Elvira’s Unhinged Pinball Table
Everyone’s favourite Mistress of the Dark returns with her second pinball table which carries a name you can’t help but look twice at. Originally released into arcades in 1996, Pinball FX – Williams Pinball: Scared Stiff is a sequel (of sorts) to the debut Pinball cabinet Elvira and the Party Monsters.
The titular double entendre is apt thanks to Elvira’s sexy but silly demeanor that cemented her as a pop culture legend in the 1980s. Scared Stiff is built around this theme as you would expect, complete with cheesy one liners and spooky sound effects.
Now let’s pause for a second and recap. Pinball FX as a base game is free, complete with a few tables bundled to get the hooks in. Beyond this, there are more than 100 themed tables available to purchase from across a wide range of franchises from Marvel and Universal worlds to classic Williams tables. In the company of such large IPs you may be forgiven for not knowing about Elvira despite achieving cult status, popping up in Call of Duty, Scooby-Doo and even RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Six Spooky Tales
Scared Stiff doubles down on what made the first table, Elvira and the Party Monsters, so oddly captivating. It’s loud, bright and very, very busy. This time the Mistress of the Dark is aiming to raise the dead by completing six spooky tales.
What sticks out the most is a mysterious crate positioned towards the top of the table, complete with illuminated eyes peering out from within. After a few successive hits, the feature “Terror from the Crate” will activate and firing additional balls into the crate will award the jackpot.
As the crate shakes awake on the superbly authentic dot-matrix display in the corner of your screen, Elvira will worriedly guess what horror is about to emerge. It’s wonderfully camp and just one of the brilliantly designed table features.
Stiff-O-Meter and Spider Roulette
The other tales include “Night of the Leapers”, “The Stiff in the Coffin” and “Return of the Deadheads”. Only when all six have been completed is the (er hem) Stiff-O-Meter activated and the “Monster Multiball” feature triggered. There is also spider roulette, which shifts the action to the top of the pinball cabinet. This can award all sorts of bonuses, including a fast track to tales and extra points.
Scared Stiff is a fast paced, high scoring table which allows the player to rack up serious points very quickly indeed. You won’t have to work too hard before you are hitting the jackpot, but this doesn’t mean that the online leaderboards are any less competitive.
Classic Features, Premium Price
All the other Pinball FX features are present and correct here too. Scared Stiff can be played with realistic ball physics, as well as across several modes from classic to arcade which introduces special modifiers such as slow motion. More items can also be unlocked for your “Pinhall” by earning table mastery XP and getting all the available bumpers from each questline challenge. Whether it’s playing with a single ball, limited flips or against the clock, questlines are a fun way to keep you coming back to the table.
Although Pinball FX – Williams Pinball: Scared Stiff doesn’t introduce proper multiplayer, it sticks to the same hotseat formula which allows players to pass the controller round taking turns to play. So if you fancy some friendly competition rather than duking it out in online tournaments, this is the way.
Punchy, Unhinged, and Essential
Despite how daft and enjoyable Pinball FX – Williams Pinball: Scared Stiff is, £8.39 for one table will feel expensive for some. This is especially the case as (at current count) there are 139 tables available in Pinball FX and I’m pretty sure that the vast majority are cheaper to buy.
Pinball FX – Williams Pinball: Scared Stiff confidently builds on the table which preceded it, resulting in a punchier, more unhinged experience that raises the stakes and dials up the fun.
Important Links
Elvira, the Queen of Halloween, Takes Over Pinball FX – https://www.thexboxhub.com/elvira-the-queen-of-halloween-takes-over-pinball-fx/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/pinball-fx-williams-pinball-scared-stiff/9N26FFH81S8K/0010
