As part of my Pinball Era I have been playing a lot of pinball video games as well, which includes both DEMON’S TILT and XENOTILT. Both are pinball games inspired by the Turbografx/PC-Engine games Alien Crush and Devil’s Crush and like everyone else that’s played them, I think these are some of the best modern pinball video games out there.

At a very broad high level, they have the same format of there being three segments of a pinball table that you hit the ball up. Both games have two gameplay modes, with a main arcade mode and a secondary mode that adds a bit more complexity and new areas you can knock the ball into for boss fights, but the game is more difficult as well. The biggest difference is obviously the theme, with DEMON’S TILT having a gothic horror theme and the XENOTILT being more sci-fi horror. XENOTILT also has more complexity to it, like machine guns you can activate if you have both flippers up and nudge the table down.

Like I said earlier, both are great! I love the art and music, which feel like if the Turbografx had just kept going and getting minor updates but folks kept making weird 80’s games for it. The games also feel good to control, with table physics that feel real in context with that world. I know it can seem goofy to talk about the controls in a pinball game but more games than you’d expect goof this up and make flippers that feel off, or a nudge mechanic that just isn’t worth bothering with. The only bit that I don’t really care for is the machine gun mechanic in XENOTILT, which feels a bit clunky to activate, but one you have to get comfortable using once you play more in the advanced mode. They’re pretty fair games too. The game does expect you to use the nudge mechanic but I think it’s generous enough that players feel comfortable using it without really worrying about tilting the table. I think the games could have explained the tables rules a bit better but you figure most of it out from playing anyway.

If you haven’t played either game but you are interested in trying one, just pick whichever one has a more interesting theme to you. I think XENOTILT is a little bit better, with every element of the game being done by someone who has more experience making pinball video games, but both games are some of the best in the pinball video game genre anyway so it doesn’t really matter. I also personally like the sci-fi theme and soundtrack in XENOTILT a little more, so that one happens to be one I go to more often.

I have kinda weird feelings about pinball video games, where I either like them if they strive to be very realistic, like Pro Pinball Timeshock, or really out there like these games and Alien Crush. When the tables are in that middle ground where it’s half realistic table and then there’s stuff flying around and maybe you play an arcade mini game, I can’t stand it. Or it’s possible that most of the original tables for Pinball FX are just bad, which is why I have this opinion. I do remember liking 3D Ultra Pinball, but it’s been so long since I have played it. Playing both of these games has made me interested in revisiting that series and playing other pinball video games, which will probably lead to disappointment but I guess we’ll see! I just love pinball!

DEMON’S TILT is available on Steam, XBOX, Switch, and Playstation 4. XENOTILT is on Steam, Switch 1/2, XBOX, and Playstation.