Was Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes Worth It?

You’ve played pinball. You’ve played roguelikes. Have you played a combination of the two? Was Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes worth it?

Full disclosure: We received a review code for the Nintendo Switch version of this game. Rest assured that this will not affect the quality or candor of our review.

Background

There’s a plague behind you, and zombies ahead. You traverse a hex grid, gather items and eventually face off against bosses. Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes feels like a spiritual successor to Plants vs Zombies, but is a roguelike tower defense pinball game with RPG elements. That’s a lot of pinballs to keep on the board, but it does a good job of balancing all the elements. I recall playing and being disappointed with a similar crossover premise with Rollers of the Realm on the Vita. Fortunately, Zombie Rollerz is a much better experience.

What does Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes do well?

The overall aesthetic of the game is cute and fun. There’s an overall silly theme with this game, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Replayability

If you like unlockables, there’s a lot of it here. There are three difficulty settings, ten characters, twenty endings, and hundreds of trinkets and pinball enhancements to unlock. Early pinball options stay relevant into later playthroughs thanks to additional effects that unlock when you reach certain milestones. There are also a lot of random overworld events that can drastically change your run.

Variation

Some runs will feel more similar than others, depending on what items you’re offered, but there is a strong amount of variance. Part of the fun in this genre is learning new strategies and finding appreciation in items you wouldn’t have necessarily picked – big shoutout to the minion generating items that helped me shore up inaccuracies in my pinball shots by targeting hard to reach enemies. The boards also feel different, and there are generally always environmental effects that you can use to defeat enemies.

Music

I mentioned earlier that this game takes cues from Plants vs Zombies – if you enjoyed the music in that game, then this is similar. Perhaps Burnjamin is an alternate universe Crazy Dave?

What could Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes do better?

The core gameplay loop syncs surprisingly well, but there are a few issues that are honestly pretty fixable.

Unlock Road

This is one of your main menu options. Unfortunately it’s just a snapshot of where you are on the unlocking road, as it were. You can’t navigate it, which is a missed opportunity considering the sheer amount of unlockables.

Engrish

The dialogue is very tongue-in-cheek and would be entertaining if it was written a little better. Much of English text in the game reads as though it was run through Google translate. A notable example is when you receive a “bless” instead of a “blessing” in the above screenshot.

Some items have descriptions that aren’t quite explained well enough: a certain item claimed it that would execute low health enemies. The “Execute” keyword tooltip was displayed (keywords include effects like burn, doom, poison, etc), however, the actual text of the item didn’t use the exact nomenclature.

Is this nit picking? Perhaps, but this is a game where you want to optimize your build, and it’s important to have as much information as possible when you’re picking upgrades. Inconsistencies like this boil down to either “they didn’t double check” or “the description is wrong”.

Was Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes fun?

Fun is subjective at the best of times, but in a game like this it’s extremely polarizing: either you like pinball or you don’t. The cute aesthetic and interesting gameplay loop were the saving grace for me. There are enough mitigating factors in the skills and items that keep the game from getting frustrating if you’re not a pinball wizard. IRL Pinball hasn’t been my forte, so I was surprised that I was able to enjoy playing this game for extended periods.

Is Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes good value?

I initially was surprised that I beat the game quickly: it only took three runs to beat the final boss. Afterwards, I learned that there were still 8 more characters to unlock and 19 more endings.

I recently talked about the crowded space that is the 14.99 price point. That still holds true, but this game certainly isn’t lacking for content or replayability.

Was Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes Worth It?

Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes is a good game with an interesting spin on the traditional pinball formula. However, don’t be fooled by the roguelike or RPG parts, this is fundamentally a pinball game, which does require some precision. If you like pinball, then Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes is definitely worth it. Players who are curious but aren’t entirely sure about the concept should check out the mobile version to get a better feel for the premise.

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