Pinside rating
This game has received 45 approved Pinsider ratings. 5 more approved ratings are needed to get a rating and for it to be eligible for the Pinside Pinball Top 100 ranking.
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 1 of us has rated this game.
Found 30 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 30 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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8.584/10
9 months ago
Los Angeles, CA
Under-rated and great fun. how can you go wrong updating one of the most classic (8-ball) playfield designs for the modern era with some ramps, a diverter, deep code, posts, and a DMD? This game is just damn fun, maybe funner than many of the many of the more modern Sterns. It's sexy, it's great to shoot, the call-outs are great, too bad the music gets old fast and the backbox is kinda weird and ugly. From a playing perspective, Sharkey's Shootout is a winner! And low production makes them rare, under the radar, and under-appreciated. I'm hanging on to mine.
8.368/10
1 year ago
Ottawa
A nice and simple, mid-speed game. Uses the great EBD layout and adds to it. The eight ball toy is cool and the post saves are neat. The 8 and 9 ball aspect is nice and the characters are their own. Honestly, other than the ugly white paint choice, this is an easy recommendation and a seriously underrated game.
Edit: I wanted to raise the Fun rating. I do the occasional tournament at my place with my buddies, and several people have mentioned they love this machine. Simple doesn't mean it can't be great!
Edit: I wanted to raise the Fun rating. I do the occasional tournament at my place with my buddies, and several people have mentioned they love this machine. Simple doesn't mean it can't be great!
8.108/10
2 years ago
Nice undeerrated title. Can't go wrong with the core Eight Ball Deluxe layout. Definitely some missed potential for a repeatable orbit shot, which is often stopped by the magnet behind the eight ball IMO.
Fun to play. Very smooth shots. Great toys and mechs, the magic eight ball integrates well with the theme, and is fun to watch. Magnetic diverters / grabbers for behind the eight ball and within the eight ball work well.
Controlled drops are amazingly smooth on this deck. Love the trick-shots when the drops cycle and move in steps. Players are rewarded by hitting two drops at once, but a single will still advance, risk reward is great as this value carries forward ball to ball, but shooting this area is also dangerous.. maybe time to collect before you drain!
Posts integrate well with the title, and provide a good experience when you get the timing for them. Love the extra software to identify when a right post save has knocked the ball into the shooter lane (Airball), and a score reward. TBH, this should be a huge score reward for how difficult it is to achieve! :)
Each mode has some aspects, but there are rules which seem to have been lost with time. I will attempt to continue to learn about what each character does.
Disable or minimize ball save time, and set the software to EXTRA HARD on this title, but keep the post saves active is the key to enjoying this one. Some very saucy lines out of Dr. Wood. lol, ENJOY!
Fun to play. Very smooth shots. Great toys and mechs, the magic eight ball integrates well with the theme, and is fun to watch. Magnetic diverters / grabbers for behind the eight ball and within the eight ball work well.
Controlled drops are amazingly smooth on this deck. Love the trick-shots when the drops cycle and move in steps. Players are rewarded by hitting two drops at once, but a single will still advance, risk reward is great as this value carries forward ball to ball, but shooting this area is also dangerous.. maybe time to collect before you drain!
Posts integrate well with the title, and provide a good experience when you get the timing for them. Love the extra software to identify when a right post save has knocked the ball into the shooter lane (Airball), and a score reward. TBH, this should be a huge score reward for how difficult it is to achieve! :)
Each mode has some aspects, but there are rules which seem to have been lost with time. I will attempt to continue to learn about what each character does.
Disable or minimize ball save time, and set the software to EXTRA HARD on this title, but keep the post saves active is the key to enjoying this one. Some very saucy lines out of Dr. Wood. lol, ENJOY!
6.973/10
2 years ago
Sharkeys Shootout is a decent game with a mediocre layout. You beat the characters in pool to get to the wizard mode, and you have a main multiball. That's about all there is to it, but it can be fun to just grind through the opponents. Decent game, especially for the price.
Gold Coast
9.100/10
3 years ago
Such a FUN pin to play. Defeat the characters and play Janet!! Beat her and the game goes crazy. Haven't played a lot of pins, but I do have Lord of the Rings, Dark Knight, Munster's LE and Sharkey's is by FAR the most fun to actually play.
I just picked one up after many years of not having one and it was as much fun as I remember. I overpaid ($2,250) according to Pinside estimates, but worth it to me.
I just picked one up after many years of not having one and it was as much fun as I remember. I overpaid ($2,250) according to Pinside estimates, but worth it to me.
7.515/10
5 years ago
This is a really enjoyable game and for me personally it ticks off a lot of what I am looking for in a pinball game. It has ramps, a nice theme, a bit of sex appeal, dmd, and its fun. Is this the best pinball machine ever no, but it was a good one considering that at the time of its release pinball machines were starting to go on the decline. Pinball enthusiasts will note that both pretty ladies and pool are the two most common pinball themes ever. This machine of course has both and it has Jeanette Lee doing the call outs. As for the callouts there is nothing fancy, but they do their job and the same is true for the animations. In fact I think the animations are actually really weak and nothing special for the most part. They get the job done, and they don't detract from the game, but they really don't add to it. But, its a pinball machine and so they won't rob your attention, which is good. I like the layout and I like the skillshot. Its not hard to get, but also not super easy. My only beef with this machine is there is a hole to add to your bumper pool and other games bonuses. And that can be really easy to hit. Still the ramps are nice and fun to hit, it has some orbits. And the magic or mystery 8 ball is a nice touch. I also like the whole row of drop targets that coincide with the pool balls. And the game does have some nice modes that utilize them so you're not always trying to bash them all down. I'm not the best player at this game. I also like the post saves. They're really cool and sometimes they don't work as well as you'd like, but when they do work, its always a blast. And its fun and keeps with the theme and layout. I like the playfield as I said, and I like the backglass. To me the playfield has the right amount of balance, between shots, toys, ramps, and targets. Just enough open space to make fun challenging shots. And not so crowded or busy that you can't take it all in. My only beef is that the playfield re-uses the backglass art. Line for line... I think that's a bit lazy. It's nice art. I love the backglass. Has the right amount of cheese and sex appeal that I enjoy in pinball. But, I would prefer other original art on the playfield. Still. A nice looking pin, and a fun playing one to boot. Is this a great pin... I don't think so. But, one day I wouldn't mind one of these right next to my breakshot.
8.425/10
6 years ago
I was on the hunt for a Sharkey's Shootout because of its Eight Ball Deluxe (EBD) inspired (heavily inspired) layout. The nutshell summary is this is a enjoyable interpretation with a few hiccups.
Pros: Shot geometry is good. If you like EBD's layout, this will appeal to you. The orbit shots feel smooth. The ramp's steepness requires a somewhat clean hit to clear, but it is not a tight shot. That ramp replacing the in-line drops, and a stand-up target blocking the lowest pop bumper, means the layout is actually quite a bit more forgiving than EBD's (the pop bumpers will not be much of a threat). In addition, post save buttons to protect the left and right outlanes (and between the flippers) give you added tools to keep the ball going (though these do have delays so you have to react fast enough).
Rules are fun but not complex. As you play through opponents you could be playing either 8-Ball or 9-Ball. Shooting drops to clear relevant balls is the obvious course of action but other shots also can award you credit, so there is some flexibility if you're finding something a bit too rough/repetitive.
Theme integration is great. Funny how a few pool balls mounted around the playfield can go a long way to making the game feel "full". The one toy is the Magic 8 Ball, which is accessed via the ramp shot. It's a clever twist on the 8-Ball concept, and functions as the mystery award device.
Sound quality is pretty good; it's easy to understand everything. Voice work is in that cheesy 90s way I associate with latter-year Williams.
Cons: Game has a lot of flow disruption, from two primary sources. The main issue is the sinkhole in the upper-right area. This is the primary target in the game for multiball locks, finishing an 8-Ball game, and starting a new opponent. The ball spends a lot of time in this hole. In addition, the ball fires out from it into the pops, with a very high chance of those pops sending it right back into the hole. It can get tedious. The second issue is the Magic 8 Ball. A magnet in there holds the ball and it spins while choosing your mystery award, showing you on the ball which one you received. It's neat as a concept but far slower than the typical mystery award process on pins. If you're going up there a lot, it can be a bit of a bore.
Other issues. Dots are good but surprisingly limited in use. Backbox looks weird (ugly) and the translite is not great (I think the art works better on the playfield). Music gets repetitive. Callouts get repetitive.
Overall, I think this is a pretty fun game that (at this time) is surprisingly underrated on Pinside. Yes, it is an EBD variant, but EBD being broadly seen as the best pool-themed pin out there it was the right concept to steal from. The rules have decent depth. It's got a lot of shots thanks to the drops and it is a shooter's game (especially when in 9-Ball). Safer and longer playing than EBD, with deeper code that remains easy to understand, this is a good pin for those wanting something that encourages good shot aim without being exceedingly brutal to you when you brick and fail.
Pros: Shot geometry is good. If you like EBD's layout, this will appeal to you. The orbit shots feel smooth. The ramp's steepness requires a somewhat clean hit to clear, but it is not a tight shot. That ramp replacing the in-line drops, and a stand-up target blocking the lowest pop bumper, means the layout is actually quite a bit more forgiving than EBD's (the pop bumpers will not be much of a threat). In addition, post save buttons to protect the left and right outlanes (and between the flippers) give you added tools to keep the ball going (though these do have delays so you have to react fast enough).
Rules are fun but not complex. As you play through opponents you could be playing either 8-Ball or 9-Ball. Shooting drops to clear relevant balls is the obvious course of action but other shots also can award you credit, so there is some flexibility if you're finding something a bit too rough/repetitive.
Theme integration is great. Funny how a few pool balls mounted around the playfield can go a long way to making the game feel "full". The one toy is the Magic 8 Ball, which is accessed via the ramp shot. It's a clever twist on the 8-Ball concept, and functions as the mystery award device.
Sound quality is pretty good; it's easy to understand everything. Voice work is in that cheesy 90s way I associate with latter-year Williams.
Cons: Game has a lot of flow disruption, from two primary sources. The main issue is the sinkhole in the upper-right area. This is the primary target in the game for multiball locks, finishing an 8-Ball game, and starting a new opponent. The ball spends a lot of time in this hole. In addition, the ball fires out from it into the pops, with a very high chance of those pops sending it right back into the hole. It can get tedious. The second issue is the Magic 8 Ball. A magnet in there holds the ball and it spins while choosing your mystery award, showing you on the ball which one you received. It's neat as a concept but far slower than the typical mystery award process on pins. If you're going up there a lot, it can be a bit of a bore.
Other issues. Dots are good but surprisingly limited in use. Backbox looks weird (ugly) and the translite is not great (I think the art works better on the playfield). Music gets repetitive. Callouts get repetitive.
Overall, I think this is a pretty fun game that (at this time) is surprisingly underrated on Pinside. Yes, it is an EBD variant, but EBD being broadly seen as the best pool-themed pin out there it was the right concept to steal from. The rules have decent depth. It's got a lot of shots thanks to the drops and it is a shooter's game (especially when in 9-Ball). Safer and longer playing than EBD, with deeper code that remains easy to understand, this is a good pin for those wanting something that encourages good shot aim without being exceedingly brutal to you when you brick and fail.
8.300/10
6 years ago
Most Sharkey's I've ever seen are beaten up fairly good. Knew it was a simple but fun game, recently bought one. Fixed it all up and added LEDS - seriously plays like a new tight pinball machine should, very smooth. Pretty good game to hop on and have a bash. I like it.
Åkarp
7.956/10
7 years ago
After playing it enough. It's grown on me.I love the challenge of going from 8 ball to 9! Fun to play
7.193/10
7 years ago
This is a year 2000 pinball. Right at about the darkest time for the pinball world. The pinball is a good candidate for restoration. The worst wear is around the out hole and can be easily corrected with a metal out hole protector. The back glass art is uninspiring which is too bad because the playfield is flashy and well crafted. The game is very solid and the beginning of Stern's run of quality and well crafted pinballs. I enjoy the tie in of the magic eight ball into the pool theme. The game flows well and if you are not careful you can spend lots of time on the pin. It just lacks that razzle dazzle we all want in our pinballs. If it were ice cream it would be vanilla. A solid fun game and a good starter pinball.
6.499/10
8 years ago
I've owned this for just over a month. Its incredible how much of a difference there is between an early Stern (Sharkeys) and a good Stern like LOTR. These machines are 3 years apart but a universe apart when it comes to game play. Sharkeys flippers and drop targets look and feel cheap. To date, haven't found anything that really "draws me in" to this game. Your results may vary.
7.882/10
9 years ago
This is my first pin. And I echo the grail knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he told Indy, You have chosen well. I have always liked pool theme pins like eightball and eightball deluxe.
The features I most enjoy are as follows. The save feature via the extra set of flipper buttons, having to play both Eight and nine ball, The drop target bank and the mystery ball.
I don't care for the following. The blue bumper block. It was VERY annoying at first. With practice it is no longer an issue. On the initial launch of each ball their is a suppressor that inhibits a full launch periodically. Hence you can not make the skill shot for that ball.
The gameplay which is great has you defeat 5 different characters before you can play the beautiful Jeanette Lee. I have only Played her a few times in the 18 months that I have owned this pin. Sadly I have NOT beaten her. The challenge continues.
The features I most enjoy are as follows. The save feature via the extra set of flipper buttons, having to play both Eight and nine ball, The drop target bank and the mystery ball.
I don't care for the following. The blue bumper block. It was VERY annoying at first. With practice it is no longer an issue. On the initial launch of each ball their is a suppressor that inhibits a full launch periodically. Hence you can not make the skill shot for that ball.
The gameplay which is great has you defeat 5 different characters before you can play the beautiful Jeanette Lee. I have only Played her a few times in the 18 months that I have owned this pin. Sadly I have NOT beaten her. The challenge continues.
6.258/10
10 years ago
Drop target banks on both sides make this a fun game to aim and shoot. The 8 ball is at the cross roads of two ramps, which makes it unique to billiard-themed pins. Overall, a fun game, but not anything that I would need to have in my collection.
8.280/10
10 years ago
I love pool-themed games and this is no exception! I cannot understand why this machine gets such a low rating, must be the ugly white backbox. But for me, this pin is simply fun. I love trying to beat each player by hitting the drop targets, the 8 or 9 ball and then the trick shot. Owned the game a month and still have not played Jeanette, but I will soon. I like the Mystery 8 ball, and the pops, which stay very active. The drain lane ball savers are so cool and I actually found myself trying to do it on a different machine (but it had none so I drained, lol). All in all, a keeper because of the fun factor.
7.280/10
11 years ago
Good, fun game for the price. Not a whole lot of depth to the rules, but there are some good multiballs and it's an easy pin for non pinball people. The thing that really shines is the unique ball save, the outlanes have pop up posts that must be timed perfectly, really adds a cool element to the game. Only 1 ramp, but the drop targets are fun (like 9 or them) and the Mystery 8 ball is a cool toy. The art on the playfield looks good, no photoshopping. Pay attention to wear at the kickout hole and above the top left pop bumper, this area gets hammered by the ball flying out of kickout hole. This would probably be a great candidate for a first pin. My rating echos others and the cheap feel of the game. The weird shaped white backbox with no art makes me want to vomit. In the same price range you could probably pick up an Eight Ball Deluxe.
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