When it was released in 2019, Pinball VR Classic made perfect sense for a VR platform. Considering how unique some of Zen Studios' creations were in Pinball FX, it was a fascinating prospect to see them re-created in VR. The execution was done well, even if some parts could sometimes make the experience feel too busy. After a brief detour with Star Wars Pinball VR, Zen Studios has returned with Pinball FX VR, which was built with the Meta Quest 3 in mind.

Those already familiar with Pinball VR Classic will immediately come to grips with what's presented. By default, you're placed in a classic arcade with a few rooms separating some of the machines based on licenses and manufacturers. You can wander around the place to change out the floor and wall patterns, but your main business is to walk to a machine, insert your virtual coin from your hip, and play some pinball.

None of the tables are new to the Pinball FX series, and the base pack comes with three Zen originals. Curse of the Mummy has a wide-open middle but features two mini tables on the upper halves of the board. What's interesting is that while you can use the ramps on the sides to reach the tables, you can also use the ball's lighter physics to "jump" and reach those tables. Pinball Noir lives off its hardboiled detective aesthetic, but the middle features a giant bullet chamber for a revolver that sets up multiball. The winding road on the upper left is a minigame where timing your flipper means speeding up the ball through the gates for big bonus points. Sky Pirates: Treasures of the Clouds is the final original table, and its main gimmick is a minigame where you're shooting cannons at enemy ships from a first-person perspective. As original creations go, all three tables are a ton of fun to play once you understand their nuances.

The DLC tables you can purchase are all licensed and a decent mix of both classic and modern stuff. The latter is represented by three Zen-developed tables using the licenses of a few Universal TV show hits of different eras. Knight Rider represents the 1980s, and the table feels like it came from the era. The middle is a big, wide-open space, and all of the action resides in the table's top third. Xena: Warrior Princess was Universal's big 1990s syndicated hit spin-off of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," and while its play space seems open in the bottom half, there are plenty of pop-up targets to hit, and the ramps are expanded to cover half of the table. Battlestar Galactica is based on the Sci-Fi channel remake, but the table feels like a mix of Knight Rider and Xena in that the open space is wider but has plenty of targets to provide high scoring capabilities.

The other five tables are all real-life classics from the Bally/Williams era. World Cup Soccer might not be the first of the licensed real tables you'd think of gravitating toward, but Tim Kitzrow is the announcer. You'll also change your mind when you see that this comes from the era where scores in the hundreds of millions was common — especially if you have fond memories of similar games, like Medieval Madness. The rest of the tables share a similar layout, where ramps and targets are plentiful, but they each come with their own gimmicks to stand out. The Addams Family features a flipper on the side that plays by itself once you activate the right trigger. Twilight Zone has a door built into the board that is just a screen but provides a mesmerizing effect. Star Trek: The Next Generation features ball-launching cannons on the side to return the ball to the field. Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is the last of the tables, and its mini-playfield is tiltable when multiball is activated, so things are even more chaotic.

DLC shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with Zen's previous work, but this points out two items of concern. The first is that you can't port over any of the tables you purchased for Pinball VR Classic. As demonstrated by Star Wars Pinball VR, part of this may come down to licensing, but it is irksome to see that the Zen originals from the first game aren't present, forcing you to go between several games instead of being in one title, like on the PC and other platforms. The second concern is with future DLC. Pinball VR Classics had some DLC tables, but they stopped after four tables. The plan was that owners of the original Pinball VR Classics will be able to port those tables into this game, but no such thing is in the works for Star Wars Pinball that we know of. It will take some time to see if this comes to fruition, so don't bank on that happening right away.

The game provides a great deal of modes to play with, all of which fall in line with what's offered in Pinball FX. Classic mode is exactly what you'd find in a real machine, with three lives per play and the chance to earn extra lives if you meet certain goal requirements or get lucky if the final two digits of your score match a randomly picked number. Practice mode is essentially a free play mode for an hour, so you can understand the mechanics of each table. Arcade mode gives you the chance to use some power-ups to modify your session, such as more ball saves or using slow-motion shots, but each power is finite and can only be refilled by constantly scoring high enough in Classic mode. Then there are challenges, such as playing with one ball or a limited number of flipper flips. Everything but practice mode gives you an online leaderboard to compete in, but they're limited to Pinball FX VR players, so you aren't immediately being bested by those who have been playing for years on other platforms.

Aside from this, the game features a few exclusive modes and elements. There's an arcade setting, so there are other non-pinball games. A dartboard is present, and it is fun to use even if there's no real scoring system for it. There's also a large spinning wheel, and that's much more attractive to mess with since you'll get different prizes from each spin, ranging from new floor and wall tiles for the arcade to new balls for each machine. Those are neat additions and more enticing than the usual VR tricks of operating vending machines and holding things that are otherwise non-functional.

There's a full-on Campaign mode, which is quite awesome because it gives you something to aim for aside from achieving high scores. The campaign is split into different regions, each representing one specific table, but one region is dedicated specifically to the three Zen original titles. Each region has a set of challenges that mimic what you would see when viewing the individual tables outside of this mode. Each of these challenges have three-star tiers, and earning stars unlocks more challenges alongside the earning of more rewards.

Finally, the mode that acts as a hook for this game is Mixed Reality mode. After using the Quest to get a measurement of your real playing space, you're shown a door to a virtual inventory room. You can't enter the room, but you can open it to grab posters, statues and other decorations to add to your space. The more important piece of furniture are the tables, which are fairly close to being life-size. Thanks to the quality of the graphics and the camera on the Quest 3, the mixed reality elements blend well with one another and are impressive enough to experience at least once.

The only drawback with this mode has to do with physical space. You really need to carve out a large play space if you want to place all 11 pinball machines in your area, and each one needs a good deal of space if you want to ensure that the other virtual decorations aren't being eaten up by other tables or real-life scenery. This isn't something you need to worry about if you're only setting up a space for a few tables. The game warns you about this the first time you enter the Mixed Reality mode, but it is something to keep in mind if you're playing in a small space.

The presentation is quite good on Quest 3. The higher resolution of the device shows off almost all of the details of each table with good clarity. It's good enough that you can look up close on each table and see things without a hint of blur. The only time this starts to falter is with some of the extra elements, as the ones on the tables feel like they aren't exactly attached to the table. The extra moving elements on the side of the tables tend to have flatter textures instead of things like clothes being fully rendered out. The frame rate is solid, and the only element that people may not be fond of are some of the extras, like the aforementioned figures, as they can sometimes feel like they clutter up the play space. Thankfully, you can turn off some of these things. As for the audio, it is almost perfect. The sounds and music for each table are top-notch, but the ambiance is the star, especially the sense that you're surrounded by machines. When you're not playing a table, you can still hear the attract music for each pinball machine.

For Quest 2 owners, the game is still compatible with that older headset. No functionality is lost, but you should expect some downgrades when compared to running the game on the Quest 3 headset. The lower field of view on the Quest 2 and lower resolution means that the image isn't so crispy. The frame rate is also lower, but not to the point where it'll make you sick. It won't affect your overall playability of the game unless you're extra sensitive to lower frame rates affecting your reaction time. Mixed Reality mode is still doable, but you'll do it for more of a laugh thanks to the color of the in-game elements clashing with the headset camera's black-and-white view of the outside world.

Pinball FX VR is a solid pinball game for enthusiasts who want the facsimile of an arcade experience. The idea of building out a virtual pinball arcade experience in your home is neat, but the game thrives on nailing down an overall pinball experience that's close to real life. The only question is whether Zen will follow through to make this into a platform instead of another one-off game, but those who aren't hung up on that debate will find this to be a good addition to their VR game library.

Score: 8.0/10