pinball – 6DOF Reviews https://6dofreviews.com Your source for VR news and reviews! Sun, 24 Nov 2024 06:37:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://6dofreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cropped-3A066FC4-42C1-44AF-8B3B-F37DA3B685AD-100x100.png pinball – 6DOF Reviews https://6dofreviews.com 32 32 163764761 Bounce Arcade | Review https://6dofreviews.com/reviews/games/quest/bounce-arcade/ https://6dofreviews.com/reviews/games/quest/bounce-arcade/#respond Sun, 24 Nov 2024 06:14:26 +0000 https://6dofreviews.com/?p=11817 Virtual reality has long promised to transport us inside our favorite games, but few titles take this concept as literally as Bounce Arcade. While VR pinball games like Pinball FX2 VR have recreated the traditional arcade experience of standing over a table, Bounce Arcade boldly asks: what if you were inside the machine itself? This innovative take on pinball transforms players from spectators into active participants, positioning them at the bottom of fully realized 3D environments that serve as living pinball “tables.”

Instead of manipulating traditional flippers, players wield large circular paddles to bounce balls through these dynamic spaces. It’s an ingenious reimagining that manages to both honor pinball’s timeless appeal while revolutionizing how we interact with it. The game presents four distinct environments—a Western town, haunted mansion, space station, and pirate ship—each functioning as its own unique playfield while maintaining the core principles that make pinball engaging.

Paddle to the Metal

Bounce Arcade wastes no time getting players into the action, with an efficient tutorial that demonstrates the fundamentals without overstaying its welcome. Each environment serves as a living pinball table, complete with objectives highlighted in yellow (turning green when activated) to guide players through the experience.

Where the game truly shines is in its creative integration of VR-specific interactions. Rather than simply hitting targets, players engage in environment-specific mini-games that break up the traditional pinball flow. The Western town erupts into shooting galleries where players must carefully target bandits while avoiding civilians. The space station challenges players to mine asteroidal resources while dodging hostile defensive systems. These moments aren’t mere distractions but rather clever expansions of pinball’s bonus round concept into full VR experiences.

Bounce Arcade Meta Quest Review

The fundamental mechanics work flawlessly, with responsive controls that feel natural and intuitive from the first minute of play. Multi-ball sequences, target hits, and special events all trigger smoothly, creating a polished experience that successfully translates pinball’s core appeal into VR. Traditional pinball elements like bonus multipliers and target sequences are present but reimagined through the lens of each environment’s theme.

However, the game’s pacing often works against its creative ambitions. Ball physics feel notably sluggish, with gravity seemingly set too low, resulting in balls that float lazily toward the player rather than maintaining pinball’s characteristic frenetic energy. This leads to unusually long rounds—sometimes lasting 20 to 30 minutes—that feel more like endurance tests than tests of skill. The inability to adjust difficulty settings for individual tables further compounds this issue, with inconsistent difficulty ratings that don’t always match the actual challenge level.

Bounce and Shine

The game adopts a stylized visual approach that prioritizes clarity and character over photorealism. Each environment boasts its own distinct personality, from the warm tones of the Western frontier to the ethereal glow of the haunted mansion. While the graphics may not push the Quest’s hardware to its limits, the cohesive art direction, smooth particle effects, and fluid animations create an inviting and readable playing field that serves the gameplay well.

Bounce Arcade Meta Quest Review

The visual design emphasizes readability without sacrificing atmosphere, ensuring players can track balls and objectives while remaining immersed in each environment’s unique theme. Special effects during multi-ball sequences and bonus rounds add satisfying visual feedback without overwhelming the player’s view.

Sounds of the Silver Ball

The fundamental pinball sound effects hit all the right notes, with satisfying impacts, chimes, and mechanical feedback that ground the experience in arcade authenticity. Each environment brings its own themed audio flourishes, from creaking floorboards in the haunted mansion to the metallic echoes of the space station. The sound design successfully reinforces the feeling of being inside a living pinball machine while maintaining clarity during hectic sequences.

Bounce Arcade Meta Quest Review

The musical accompaniment provides distinct themes for each environment that, while competent, tend to fade into the background rather than enhance the experience. The tracks serve their purpose without being memorable, offering appropriate atmospheric support without drawing attention to themselves.

Rolling Returns

The game’s staying power largely depends on your appetite for high-score chasing and leaderboard competition. While the variety of mini-games and VR interactions provide initial entertainment, the game’s limited selection of just four tables and absence of progression systems or customization options constrain its long-term appeal. Without announced DLC plans, dedicated players may find themselves wanting more content after mastering the existing environments.

Bounce Arcade Meta Quest Review

The game’s relatively low difficulty curve affects its longevity as well. During pre-release testing, it was possible to top global leaderboards without exceptional skill, suggesting that serious pinball enthusiasts might find the challenge lacking. The emphasis seems to be on extended play sessions rather than the quick, intense rounds traditional pinball fans might expect.

Bumper to Bumper

Technical performance remains consistently smooth, with responsive controls and stable framerates even during chaotic multi-ball sequences. However, the game’s core design choices present more significant hurdles. The slow ball physics and generous difficulty drain the urgency from the experience, while the inability to customize difficulty settings for individual tables limits player agency.

Bounce Arcade Meta Quest Review

The difficulty ratings for each environment often feel arbitrary, with some “easy” tables presenting more challenge than those marked as difficult. This inconsistency, combined with the generally forgiving gameplay, means that success often comes down to patience rather than skill or quick reactions. These issues, combined with the modest content offering, hold Bounce Arcade back from achieving its full potential.

Final Tilt

Bounce Arcade represents an imaginative leap forward for VR pinball, successfully translating the genre’s fundamental appeal into an immersive new format. Its creative mini-games and polished mechanics demonstrate the unique possibilities of virtual reality gaming. The initial impression is genuinely impressive, with many players likely to be wowed by their first few sessions.

However, pacing issues, limited content, and restricted customization options prevent it from becoming a true classic. While it offers an entertaining diversion for casual players and VR enthusiasts, its longevity suffers without more substantial content or progression systems. The lack of challenge may particularly disappoint hardcore pinball fans looking for that classic arcade difficulty.

For now, Bounce Arcade serves as a phenomenal proof of concept that doesn’t quite stick the landing. With additional content, mechanical fine-tuning, and better difficulty balancing, it could evolve into something truly special. As it stands, it’s worth a look for its innovative approach to VR pinball, even if it may not hold your attention for extended play sessions.

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Pinball FX2 VR | Review https://6dofreviews.com/reviews/games/quest/pinball-fx2-vr/ https://6dofreviews.com/reviews/games/quest/pinball-fx2-vr/#comments Fri, 16 Aug 2019 16:39:14 +0000 https://6dofreviews.com/?p=1419 LIGHTS A FLASHIN’

Pinball might seem like a bit of an odd fit for VR, and for the Quest in particular. It’s a very stationary pursuit, and the interactions with the game are limited to two buttons and the plunger, maybe nudging the table if you’re naughty. Most Quest games have you leaning, reaching, spinning, or flailing in some way. Pinball FX2 VR is one of those rare games for the system that makes you look, to an outside observer, like you might have fallen asleep. Oculus certainly won’t be using footage of people playing this in their promotional videos.

CRAZY FLIPPER FINGERS

The most immediately jarring thing about Pinball FX2 VR, and which I still haven’t really adjusted to happily, is that the Touch controllers have no virtual presence in the game. The player is a disembodied camera, zipping between tables by looking at them and pressing a button. This is made weirder by the similarity of the game room hub to the Oculus Quest homeroom, which we’re all used to waving and pointing our hands about in, with a greater sense of control. Perhaps some will enjoy the immediacy of Pinball FX2 VR‘s head-pointing navigation. For me, I find that it contributes to making the game an abstract rather than a tactile experience. 

This extends to the controls while playing the tables. They’re simple enough; the flippers are controlled by the left and right triggers, the plunger by pulling down on the thumbstick, the table nudge with a button. It works well and feels good, but it’s hardly taking advantage of the Quest’s best traits, or the possibilities afforded by VR. How lovely it would have been had the game at least given us the option of in-game hands. It would have been great to use my hand to pull the plunger to launch the ball physically. I’d like to have been able to stretch my arms out to either side of the virtual tables to use the flippers – and, most importantly of all, to nudge the table.

BUZZERS AND BELLS

That’s not to say that there isn’t some playful VR stuff happening here. The peripheral effects that occur while playing the tables are pleasing and well-animated. There’s a metal crab spider bot that scuttles around the frame of the Mars table. That, and a shark that circles the Secrets of the Deep are particular favorites. They add detail and a sense of fun and irreverence to what is essentially a straight pinball simulation. (Again, virtual hands to interact with the stuff happening away from the table would have been a treat – swatting away those spider bots or sharks, for example).

pinball fx2 vr

Apart from the missed opportunity to make more of the virtues of VR, the presentation is excellent, with good, detailed graphics and pleasing sound effects. (Interestingly, the game features the option to make the graphics simpler to extend battery life, or sharper and nicer to look at). The tables are well-designed and feel great to play. The lack of movement can be a blessing for those who like to play their games seated. Also, the practically motionless gameplay makes Pinball FX2 VR one of those rare Quest games that we can recommend for playing while traveling.

(LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Do not drive and use virtual reality).

THERE HAS TO BE A TWIST

With the tables looking and playing so well, packed with neat touches and satisfying gameplay, it’s a real shame that the game feels cynical when it comes to content. The three tables included with the base game are good and provide an entertaining game of pinball, but the rest of the tables have to be purchased. Apart from the Walking Dead licensed table, none of the additional tables can be bought individually either.

The packs of additional tables cost more than the base game itself. As such, it feels very much like the game is a paid demo, only there to get you to fork out more for the more appealing licensed tables such as Back to the Future, ET, and Jaws. Most nonsensically of all, the ‘season 1’ pack of original tables costs more than the Universal pack of film tie-ins. Whilst those tables may very well play wonderfully, their design and theming do not hold a candle to the Hollywood classics, having that generic feel. 

pinball fx2 vr

LAST WORDS

It all comes down to the dollar. I’ve no aversion to paying for quality content, but despite the VR bells and whistles, this is a nine-year-old game. Pinball FX2 VR does not represent very good value for money. I’d be a lot better disposed toward the game if it had a lower price point overall, and more reasonably-priced tables that were available individually. Better still, they could have released the game complete with all tables for the same higher price point as the premium Oculus Store titles, and it would have been a far better deal.

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