(Topic ID: 5007)

My First Pin. Ripley's or World Cup Soccer 94'

By ryanleblanc

12 years ago


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  • 31 posts
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  • Latest reply 12 years ago by emo
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#1 12 years ago

The title pretty much says it all. I'm looking for my first pin, RBION and WCS94 are two I'm looking at very intently. So far this is what they have going for them in my opinion:

RBION:

Looks - Cabinet = Ugly; Translite = Ugly; Playfield Art = Great; Lights = Great
Sound - Voices = Deep, cool, and great; Music = Awesome, adventure feel
Playfield - Layout = Awesome, creative, Lawlor; Flow = Very good for a Lawlor
Gameplay - Rules = Deep but not an ocean of rules; Fun = Very fun

WCS94:

Looks - Cabinet = Good; Translite = Ugly; Playfield Art = Good; Lights = Good
Sound - Voices & Music = Nothing special but never grating.
Playfield - Layout = Awesome, Popadiuk my fav designer; Flow = Amazing flow
Gameplay - Rules = Not deep as RBION but still great; Fun = Very fun

So essentially I'm totally stuck between them. I am open to other suggestions though. These two machines are very similarly priced at around $1800 and I might be open to other options around that price, no higher than $2000. So which of those two do you think is better to own. I'm planning on keeping it for a good long while.

Thanks in advance to everyone who helps!

PS: If you suggest another table after you have commented on the two I mentioned above, please tell me why you suggest it and keep in mind I'd like a machine from around 1992 to present.

#2 12 years ago

It's your first pin so you can't go wrong because as you you say they are both fun!

RBION for me but I have to admit that I have never owned WCS.

#3 12 years ago

i love RBION. never played WCS, but i know a lot of people like that pin.

#4 12 years ago

I haven't owned a WCS either, ( YET ) but i did play 1.. Both Pin's are Good.. WCS is a $ 1500.00 pin,, Verus's the RBION @ $ 2k and UPPP !! Good luck... Try a NGG ,, You'll like it ..

#5 12 years ago

I was looking at NGG but I just thought is wasn't quite deep enough. I heard it gets boring sooner than others. Thanks though

#6 12 years ago

I went to a pinball show where a WCS94 was for sale and on freeplay. I wasn't really expecting to enjoy it at all, but I ended up loving it, and I bought it. The only thing that bummed me out was getting it home and trying to buy new ramps for it (as the ones it had were cracked), man were those just about impossible to find. So beware on cracked ramps. Someday Pinball Inc. says they'll make a set, but when, I don't know. There's no hurry on them. Also look out for excessive saucer wear. There are 3 saucers and they see a lot of use. You can patch those up and drop in Cliffy and Mantis saucer protectors.

WCS94 has great flowing ramps, a cool toy in the goalie, and a couple of magnets including one you can activate to try to save a center drain. The rules are straightforward and fun. The goal is to get to the World Cup final and beat Germany. The cool thing is you can do this 2 ways, by getting tickets and traveling to each city until you reach the finals, or by getting multiball and beating each team standing in your way until you reach Germany (and what a fun multiball WCS94 has, one of my favorites). The saucer in front of the goal is cool in that you can shoot the ball into the goal from there with a flipper button. The playfield is also laid out really well, and you get some cool ricochet action which can make for some cool goals.

I played RBION a few times and it didn't instantly hook me like WCS94 did. However, it seems really mysterious in both ruleset and theme, and it has me wanting to play it more to explore it, kind of like TZ. In fact, since Lawlor designed it, I wonder if he was trying to give Stern their own TZ type game with RBION. I'd like to have it in my collection someday to explore it more.

You probably can't go wrong with either, but WCS94 offers straightforward easily accessible fun (visitors love it), while RBION seems to offer more of a technical challenge, at least to me anyway. As such, RBION may find longer life in a collection by offering a greater and longer lasting challenge.

#7 12 years ago

I chose a T2 over WCS. I guess that would indicate I choose RBION....tho I have never played it. WCS , the spinning ball annoyed me. I am sure for others that is a fav part of the game...opinions vary greatly on quality of games. Trust me, even when you get a game or two that you want, there always seems to be another that catches your eye!
EDIT:very nice post Rum Z

#8 12 years ago

personally, i love playing ripleys. but it seems many of the machines have problems (i haven't seen a really good playing one yet out of 3.) world cup is a lot more action i find than ripleys, longer ball play, and more multiballs. personally though, the appeal for me is ripleys, more of an adult theme i find than world cup. if the ripleys has lower plays, i'd go for that machine.

#9 12 years ago

lol This has sorta backfired, because now I'm even more stuck between the two than when I started. I guess it would come down to the little details. But I'm kind of tied up there two. See RBION has "Mechanical Music" as I called it in my rating. Essentially in RBION, there are a lot of sounds of the metal on metal clinking and chinking when the ball enters the scoop or the vari-target and I LOVE those sounds for some inexplicable reason. But WCS has some classic style features that I love. For example, the rollover buttons. So I'm kind of unsure here too.

I guess what I'm asking is, can you guys tell me the "little things" that make those games great to you and then I'll weigh them out based on how they affect me.

#10 12 years ago

I played Repley's and feel in love with the machine, I think in the long run, you will enjoy it more. both are great Pins!

#11 12 years ago

What do you guys think of Stern's Nascar and Stern's World Poker Tour. Are either of them any good? I ask because they're around the $1800-$2000 mark or cheaper.

#13 12 years ago
Quoted from ryanleblanc:

I was looking at NGG but I just thought is wasn't quite deep enough. I heard it gets boring sooner than others.

NGG is deeper than WCS94. Never played RBION

#14 12 years ago
Quoted from Holy_Pickle:

NGG is deeper than WCS94.

Really? I would have never guessed. I heard on NGG it was just, complete the nine holes (which are all basically the same shots over and over) to get the "not really a wizard mode" or you can just get multi ball over and over for fun.

Where as WCS94 was more like, travel to all the cities, or beat all the teams in multi ball to get the wizard mode multiball flail-fest against germany or you can just keep getting multi ball over and over. Plus, you can go after all the tv scoop mini modes for fun and I believe there's a couple goalie modes too.

They're similar but since WCS94 has two ways of getting to the wizard mode, where as NGG has only one way. I'd think that this alone makes WCS94 deeper (though not too much deeper ).

Oh and NGG costs anywhere from say 400 to 800 bucks more. Does it not?

#15 12 years ago

On WCS94 there are those 2 ways to beat Germany, but neither seem that hard to do. If you have modest skills you can rip thru all the cities pretty easily, and if you have a good multiball or 2, you can get to Germany in a not all too difficult manner. However - keep in mind that going thru the cities gets you the real "wizard" mode, where you square off in a game against Germany, and the soccer ball reverses and spins towards the center drain to make things more difficult for you. You do not get this wizard mode by beating Germany in the regular multiballs, but you get lots of points and it is a cool objective to shoot for.

There are only 4 modes available at the TV scoop, and they are rather simple and process in the same order every time.

As far as those goalie modes, there is a penalty kick mode that comes up with a Stryker award where you have limited time to shoot the ball past the goalie positioned at the side of the net, then one of the TV rounds gives you points for hitting the goalie.

I love my WCS94, but it is really not deep. It's fun for me though. I 've played NGG and I think it's deeper and has more to offer than WCS94, which I think is evidenced in it's higher price. If you want a deep ruleset I think RBION would be the choice for you. For some people deep does not equate to fun, and there are some pins out there with simpler rulesets that simply rock IMO.

Keep this in mind, although I love my WCS94, I would not want it for my only pin, or in a collection smaller than 5 pins, as I think I'd eventually get bored with it. If you do not have a big collection, or are looking for a first pin, I think RBION would offer more replay value for longer than WCS94 or NGG.

All that's IMO of course, your mileage may vary.

#16 12 years ago

@Rum-Z Thank you so much for explaining this, I started comparing the rule sheets but this was much faster to read. Anyway I think you are probably right about NGG and WCS, and I think your right about Ripley's too.

But I'm really wondering about Nascar now. If you or anyone else has played it could you tell me a bit about it? How it plays, how deep the rules are, maybe how it compares to RBION, oh and if you notice the shorter skinnier playfield due to the racetrack going all the way around. I just think Nascar might be a good deal because it's rather cheap for how new it is, due to the theme people seem to hate. I kinda like the theme so I think it could be another option. Any opinions?

#17 12 years ago

WCS94 was my sleeper hit from CAX...
Never played it before, didn't expect much- was actually waiting for MM to free up!
But once I started to play it, I was hooked! I even missed three rotations on MM, because I was having so much fun with WCS94!
RIBON IS the cooler theme though...
I played it a handful of times before; wasn't really impressed.

Nascar on the other hand was even MORE boring than Elvis or AP!
Sure the ball on the racetrack is a cool idea...
It is just HSII does it SOOO much better IMO!
I would buy two of those to one Nascar...

#18 12 years ago

Okay, Nascar is out for sure. Ripley's is still the top choice as of now. But nimblepin, I'm sure this is a real newbie question, what is CAX the abbreviation for?

Edit: Nvrmnd I just googled it. California Extreme

Does anyone have any other suggestions for machines that haven't been mentioned yet? Remember price range around the $1800 to $2000 mark. Preferably 1992 to present.

#19 12 years ago

Yeah.. Nascar... I played it and didn't like it too much. I noticed the loss of playfield area taken up by the track that runs around the playfield. In addition to that I didn't find it too much fun.

Personally I'd take a chance with the Ripley's for a solo pin in that price range. I scored a non working TZ for my first pin for $1,500 bucks (it was actually a fuse - believe it or not - hey a Ripley's pun), so there are some odd ball deals out there that would trump the RBION, but they're not likely to fall in your lap like that TZ did for me. I was happy with that TZ for a whole year before I got the jonesing for more pins. I think RBION may hold you over longer than a pin with a shallower ruleset like that TZ held me over. I guess that's my opinion.

The rest of the pins I can think of in that price range will have shallower rulesets, unless you can find something like The Shadow. They're supposed to sell in that range, but everytime I have the money, I can't find one.

#20 12 years ago

I should also mention that I really like Judge Dredd in that price range. It's a widebody Superpin, with tons of shots, multiple flippers, a deep ruleset, and the Dead World planet mod is cool.

It flows kind of "differently" than other pins I've played, and I haven't played it enough to really dial in the shots. I think the different flow would make for good variety in my collection, and I'd love to add one soon.

So you may want to add JD to your list, I think it would make a good first pin and would be interested in hearing what others thought.

#21 12 years ago

@Rum-Z Thanks for the advice!

I just thought of one more machine to consider. What is everyone's opinion on Whitewater vs Ripley's. I know whitewater has shallower rules, but it's a pretty high rated machine, and I know for a fact that the vacation planner jackpot is very difficult to get to. It's also got a good selection of mini modes (like the whirlpool mania mode [I forget it's real name]).

Edit: I'm also going to take a look at JD thanks!

#22 12 years ago

Whitewater vs Ripley's.

Yeah- THAT'S a one sided fight if I ever saw one!
Oh wait,
I have!

images-2.jpegimages-2.jpeg

#23 12 years ago

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Whitewater is going to win that one? ;P

But what I'm really asking here is LONG TERM. Sure Whitewater is great fun, but would it still be entertaining enough to have as my only pin for say one or two years till I have more space? How does whitewater compensate for it's shallower rules and age? Basically explain why this is such a one sided battle. Thanks for your help, oh and answering the about questions in excruciating detail would be appreciated.

Thanks!

#24 12 years ago

Have you been watching any good youtube videos on the pins you're interested in? I find myself doing that CONSTANTLY now.

#25 12 years ago
Quoted from Johnny:

Have you been watching any good youtube videos on the pins you're interested in? I find myself doing that CONSTANTLY now.

Of course, I've been doing that for like 6 months switching which machine I love most each day, only recently have I come this close to choosing.

Would anyone care to answer my previous post? Please.

#26 12 years ago
Quoted from ryanleblanc:

Basically explain why this is such a one sided battle.

Judremy or Wesperron would be the people to talk to on the WH20...
All I know is WH20 is a great underrated pin that I would love to have a HUO in my collection!
Boring never... I played it for 2 hours straight one night. Just LED it and enjoy the show!
The shots are great, the flow can be had, the upper PF is great with the split!
Even if the theme wasn't your "cup-of-tea", WH20 is a great pin, period.
It would blow the doors off of a RBION, even if it was a NIB to boot!
Just my 2 tokens!

The JD is a great choice too... If you can get it dialed in!

You need to go to a 'PAPA' or the like- and simply play EVERYTHING!!!
You will find one that resonates with you!
Good luck!

#27 12 years ago

I checked out JD and it's not really my cup of tea. But I think I've made my decision after some extra research.

Yep, IT"S GOTTA BE WHITEWATER!

I thought the rules weren't very deep, but really they're just totally perfect. It's got the whirlpool awards, the 2 ball multi ball in the secret mine, the 3 ball multiball from the locks, advancing rivers by shooting an increasing number of lit shots, TWO wizard modes, on a game this old! Wet Willie's Ranch being a shoot all the shots for huge jackpots type of wizard mode, and Vacation Planner Jackpot being the classic multi ball flail-fest wizard mode. I WANT THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!! It's perfect in every way.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

If I'm feeling especially ambitious, I could pour all my free time into it, and possibly create a custom translite and custom playfield with an alpine theme (basically the same as the regular playfield and translite, but with glaciers instead of rock) that would match the alpine boulder set and white yeti. I could even go further and buy a spare cabinet and them custom decal the side, front, and back box art. (again the same as the original but with glaciers instead of rock). Think it's possible? I'd say yes, but very costly and challenging. But wouldn't that just look awesome?

#28 12 years ago

White Water is not as old as it seems like you make it out to be,same era as what you originally mentioned,it's a 1993 machine.Over 3 grand,closer to 4 grand here in Colorado if you can find one,A fun game,requires maintenance and some tweeks/secrets that Judremy has posted in the past on this forum.Audio is not the best,I usually play with my own music on in the bkgrnd.Keep the P-Balls on low volume unless someone wants to just concentrate on the machine.Good luck with your search and purchase.Take Care, Kirk...Here's a fairly recent pic of my White Water.

WhiteWater_with_Glare_Guard_001.JPGWhiteWater_with_Glare_Guard_001.JPG

#29 12 years ago
Quoted from NimblePin:

All I know is WH20 is a great underrated pin that I would love to have a HUO in my collection!

+1 on that.

#30 12 years ago
Quoted from v8torino:

White Water is not as old as it seems like you make it out to be,same era as what you originally mentioned,it's a 1993 machine.

I meant older, as in compared to RBION (2004) ;D

#31 12 years ago
Quoted from ryanleblanc:

can you guys tell me the "little things" that make those games great

I currently own RBION and it has become a firm favourite. My opinion has changed since I first played it.
Stage 1: It is just weird, don't understand it or like it much
Stage 2: Wow there is so much more to this, its a tough game, I love it.
Stage 3: Actually its not as deep as I thought as I seem to have hit a score ceiling but I still like it.
Stage 4: Wow a new level of play with higher scores through stacking features and building up bonus-game transcends to great game and a keeper in my opinion.

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