So apparently Steam's got a new frontend called Big Picture, designed for TV's. I've already got XBMC for that but it sure looks nice, and a lot less fiddly than XBMC's ROM Collection Browser plugin.
AT ANY RATE, there's a sale on "controller-friendly games". Sonic Generations is marked down yet again, and so is the Casino Night DLC, which is currently going for 39 cents.
Okay, fine, for 39 cents I will buy some DLC.
Welp, I can safely say I exceeded 39 cents' worth of enjoyment.
Best part was the big band remix of the Casino Night theme.
As for the play...well, the biggest problem is that 16:9 is legitimately poorly-suited to vertical things like pinball tables. The table only takes up about half the screen. Everything looks pretty small and it's tough to keep track of Sonic/the ball. And occasionally hard to determine what the various things on the table are (such as extra flippers).
That could also be why the physics seem slightly off too and it's hard to line up shots -- don't know. I expect it would be easier to play if my face were closer to the screen or if the screen were 4:3.
I DO dig the trappings of the original Casino Night Zone. And it seems to strike a decent balance between traditional pinbally things that could actually work on a mechanical table, and video game-specific things like picking up rings.
Definitely not the worst Sonic-based pinball game ever made.