Zen Studios recently released the latest table for their Pinball FX 2 on XBLA, Mars. As steeped in myth and legend as Mars is, it takes a lot to make something based there do it justice and Zen Studios has done just that. 
The new Mars table is a wide open central table with ramps and lanes being the main goals situated across the top. There are a left (shuttle), right (Spider) and middle (Pyramid) ramp as well as an orbit in the back with spinners on both ends, the score multiplier and bumpers at the top which runs just under where the backbox would be. In addition there is a popper next to the right ramp with a habitrail that leads down to the right flipper. Finally there’s a magnetic popper (lift hole) that pushes the ball to left and right flippers alternately.
The main left/right ramps are orbits that brings the ball down to the opposite flipper. There’s also a third flipper at the right exit of the spinner-covered orbit on the main table which allows you to hit the pyramid ramp which drains over to the bottom left flipper.
There are four main missions and several special events that you can trigger to score big points.
Each of the main missions is attached to a particular piece of hardware
- Spider Robot
- Shuttle
- Space Station
- Satellite
- Pyramid
There are also several special events attached to some of them. For example the main mission of the Shuttle is to collect samples and then the special events are freezing ship and Sunstorm. The Satellite has scanning missions and then a Solar Calibration special event, etc. There’s also a final mission
The thing that I really like about this table is that you can hit all the ramps with either of the main flippers. The tertiary flipper also gives you access to more than just the Pyramid ramp as you can hit a couple other important targets making it far more useful.
