No direction that I can see, call outs seem to just say things out loud with no meaning of anything...
I can't figure it out either....but the multi-balls are fun.!!

I find it quite engaging, actually. Hit the shots for the heroes 2x in a row to start their mode and then complete their lit shots to complete the modes. Do that for each hero to collect all of the X-Men. Hit the scoop when Villain is lit and beat them the same way, a collection of shots.

I rarely look at the DMD, even though the dots are beautiful.

Turn on Hero and Villan stacking; it made the game much more fun for me.

Marc

It's really easy. Shoot the red arrow shots (the red arrows tell you what to shoot for) and the white shots for the heros.

There aren't many games out there that I've played where I know the rules in <10 games. That said, it is one of those games that once you learn and understand it and the strategies, the game really flows and is a blast.

Here's a couple up front tips. First off, make sure you have hero stacking off and hero/villain stacking on ( these are default settings for 1.3). Now, for hero modes: for the most part hit any hero twice to start their mode. Direction - dmd displays how many shots needed to start that Heroes mode. Each hero has a different task to complete, if you complete it the main hero insert matrix will light solid. If not the insert will flash. Here are the basic rules to complete each hero:
Beast - hit his shot twice. Hidden completion (certain # of pops hits will count as one beast shot)
Xavier - find the mutant - one hidden switch on the pf is the mutant, hit it and complete. Hit Xavier to reveal the hidden mutant.
Rogue - hit any 3 heroes. Hidden completion - hit rogue
Storm - hit storm ramp once. Hidden completion - tons of pops hits and spinner hits (unconfirmed)
Cyclops - combo cyclops into Xavier, rogue, storm, wolverine, or gambit
Iceman - hit iceman twice
Phoenix - hit wolverine, cyclops or Phoenix and collect enough points to complete. Hint: Phoenix scores the most while wolverine scores the least
Wolverine - mb. Shoot red flashing arrows then wolverine. Repeat until you defeat the boss.

Villain modes: light villain with the Brotherhood targets or HFC targets or with BB lanes. Follow dmd instructions to select a villain. Follow red inserts and dmd to complete villains.

Magneto mb: follow dmd instructions to start. During magneto mb; all heroes will count towards a single JP shot. Shoot magneto to reset JP shots. any hero modes started will relight JP shots. Non started hero modes will count as only one single JP shot and not relight.

Gambit hurry up: follow dmd on how to start. Collect by shooting beast loop into upper flipper and hit the gambit pop bumper.

Danger room: follow dmd and inserts

Dark Phoenix: follow dmd and inserts

Wiz mode: follow dmd and inserts

Xmen has a mixture of direction and non direction which makes it a more difficult and un-like able game. Learn the rules and watch the flow and magic happen.

SKB

The rules suck.

Beastman mode! shoot beastman
Phoenix mode! shoot phoenix
Iceman! shoot... zz

Chop wood game, all day long

Xmen is awesome, Ive never had any issues figuring what to shoot for, fast blinking play field inserts are high priority.

Maybe your pro needs some nice bright led lights to catch your eye!

Try stacking a mini mode (hero) with villain. Do you even know which heroes are best to stack with villains?

Most the modes rely on combo'ing to progress quickly through the game. i.e., storm - cyclops - storm - iceman - beast - storm - cyclops - rogue ( lock) - rogue > shoot 3 heroes. Iceman - Xavier - iceman - start shadow king - iceman ( complete) - Xavier - start (stacked with shadow king). That's just a few combos you can work on. Let me know when you get that down.

When I play like that I hardly start weapon x mb which a lot of people complain is so easy to start. But the reality is, learn the shots and the game flows like mad!

EDIT: and when your on; you can get to danger room in about 10 mins. Fun as hell mini wiz mode.

Thanks , I understand how to play the game.

Bottom line: It ain't fun , that's all there is to it for me.

Game is an absolute death sentence to own, just try selling one and you'll see what I mean.

There you go, gameplay sucks because its hard to sell

No worries. It's not for everyone.

I think it's a great game. Played it when it was at the High Dive in SD, now it's at a certain someone's house.

LOL ...are He-Man characters making cameos before Deadpool!?!?!

I was tripping on some shrooms the other day and swore I saw She-rah in the DMD animations.

SHE_RA__don__t_STARE__COLOR_by_RyanKinnaird.jpg

These are a few of my favorite thiiiiings derp derp derp

No wonder they love cartoon porn so much on the other side of the world! HOT!!!

Oh it's plenty of fun for me. Great gameplay with a very deep and well constructed ruleset. Just shows how different pinheads tastes can be. No pin is liked by everyone.

You got it backwards.

Game is hard to sell because gameplay sucks.

Xmen is the hardest game I've ever owned. Love the art,dots,music,& layout. Rules take a while to figure out,but once you do,it's awesome!

I sold my XMLE before the last code update, bought it back once Combos and Villain stacking were in.

Most pins are a little challenging to "Get", hell, I still don't fully understand all the rules, combos on The Shadow.

For me, XM isn't a lot of fun if you aren't TRYING to stack up Heroes and Villains. I've upped the timers on a lot of the heroes just to let me start some additional modes. There's so many ways to play the game, I really appreciate that. You can spend time trying to qualify the Villain Multiballs, or you can try to complete Heroes. Hero completion IS chopping wood unless you stack them with Villains IMO. The Villain modes are where this game really shines. Each one is very unique and requires specific shots/combos to finish effectively. I've been able to beat 3 villains in one game, but I still haven't beaten a villain multiball... I think it's very smart, but it's definitely not for everyone.

-Wes

I love mine. Still after all this time play it more than any of my other pins (SM, IM, Avengers LE, ACDC Prem)

I think there is plenty of direction. I focus on getting to danger room and trying to beat all the villains to reach Dark Phoenix mode. Granted I have mine set to 5 balls so I have at least a chance to get there. Getting to Danger Room I do on a regular basis, DP I've only seen twice.

I don't think anyone would understand the rules on any game if they only played it 10 times

It's not that hard - when a character's mode starts - you just shoot that character (more or less). That's pretty much it. When you're in a Villain mode, shoot the red arrows.

DONE! You're now an expert!

Yah I agree it is a little overwhelming at first when playing. This game would have been awesome with color changing LED inserts, instead of the big red ones. With that said, this is still my favorite game to play.

When a mode starts, a few lights are on. Aim for the lights.

RDs first rule of pinball ... If it's flashing, hit it.

It ain't rocket science.

rd

Respectfully disagree RobbyT.

Xmen would have some of the best gameplay of any pin made.

Is it easy to play? No.

And that's one of Xmens problems. It is pretty hard to master.

Shots are super tight. Definitely not for amateurs. It'll kick your ass all day long.

Hence the problem. People generally don't like getting their ass kicked. So they bag the game.

When you can nail the shots on Xmen and get to Danger Room (without stacking on, that's just cheating!) there isn't a better feeling in pinball IMO. You really know you've accomplished something.

rd.

"Shots are super tight. Definitely not for amateurs. It'll kick your ass all day long"

This is why I keep it in my line up. These kinds of pins don't come around very often.

Yes, X-Men and The Avengers are very tight shooting games. The challenge keeps me coming back.

On a side note, I find it interesting that one of Magneto's quotes from XM is "The X-Men... The Avengers... and soon, THE WORLD... "

I wondered if the pin coming out from Stern after TAV would be called "The World", but it wasn't. (thank you, thank you!)

X-men is a very good game
I love my wolverine

I found the shots rather easy to hit even though they are tight. Its funny how some tight shots can be easy and some wide shots can be hard based on their placement. Having said that, XMen is just not that fun to me. It's like chopping wood similar to Spider Man.

It definitely doesn't fall in the "Easy to learn, hard to master" category. It takes time to figure out what's going on. Unlike say Avengers, where it's easier to figure out what shots haven't been hit/need to be hit. For me it's a different kind of game compared to what I have. More combo oriented and needing that upper right flipper a lot..I can see how people can make a quick judgement on it & move on..

That layout doesn't make sense to me. Storm ramp, Rogue loop, Xavier lane. Target. Back to back to back to back. All of them in a space about three inches and all of them feed SDTM, at least on the one I played. Wolverine's left arm played a lot into that, plus it blocks the Xavier lane at times, too.

It'll kick your ass all day long. Hence the problem. People generally don't like getting their ass kicked. So they bag the game.

It looks and plays cluttered. In a way, it sort of makes me appreciate the widebody games. They can have more unique layouts without sacrificing playability.

X Men LE = "A" list game IMO!

My 9 year old son scored 116 million yesterday. He can not stop playing nor can I.

Game is staying for a long time.

Must have been the one you played.

Storm goes SDTM? Mine goes on a wicked loop ramp ride.
Xavier goes SDTM? Mine goes on a wicked elevator ride to the top
Rogue goes SDTM? Mine whips around into magneto

Oh wait I see...you're not making the shots and complaining that you lose the ball on a missed shot? Well, that's the biggest complaint on this game, that it's hard to make shots.

On a more serious note; if your missed shots are going dead and then SDTM, it's probably the machine you played. There's very little SDTM drains in xmen on a properly leveled game. Most my drains on this title come from the outlanes.

So,do you feel the same way about TAF, Same layout,just moved around a bit.

Sdtm for me are coming off the pops, right side of the scoop, and sometimes ice if you don't make it all the way up the ramp. The pop shot is the same shot as the cooling towers in TSPP. The left outlane can suck down quite a few too. There are no other direct drain shots!

It's you.

This is the very reason why I took 3 weeks straight to make the rules sheet for XM. Pease check out my rules list for 1.24, and then see my 1.3 changes thread and it will make things more clear and you'll start truly appreciating XM

Initial Rules Sheet thread:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rcades-x-men-v12415-rule-breakdowns

1.3 changes thread:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/x-men-13-le-rcades-initial-rules-findings-and-other-stuffs

Cannot stress enough how much time well spent it is to learn XMs rules

I never played xmen with any version other than 1.3. My opinion is that it is a fantastic game and I wouldn't trade magneto le for any of the top ten games. The rules and scoring opportunities are deep and require strategy. Much like acdc, if you don't take the time to learn the rules, you of course won't have any fun. I didn't jump on the xmen train until the bugs were mostly worked out and I couldn't be happier. Xmen le is fantastically underpriced and is a super bargain right now. There are no pins on route or otherwise near me to play before I purchase, so I have to proceed with a purchase based on input from fellow pinsiders. Input from rotordave had a big impact on my decision to purchase. That dude has 90 some pins and xmenLE tops his list. That goes a long way in my book.

A little bit, yeah. I think what helps is having the bash toy further up the playfield, and that the side ramp isn't nearly as steep or perpendicular. The Thing and Bear Kick Ramps are fairly normal-sized, though, whereas it looks like half an inch was taken out of the respective Xavier and Magneto shots and given to the Cyclops shot. There's tight, and there's too tight. I think the shots on Spider-Man are good, while TRON is a bit tight (especially Quorra and GEM), and the shots on X-Men are too tight.

I blushed a little bit there ....

I help where I can. Good to see you got a machine. It should keep you challenged for years to come!

rd.

Depends why you play pinball.

If you want to "win" every game, then Addams would be good. A reasonable player should be able to complete the Mansion every game. One reason I haven't played my Addams for a year or two probably. No challenge.

If the Gem shot wasn't tight (Quorra isn't a tight shot) everyone would get to SOS every game. Getting to a mini-wiz should be a challenge, not a foregone result.

Xmen is a very challenging game. That's why I rate it highly.

rd.

+1. This is why I sold my TAF and hs2 and why ill likely never sell the pins in my collection now. I was touring the mansion almost every game, sometimes twice in a game, on 3 ball. I wish some of the older games were harder as they are a blast at first and have a lot of character.

In almost a year, I've only hit aothc once on TAV, and in about four months on x men, haven't gotten to danger room yet...it's a lot of fun pushing start to try!

its a chopping wood game just like family guy, avengers, 24, etc. its about ball time management. what to stack with what and when to maximize points on X amount of time.

IF you have ANY game, even taf, lotr set up correct you won't be tourning mansions and getting valinor each game. you guys need set up your games like papa does. then, the game will be an actual challenge and u wont get bored as quick

Pinball designers walk a fine line.

They need to make games easy enough for kids to play in the arcade, yet deep enough for good players to be challenged.

TZ is an example of a game that's a bit hard for the kids in the arcade. But great for players.

So it's a bit trickier to do than some would think.

Xmen does this ok ... You can hit Wolvie a few times and get a Multiball going. For the arcade player, that's a good accomplishment. But to get to Danger Room on Xmen, you need to be a pretty decent player. Or having a very good game.

rd.

All my games are set up tough, 3 balls, factory settings, usually opened up side drains. Similar to the games I played at IFPA10 except I have "earnt" extra balls still active. (Total factory settings except free play)

I don't know anyone who can get to Valinor every game. I have never got there, I sorta lose interest/focus when a game goes for over an hour. I almost got there once, I played for 45 odd minutes then went out to dinner for an hour then continued the game for another hour odd. The flippers lost all power and couldn't get up the centre ramp. Bummer.

rd.