The tables keep rolling in for the endlessly expandable Pinball FX 2, and the latest additions keep the bar as high as it's been since launch.
Pinball FX2: MARS & Pinball FX2: Fantastic Four
For: Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade (requires free Pinball FX 2 download)
From: Zen StudiosRating: Everyone (comic mischief)
Price: $US3 eachBilly O'Keefe
The Fantastic Four table complements the Marvel four-pack Zen released last December, and like those tables, it makes excellent use of the comic's heroes and villains by bringing them to life right on the table.
In fact, its utilisation of the The Thing, who guards the top of the table and can literally pick the ball up and swat it back at you like a volleyball, may be the most amusing application yet of a Marvel character in PFX2.
The Mars table - a revamped version of a previously-released Zen Pinball table - appears less flashy at first glance. But once a space station soars in for a landing over your head or you make acquaintance with patrolling scanner bots or a spider bot who saves your ball, it's clear that first impression was deceiving.
The Mars table also features one of the better ramp layouts in a PFX2 table thus far.
Like its predecessors, both tables look terrific, handle authentically and hide a startlingly deep array of missions and objectives beneath the surface.
Both tables also integrate seamlessly into PFX2's overriding achievements, leaderboards and score structure, making the best video game pinball platform around that much better.
