went with FX3, the game in this specific subgenre of pinball that performs the best on Switch. While not the newest by Zen, it seems to play the best. I see myself slowly grabbing a pack here and there as we go.
I started with the Medieval Pack of Excalibur and Epic Quest. LOVED Sorcerer’s Lair and that served as a great jumping off point for Excalibur. Following a recommendation here, I just started looking up the different tables ahead of time as a quick glance to see if any themes popped up that seemed appealing and that’s what I recommend anyone in my shoes does as well. After a whole week I still haven’t even tried Epic Quest yet, which speaks to the quality you can find in these packs once a table speaks to your taste.
Anyway, here is the YouTube series I used that reviewed FX3 packs. It had several parts, but it’s what helped me ultimately make my first decision:
When I started this post, it was because my Google searching did not offer any of the insights I needed when looking to gather information on Switch Pinball games. Thanks to the huge and thorough response by so many commenters, I feel like Switch owners finally have a good resource here at their disposal to help make an informed decison on what direction they want to take with their pinball preference!
And one last thing. Perhaps the best appeal of pinball on the switch are not the games, but the peripherals! I am not quite ready to go that far, but for a serious Switch Pinball fan, finding a comfortable setup to allow for vertical play of arcade and arcade inspired pinball machines seems to be a must for anyone looking for the best experience. Several comments here mention recommendations, seek them out!
by ImGettingBard
31 Comments
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As far as I’m concerned you already brought up the best ones. Just look out for sales and buy some extra tables on them when they go on sale.
Have you heard of yokus island express? It’s platformer with pinball mechanics. Super fun! There is another one on switch I forget the name of it.
I personally love Pinball FX3, it has good physics and a wide variety of tables, including some from the Williams Collection which you mentioned you enjoyed. And from time to time, they have sales so you can grab some extra tables for a good price.
Zen Studios, the developer of Pinball FX, tends to deliver one of the most solid pinball experiences very consistently. They sometimes repackage and overlap, which is a bummer, but I don’t really see many performance issues in their games.
Also try Pinball M (check to make sure the tables don’t overlap with what you already have) and Star Wars pinball as well. I loved the latter, and only had issues with one table.
I can tell you everything you need to know.
Let’s start with Pinball FX3. This is the best one.
It plays perfectly on Switch, and has the most games. (it didn’t ALWAYS run perfect, but given that it’s years old, they got rid of most the bugs.)
The big problem is that it’s dead now. Pinball FX3 is not getting any more releases. That leads us to…
Pinball FX! This is the “next generation” platform, but was designed with PS5 in mind. Hence the Switch doesn’t perform as well, and the ball physics aren’t as good as Pinball FX3 (on Switch that is).
So you basically need Pinball FX for the new tables. It’s good, just not as good as FX3. Pinball FX does perform better when docked however. I would stay away from turning on any Special effects while in handheld and it’s fine.
Pinball Arcade is much older than FX3. The ball physics makes that games easier than they really should be. The quality of the sound is also two steps below FX. However, the tables themselves look really good, with very nice light effects. Stil recommend, however, the tables are older and less popular than FX.
Also, I recommend you go on Etsy and order a “Pintendo.” This will allow you to play games vertically, like a real pinball table, with the Joy-Cons.
Petition for a new Kirby Pinball release?
Dude. **DEMON’S TILT.** It’s only one table but once you start playing… you’ll understand. Best pinball game since Devil’s Crush (which is a clear inspiration).
If you have the Online + Expansion Pack and are interested in checking out something a bit different, be sure to try Sonic Spinball on the Sega Genesis.
Because of how expensive it is, if you don’t already have it, it’s not worth it unless you would also use the other expansion features.
Not a game, but I use this all the time when playing pinball / vertical games : https://www.fangamer.com/products/flip-grip
FX3 is perfect on Switch in my opinion, FX and the newer “M” or whatever are both terrible, plenty of people think they are good and perfectly acceptable which amazes me as they both look terrible last i checked. I found Pinball Arcade to be OK, but FX3 is my go to Pinball on Switch.
Wish they had Kirby Pinball on GB
Star wars pinball is dope
Okay, what’s with the down vote crowd. This is the second innocent post I’ve run across where people are just down voting it for no reason
I haven’t tried it cause it’s a bit too lewd for my taste but senran kagura peach ball has high ratings
Have you tried Senran Kagura: Peach Ball? Its themed for a certain audience but it’s okay enough.
there’s a starwars pinball but I haven’t had time to play it.
I would give a kidney for a good new pokemon pinball. Both of the old ones were so damn good. Especially Ruby and Sapphire, the controls were so tight, the mini games so fun, everything was perfect. But knowing Pokemon they’ll either never make a new one or it will be trash
not on switch (yet 🤞) but hot damn the Metroid Pinball on DS was sooooo good.
Are you looking for “real pinball”, or “physically impossible” pinball games?
Various Pinball FX3 tables (paid ones often on sale) and Pinball FX ones (including a paid MLPFiM table, ironically the only time the pony Gen 4 has ever featured in a console game) seem like the primary classic options to me indeed, but if you’re open for something more unorthodox, you can look into remarkable genre blends like Pinball Wizard, Yoku’s Island Express and Creature in the Well. On that note, too bad that Rollers of the Realm games have yet to show up on Switch.
As a casual player I’d say that the Star Wars one is quite fun.
I’m a fan of pinball games on the gaming systems. I was wondering what to look for. Thanks OP for asking and Reddit folk for the answers. I’ll be sure to check some of these out.
Either Pinball fx 3 or Star Wars Pinball with a FlipGrip is the way to go when playing Pinball in rotated position (unfortunately, it doesn’t work with the OLED)
https://www.fangamer.com/products/flip-grip
FYI FX3 should be played in handheld mode in the portrait position for maximum effectiveness 😎
Pinball m is amazing, has some cool themed tables
I like Zaccaria Pinball a lot. They’re mostly older machines though (and nothing licensed).
If you’re just wanting to have fun with it?
Pinball: Revenge of the Gator on Gameboy!
Honestly, not joking, I had TOO much fun with this game and still do. XD
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If you are into realistic silver age pinball I would recommend Zaccaria Pinball
I really feel in need to suggest Senran Kagura Peach Ball, even if it is a lie..