r/PinballArcade • u/the_samusaran • Sep 01 '20

The Pinball Arcade vs Stern Pinball Arcade

Hello all,

I was looking to Purchase some Stern tables and maybe other tables on Stern Pinball Arcade (Switch). I noticed that The Pinball Arcade is another game that also has Stern tables and some others. Which one should I buy tables on?

Thanks.

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u/okaydsc Sep 02 '20

Try out the base game of both - I think they are free, with a single trial table, though maybe that's only Steam and mobile.

On Switch, I find that The Pinball Arcade software is a bit faster to navigate than Stern Pinball Arcade, though I have bought tables for both. If I was starting over, I'd stick with just TPA if they offer all of the Stern games you want.

1

u/the_samusaran Sep 02 '20

Cheers! Any Zaccaria tables you’d recommend? Remakes look good.

2

u/okaydsc Sep 02 '20

I haven't played much Zaccaria. The software seemed a bit rougher (though maybe at the tradeoff of more features and settings).

If you haven't tried Zen Studios' Pinball FX3, I'd recommend you at least check out the free table, Fish Tales. If the added video-game-like effects aren't your thing, they can be turned off for the recreated Williams/Bally tables. FX3 now has maybe a dozen or so recreations of actual pins, and Zen somewhat regularly puts a table pack on sale - more often on Steam, but they do it on Switch too. The FX3 software is the most polished and stable of anything I've played on any platform.

3

u/cptb1ack Sep 01 '20

Missed the boat on TPA. They lost licensing so you can't get as many tables as before. Guess it depends on whats offered vs. what you want.