14 DAY TRIAL // 
I like football as a sport, even though when I was young I was too fat and slow to be actually good at it, and I tend to enjoy all the titles that simulate its mechanics in the virtual space, which means that I was very eager to try out the new pinball tables that Zen Studios has created using some of the biggest clubs in the world, ranging from Barcelona and Juventus to Real Madrid and Liverpool.
The feeling when the ball is first launched by a footballer bearing a limited resemblance to Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is that there’s no way to translate the unique energy and tactics of football to such a game genre.
For the first hour of play, I struggled to understand the layout of the table, which is the same for all the included clubs when it comes to mechanics, but does offer some unique cosmetic changes like mascots and star players.
Still, it’s very fun to play Super League Football just to see how each section activates and to try to puzzle out the various elements.
For those that want to have information in order to create their own tactical plan, the game offers a very helpful guide that details the unique features of the football-based tables, although I have found that all the accumulated info tends to fly out of my head when I am actually playing.
Scoring a goal is the best moment I have ever experienced in a virtual pinball game, with a plethora of balls launched into play and my entire attention moving from scoring points to simply trying to keep as many of them in play as possible.
There were also some frustrating moments in Super League Pinball, mostly linked to my inability to actually score in the field mini-game at the top of the table, but the experience never felt unfair.
Another weird choice is to make each club-themed table separate, which means that the player needs to download them individually, apparently so that the various involved teams have an accurate statistic about their own popularity.
But I was truly hooked on Super League Football after scoring a few goals using Suarez and Coutinho and I kept chasing the high score, trying to find new ways of improving my performance, carefully evaluating the way I struck the ball with the flippers to get the best possible results each time.
When it comes to graphics, the Super League Football tables for Zen Pinball 2 look pretty good, even if the tech is the same that has powered the title since launch.
There are plenty of small details designed to impress fans of the sport, including the way mascots cover their eyes in shame when a ball is lost and the various background movements, which can sometimes be actually distracting.
It’s not easy to fully understand the tables from a visual standpoint at first, but once a player actually engages with them, it becomes clear how he should approach it and which tactics deliver the biggest return on investment.
The sound design of Super League Pinball is uniquely suited to the football theme and manages to capture the electric atmosphere that exists on the stadiums where the biggest teams in Europe delight their fans.
Zen Studios seems determined to deliver new content for its pinball title in the long term and the delivery of Super League Football is a good sign that they can branch out from traditional content associated with the genre and tackle more exotic experiences.
The tables are interesting, well designed, engineered to appeal to fans and I might spend tens of hours of the coming month chasing a Liverpool high score.
