Freefall

Pinside rating

This game has received 12 approved Pinsider ratings. 38 more approved ratings are needed to get a rating and for it to be eligible for the Pinside Pinball Top 100 ranking.


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Found 9 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 9 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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3.648/10
4 months ago
This is one of the most unusual games from Stern (v.1) pinball other than Orbiter.

The Pros:
A unique layout with some interesting rules at the drop targets and a challenging multi-ball sequence. Lighting the spinner and ripping it is truly challenging and very satisfying.

The Cons:
Open areas of the playfield interspersed with interesting shots and an indirect feed to the ball lock (if you have qualified it...). Artwork is a strange mashup.of airbrush and colored pencils.

The takeaway:
Well it's settled. Angels DO have tits. There are some really interesting ideas coming together with the drops and rules of this game, but you REALLY have to work for what may not be that great of a payoff for your score with this game. Can you find one to get to know it? Do you want to? I love Harry Williams games, but this one is truly puzzling to me.
6.022/10
5 months ago
Played at the UK Open.

I’ve got to say, this one didn’t impress me. It had a tramway at the top, which took up a huge amount of real estate on the playfield, but seemed more of a gimmick than anything else. It was also *extremely* heavy. Pretty much the minute I started playing it, I realised it was both floaty and very hard to nudge (as a small woman), and I shouldn’t have added it to my tournament ticket.

It’s not awful, but I wouldn’t choose it over most Sterns of that period or other widebody classics like Paragon (where the size is a feature not a bug). Given how large and floaty it was, there didn’t seem to be that much to do on the playfield, unlike in Paragon, and what there was on the playfield (apart from the ball tramway) didn’t really support the theme that well.
8.834/10
2 years ago
Becuase there are so few of these out there, I doubt it will ever get enough ratings to be included in the top 100, which is really too bad. This machine deserves better. I manage to pick up a nice example of this machine and that center drop target card with the selector change using both flippers to fill it up to send your bonus multiplier sky high keeps me coming back for more. The elevated tramway is a cool Harry Williams design (this is one of only two machines he designed for Stern), but because of its location it doesn't come into play except through the luck of the bounce. Although when you're lucky enough to get the tram loaded up to start the "FREEFALL" sequence to send the balls into multiball, it's a pretty impressive show considering the era. If you see one in the wild give a few games and it'll grow on ya. Pretty rare machine to find in the wild because of low production numbers.
8.547/10
4 years ago
Freefall is a game that gets little mention in the pinball community, and I think thats a shame.

Pros:
The artwork throughout is excellent, Bob Timm knocked it out of the park! His art pax features a beautiful mountainscape on the PF paired with a very colorful bg. Throw in a sweet hot pink cabinet and you have yourself a sweet looking game. The rules are another standout feature. There are 3 different bonuses, all of which are focused around the 3 bank of drops in the middle. The main goal is to fill out the "card" by hitting the drop target down that you have lit with a yellow arrow. These drops are dangerous, but essential if you want to score big. There is more depth here than most other games from this time period, and like several other Stern games from this vintage, the scorecards provide almost no help leaving you to figure it out on your own. The multiball ball walker toy is very cool and cinematic. Multiball in this game has no scoring advantage associated with it and is not an easy goal to accomplish. I think this is great, because you cant skillfully achieve it. Finally, this game uses the plastic pop bumper assemblies, which IMO are the best ever made.

Cons:
This is not the most balanced layout or most efficient use of space on a playfield ever. The left flipper is safer for taking out the 3 bank of drops, but theres not much else to shoot for with it. Also, while extremely cool and fun, the ball walker takes up a bunch of room and theres no way to purposefully aim for it.

Verdict:
Freefall falls under the radar even today, which is surprising given how popular classic Stern games are right now. Its not a perfect game, but its depth, artwork, and fun factor make it an above average game from 1981.
7.544/10
4 years ago
This game rocked! I grew up with one in my basement and miss it. I would get so excited when I heard.... Alllll divers ready for freefall....!!! Wish I could find one id but it in a second
9.803/10
5 years ago
One of the best sounding machines! If you have not heard this machine in a games room it is incredible! "You beat freefall" is like winning the lottery! Multiball is tough but come on, it actually has a multiball! The tram and racking system is so neat to actually see visually! Great concept! Excellent spinner! Spelling freefall is fun! The "S" is tricky! Colours are great! Backglass with led's is one of the best! Almost naked angels, its like victoria's secrets angels flying around! Keeper for sure!!
5.215/10
7 years ago
Freefall is one of the only Stern widebodies I can play for long. Landing that rear-facing center shot is fun and builds to a multiball (takes some skills). Aside from the widebody and the center kicker, there is a lot of unused shooting space on the playfield and if the flippers aren't shooting clean, the game crawls and stutters. Also, watch out for the double flippers on the left - no traps allowed, gotta shoot on the fly or pass from those suckers.

And above average (but barely) early SS, worth picking up if you can find one for a decent price.
5.932/10
9 years ago
Considering the time period this game is alot of fun. Very hard to spell "Sky Diver"

I find the left flipper to pretty much be "dead". Not too much to shoot for from that one...at least from the few times I played it, it seemed all the points came off the right one.

Backglass is awesome, the rest of the art is ok.

Not the best early stern out there but it poses a challenge if you want a high score. No cheap points on this table...you need to earn them.
7.100/10
13 years ago
A nice game, The art work is superb, I love the mountains on the play-field and fantasy back glass. If you want something nice to look at and don't mind slower games it's worth searching out but there are plenty of better playing Sterns from the 80's in my opinion.
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