Hands down a pinball game
There's no real way to make quick review about this game without pointing out that the plot of this game doesn't matter. People turn into furries and escape, and it's few of the character's (and player's) job to catch them, throw them into a pinball machine and then blow their clothes off by hitting the character's balls deep and hard in order to return them back to human in body and heart.
First and foremost, the production quality is top notch. There is a classy feel to the game whenever it chooses to utilise it, extremely playful feel when applicable and the usual Senran Kagura innocent-but-sexy approach is all over the place. There has been no compromises regarding the visuals, and everything's rather crisp and detailed. Music's very much different from previous series' titles, but this is a pinball game and that requires a different approach. In technical aspects, the ball physics is rather terrific for a video pinball title, but a vertical mode would have been appreciated. Switch has a wasted potential and its that it can be held vertically.
However, a pinball game lives and dies by its field design, and this is where Peach Ball trips a bit. The field's are rather squashed and by default there is no vertical movement. This is because the game wants the whole field to be seen all at once, which doesn't exactly help the busy field visuals making some of the coloured balls hard to see. The camera can be adjusted into three different positions, but that doesn't help when the core design is slightly broken. The gold standard for video pinball physics and how to showcase the layout is still Devil's Crush on the PC-Engine and Mega Drive, but the core element that prevents the use of their scrolling screen is the Character sitting at the middle-top of the field that must be visible at all times. It takes a moment to get used to the overall design, but after a while it works. There shouldn't be any need for this sort of adjusting time, but that's seems to be an expected standard nowadays.
The fields themselves are, unfortunately, relatively simple and don't offer too much in the way of intricate design. All the core pinball elements are there, but nothing too wild or inventive has been made out of them. Not even the nature of video pinball has been taken advantage of, outside Sexy Challange. Two main designs have three variations to them, but the variety is lacking, you won't see much changes between the two, and it's thanks to the position of the Character in the Upper Center again. Ultimately, the game should've had three stages with unique Character gimmick to them, and two variations of each of the stages. Now it's selling itself short.
The game is enjoyable and fun pinball to play, but only in short bursts. Because there is no real variation in the fields, the game falls short outside trying to gain the highest score (which in the end is the main goal of pinball.) The four star review is for the Limited Double pack after all, and Shinorefle is a good addition to the box, as it is currently the best handholding simulator on the market. It adds one more star to the game's overall score, as it's about as much fun in short bursts and shows that Senran Kagura can do skinship more justice, if they're given the chance. Hopefully the series will expand in the Switch further and Peach Ball gets a sequel with more tables and characters. A definitive purchase to fans, and for those who are thirsty for any pinball action.