October may be over but it’s still spooky season, the perfect time for check out some well-loved, classic horror inspired Williams pinball tables that were recently released for Pinball FX 3. This time Zen Studios have lovingly created digital representations of the “Monster Bash” and “Creature from the Black Lagoon” pinball tables, released as the Universal Monsters ™ Pinball Pack.
I love horror, so these tables being based on some of the most well-known horror icons – Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Wolf Man, The Mummy, and Creature – is a major selling point for me. These two tables are faithful recreations of nearly impossible to find classic Williams tables with some optional enhancements, making for a blissful time with the silver ball.
First up, let’s talk about Monster Bash or “What happens when all of your favorite classic horror monsters decide to form a rock band?” With that mentality, this ended up creating one of the best pinball machines to ever grace arcades. Monster Bash is one of the highest rated tables ever created (9th according to IPDB, the Internet Pinball Machine Database), ranking up there with The Addams Family, Medieval Madness, and Attack From Mars – another table available in Pinball FX 3 – and the Pinball FX 3 version’s layout looks as close to identical as possible. Monster Bash is a table is just FUN TO PLAY!
Like always, there are additional animations and character movements that weren’t possible in 1998 when Monster Bash arrived on the pinball scene, but Zen have given us the ability to turn those enhancements off with the press of a button and experience a faithful recreation of the original table. This is something I didn’t know about when I played the other Williams tables, but, sure enough, it is possible on them as well. I turned off score popups, ball trails, and other enhancements, pressed the “B” button on my Xbox One controller, and found myself playing a table that looked and felt real. For most of us, this is as close as we can realistically hope to get to owning these tables as the machines continue to become more and more expensive.
Monster Bash on FX3 plays the same as I remember Monster Bash playing when I fed quarters into it at the local video store 20 years ago, and it is as close to as perfect pinball machine as has ever been created.
Now, let’s talk about Creature from the Black Lagoon. Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of my personal favorite tables. One of the local barcades had one for a while and, at $1 a play, I must have dropped $50 into it over the course of a month. The flippers were snappy, the ramps had a great game layout, and it was just an amazing gameplay experience.
Creature on Pinball FX 3 feels more difficult. I’m not sure if that difficulty is real or imagined, but the center drain consistently ate the ball during my sessions, something that rarely happened while playing the physical table. The flippers don’t feel as powerful as I remember either, so some of the ramps keep dumping back towards center. This also makes flipper passing more difficult than it should be, as the force from the flipper doesn’t always give enough power to pop the ball over.
The FX3 version of the table is still really fun, but it takes my experiences between physical and digital, throwing part of it away, and that stings a bit. I won’t hold that against them, though, as physical pinball machines are known to break and have different parts installed that may not be the same specifications as the original parts.
Visuals and audio for both tables are on point. They look amazing with all of the settings on high, and run flawlessly on a 1660 TI at 4K. The sounds are exactly what I remember from the arcades, except maybe a little cleaner. This is most likely because the sounds from the physical machines are coming out of well-worn and slightly damaged speakers installed in the 90’s.
The price could be a bit of an issue for some players. FX3 tables have been regularly coming in packs of three for $9.99 USD for some time. Even the other Williams offerings are in three-packs. The Universal Monsters pack is two tables, but I’ll justify that decision because players are getting two tables that are both ranked in the top 12 for electronic pinball machines of all time according to IPDD. I’ve dropped more than $10 into a pinball machine in a day, but here I can play forever for that $10 entry price.
Overall, we’re looking at another amazing experience from Zen Studios and this table pack is a must-own for Pinball FX 3 players.
More information can be found on the official website. A digital Steam copy of the game was provided for the purpose of review. We also spent some time with A Plague Tale: Innocence from Asobo Studio which is definitely worth checking out.
