Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes | Switch Review
I love pinball. I’ve spent more hours on the Pinball FX series than any other games in recent memory. It’s a problem, I know. I love when developers take some risks with the format and try to make pinball more than just a score-grab. Zombie Rollerz from Zing Games, Inc. is exactly that. But this particular title adds in another genre that appeals to my sensibilities: roguelikes. This combination works better than other attempts at joining pinball with RPG elements, but it didn’t draw me in quite the same as others. There’s still a lot of love poured into this title, and it’s worth checking out for fans of pinball.
Heads Will Roll
Much like other pinball RPGs, your goal is to stay alive by keeping enemies (in this case, zombies) away from your flippers. The dead saunter towards the bottom of the screen, and you must wipe them out with your attack pinball. Pretty standard fare to begin with, but don’t go anywhere just yet. Things get more intriguing later.
The pinball mechanics in Zombie Rollerz feels very akin to video pinball games of the past. Granted, this game isn’t going for realism by any stretch of the imagination. But the physics feel much more floaty than an actual pinball table. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It works with the comical nature of the zombies present here. Yes, the game has a quirky sense of humor that keeps things light instead of dreadful. I think it was the right move for this kind of game.
Survival isn’t the only goal, either. Your goal is to score enough points to satisfy the board’s requirement in order to proceed to the next. Things start out simply enough, but ramp up in difficulty as you progress. You’ll eventually face tough bosses in order to access later levels.
Fight the Horde
The roguelike element comes in the form of a hexagonal overworld map at the start of each run. As you navigate through the maze, a horde of zombies lurks on your trail, forcing you to move forward. This is where you’ll have some decisions to make. Do you take a side path and try to get some resources? Maybe you want to visit a shop to spend some of the coins you picked up on your last table. Ultimately, you can’t pick up everything off the board, as the horde eventually overruns everything.
At a certain point, you’ll hit a wall and be overtaken by the zombies, which means you’ll start a new run. But in true roguelike fashion, you’ll begin the next one stronger than before. Greater levels unlock special attacks and upgraded pinballs that do different/more damage. As expected, your next attempt at a difficult board or boss will be much easier. Then it’s rinse and repeat with bigger and better upgrades.
What’s also fun are hidden areas on each pinball table. These are reminiscent of finding those hidden keyholes in Super Mario World back in the day. Discovering them feels great, and you’re rewarded with a very brief mini game that offers some extra currency to help beef up your pinball next time around. These were a nice touch, and they brought a brief smirk to my face.
Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes Final Verdict
Zombie Rollerz is a game stuck unfortunately in the middle of being a video pinball game and a roguelike. While I think what they put together is quite clever, I’m not sure who the target audience is. Die-hard pinball fans will more than likely gravitate towards games with more realistic physics. Roguelike fans will probably stick with the plethora of other titles available at the moment. It’s trying to scratch two itches at the same time, but does so in a way that never feels fantastic to me. I’m far from disappointed I played it, but I’m truly unsure as to whom I should recommend it to. It was fun to play, but only for a short time and in small bursts.
To hear me talk more about Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes, be sure to listen to Episode 386 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:54:52 time stamp.
This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes provided by Evolve PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.
Zombie Rollerz
$14.99
