Night Rider is one of those games that looks simple, but is never easy. Set to 3 ball and with the settings made more difficult, this can be a pure pinball challenge.
The Pros:
A skills game that is deceptively tricky with outlane drains. You had better be on top of your ball control game otherwise the slings will get the best of you. Shots to the drop targets start the side to side motion as well and you need to hit those targets to get your bonus up and running. The spinners are fantastic on this deck. Get them lit and get them spinning! Paul Faris is still in his looking like Dave Christnsen phase here, but who cares?!? The PF artwork is simple, bright and very pleasing to the eye. Grek Kmeic's pinball science is shown here in all of it's glory. Check out his interview in the Marco Rossignoli book (I can't remember which one at the moment) regarding his design maxims and his tutelage working under the man, Ted Zale. Simple, but never easy. Love the saucer at the top of the PF. We see this again in HGTR's and Paragon and a bunch of other Kmeic decks. And finally, a Booom-Chickey-Wow-Wow for the waitress. Boy that trucker looks happy to be getting some coffee. I don't know what it is about early SS games with chimes in them, but I love it!
The Cons:
Once you get a hold of this game, it can get out of hand and never seem like it's going to drain... and then it drains. The center standup is a deathshot. Don't aim for it, ever. Why don't I ever see a waitress at the truck stop looking like Ms. HotPants?
The Takeaway:
If you remember Smokey and the Bandit, you WILL love this deck. This table has to be setup right to be a challenge. But when this game is fresh, waxed and bouncy., Oh boy, watch out! Some people will look at this game as a gimme, but when properly cared for, mainteined and nastified, this is a solid game with solid play requiring your attention and skills at all times. Greg Kmiec and his team did a great job with this table. Now go gitcher' self some truck stop love...
Puttin' the hammer DOWN!
Update:
The more I play this game, the more I like playing it. This design is prototypical of modern pinball design today. For a few years after this game, excellent designs like Frontier and Barracorra took cues from this basic yet elegantly laid out design. While the rules may not be complex, the shots are varied and satisfying. Paying more attention to the layout, you have two orbits with spinners in the sweet spots of the flippers. Just like you'd see on modern games today with orbits and ramps. Target's on the outside of the shots and while more modern games we have more to do straight up the middle, this design is laid out in the way that the player will have to deal with the chaos exiting the bumpers and that oh so dangerous evil shot in the middle of the playfield. Look at attack from mars. You'll see Knight Rider is it's grandfather. I'm looking for one of these tables now myself. I don't know if I'd prefer the em or the solid state version, so it looks like I'm going to have to do some homework.
I love homework.
This game is now on my want list.
"East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'
A-we gonna do what they say can't be done..."
Update v.2:
Yeah... The rules. It's the rules. From the rando-arch at the top to the maybe the double bonus will light, or not. How many trips will you need to take to the top to get what you need for a big score. While I love the layout of this game, the rules do not have the balance or the reliability that this difficult layout demands. A real shame. Because I love shooting this game.
Put another one down to enjoy as long as you don't pay attention to your score. Scores adjusted accordingly.