Super Steampunk Pinball 2D (PC) Review

Released in January of this year, Super Steampunk Pinball 2D utilizes a very, NES-like, simplistic visual design, along with a soundtrack which plays an 8-bit styled downscaled soda parlour jingle. The player begins by launching the ball to initiate its natural course of controlled chaos. There is an upper section of the stage where the ball bounces along a slowly shifting bounce pad in between the opening chute to the lower section of the board.

Surrounding the board is a classic chute which activates a fan on either side. It is encouraged to bounce against the collection of pads to both rack up points as well as open small blockages around the stage. Both in layout and in colour theory, the visual side of this game will leaves most wanting more. With a brownish hue mixed into brick patterns, the design of this title could use some more detail or level variety to expand on an interesting spin on pinball gameplay.

With there being virtually only one stage, and a collection of bonus stages, it is up to the player to make the most of their time within those limited confines as they experience different play-throughs by unlocking new balls. Where this lacks in environment, it tries to make up for in its ball variety - some of which are not attainable until special calendar events occur. You start with a silver Saturn-esque rings spinning around you, like the device at the end of the film Contact. According to the game, this ball is created by Dr. Z. Q. Franzelbottum, who named it 'World famous gyroscopic entertainment sphere.'

Its bounce is normal, with a decent speed and tilt control. For a special it simply duplicates itself.
The next ball you earn is a bit heavier and resembles Pier 1 imports pottery, with the ability to explode as it multiplies. A solid Purple Ball covered in brownish coloured dots, with one red and one yellow - this is considered a reward for getting first place at an April 2018 contest. Seems to have a solid bounce and a high speed with an ability to bring in other balls you own as its multiplier. Other pinballs include an eyeball, earned in a first place March contest, and a peculiar old time pocket watch by the name of 'Gutherbert and Sons high accuracy compact chronometer,' with a set of 2 time based rules for its special.

This can be a fun and challenging title, which plays like a fun party game for friends to "give it a go." The strategy changes as you develop a skill to manipulate where your ball bounces or stays with the clever use of tilt and bouncer strategy. You can even use this technique to avert death from the grinders below if you time your bounce when the flipper lifts. For a game released in 2018, it would have been nice to see an expansion to this idea with a few more levels, and maybe some variety in the soundtrack.

After incredible classics like Sonic Spinball, Pokemon Pinball, or even a visual Giger-esque wonder like Alien Crush long ago, Super Steampunk Pinball 2D feels like a short mini game in comparison to the '90s cartridge era - not to mention the impressive soundtracks some of these titles offered. Hopefully, in the future there will be a DLC or two which will give this some extra level content. Controller support is available, which is a nice plus, as it just feels much easier to intuitively control a set of flippers with shoulder buttons, rather than a keyboard.