Shot targets, 3x times left ramp and enjoy multi ball. Theme is pure awesome , sound and music rocks. The pin which is played most often in my collection

JD is a great game: great artwork, great theme, great sounds, deep rule set, and multiple ways to advance and build points. I play my game with the Dead World Mod. It is very satisfying to lock the 3 balls required for the 6 ball multi-ball. The thing that keeps me playing is how difficult most of the shots are to make. JD has amazing music and call outs that really add to the experience.
Overall an excellent pinball to have in a home collection. Its not perfect, this now classic pin needs attention payed to its four flippers, many many optical sensors, and an army of bulbs to contend with.

This game never gets old. The first game I ever got Grand Champion on at my local arcade. Always challenging and such a great feeling when a great game is achieved. Underrated game that I would love to own one day.

Love this game to the dead!

I'd played this many times in barcades, and always thought it was impossible to see anything, and there were usually broken bits impeding gameplay. I didn't think much of it. But when I finally played it at a fellow Pinsider's house, it was a revelation. Beautifully lit (with no extra GI, I should add), every part working perfectly, and just lightning fast. It was incredibly fun, and I bought it on the spot. I've played it obsessively in the couple of months since then.

There are 9 modes to work through, plus the wizard mode. These are the links in the chain, and each mode is different enough, and you can do them in any order you want, that it never gets old. Each one uses the question mark stand-up target on the left for a different purpose: extra time, points, double missiles for pursuit, etc. For Meltdown, it ends the mode successfully. There are four stages to multiball, each requiring two shots to complete: left ramp, then subway. The 6 balls are a bit gratuitous. I usually lose 2-4 almost immediately, and that suits me just fine.

The Crime Scene arrests are generally amusing, and they're how you light extra ball. It's a gimme once lit.

As an aside, I can't tolerate games that waste my time. I am here to play pinball, not watch stupid animations. When my ball drains, give me my next turn NOW. Do not make me watch multiple screens of bonus tabulation. Judge Dredd excels in this department. Ball save launches the new ball before the ball in the outlane has even reached the outhole. BAM. During bonus tabulation, hit one of the red buttons, boom, it's over in one second, next ball is ready. Nice.

For big points, get 2X bonus multiplier with two solid shots on the captive balls. There's nothing on the instruction card or playfield to indicate this objective, but I recommend pursuing it.

Now the bad parts: Deadworld, as shipped, is a waste of space and serves no useful purpose, but the Deadworld mod is not exactly a no-brainer choice, requiring as it does the pre-production ROM with none of the fixes from the 6 or so subsequent iterations of the software. That said, Deadworld is more of a missed opportunity than a problem that detracts from the game.

The code, despite those iterative fixes, is still buggy. The Start button, for example, will not start a new game until the Match sequence is underway after your game. Doesn't matter what the setting is in the software. There are a couple of modes that cannot be completed when lock is lit. Any shot on the left ramp will be applied to locks for multiball, not your mode. If you happen to achieve multiball before the mode expires, then it will resume back at the beginning, with your progress erased, after multiball is over.

When a ball is lost or stuck, it will undertake a ball search, as expected, but it will also, at the same time, launch a replacement ball. Now you have an extra ball in play. "You must have a defective or broken switch somewhere", you say. I do not, but this leads me to my next point: There is a lot of non-scoring stuff on the playfield, and I have batted the ball around, banging off posts and corners and edges of stuff over and over (and over) again, for long enough to trigger a ball search. It's fairly incredible when it happens, but I've done it a few times. Maybe I'm just exceptionally bad. *shrug*

Finally, music, sound, and art: The music sucks, but it doesn't grate on me. It's tolerable. Sound is generally excellent, but some of the callouts are non-sensical. What the hell is "Dimensional phase one"? How about "Ball one locked" instead? And why does it say "Dimensional Phase three is lit" when I haven't even locked ball one yet, and what it really means is "Lock is lit"? The art is excellent, provided you can see it. Combination of frosted LEDs and decent room lighting address that.

Update: I've switched to 100% incandescent bulbs, and it's a huge improvement for me. The inserts glow and pulse naturally, and the colors are so much richer. This is how the playfield and art were designed to be illuminated, and I'll never put another LED in it.

All my reviews are going to follow a simple formula for those reading.
Number of shots to make - Pro's - Con's - Must Have Mods - What To Look For When Buying

Number of shots - 10 - Very High

Pro's:
* Good flow on ramps and orbits due to no pop bumpers
* Callouts can be amusing
* Super Game with unique rules is a unique feature
* Attractive machine to look at

Cons:
* Lastability, modes uninspiring
* Music can grate after a while
* Not a deep ruleset
* Ball Launch system confusing for beginners

Must Have Mods: (Note I will not include things like LED's, Color DMD, Invisiglass or Speaker Upgrades unless it's really badly needed)
* Deadworld mod
* Gold eagle topper looks great on this one
* Improved cooling towers

What To Look For When Buying
* If the Deadworld mod is installed, ensure it works as it should, both the crane and ball trough.
* Plastics in tact as no good replacements available
* Wear around the centre hole
* Topper present as game looks average without it due to feet gaps in machine
* Ramp condition as breaks can be common

It is ok

I had seen this pinball machine around & always thought it was based on the Sylvester Stallone movie but it is based on the British comic strip & finally got a change to play, Well what a pleasure surprise!
First up there are 2 start buttons standard game play or Super start with different rules, personally I preferred the Super start up mode,
Another stunning feature is Dead World, it's like a spin top that can spin in two different directions, holds the ball until "I'll call it" a magnetic crane comes & removes the ball from the spinning top, I don't think I'll ever get tiring to watch this piece of engineering, when I got multi ball I thought I was playing Apollo 13, there were balls everywhere 6 in total, with 4 flippers double the fun, what a blast,so much fun, I have just scratched the surface with the depth this game others,
I'm looking forward to purchasing a Judge Dredd & spending hours of fun exporting each mode.

If you play a restored version of this game is better than some new releases. Too many poorly kept examples in the wild. Im not a fan of the power start button for quick play. Getting balls locked on the saucer and upper right flipper is very satisfing.

Lots of challenging modes to complete. Humor, call-outs, and DMD animations are the best! Very challenging shots to make. Many combo shots. Different ball launch, mode selection, and choice of regular or super game. The super game has a different rule set than the regular game. Game must have a color DMD to enjoy all the animations.

What a great under rated pin! Such a deep rule set for a game of its time! Some extremely fun shots and one of the coolest multi ball starts. Definitely glad i picked one up.

I didn’t appreciate how great JD was until playing an excellent example in a home environment. The playfield layout, rules, theme integration and art are all unique and exceptional. Trudeau’s reputation is badly stained, but he was one of the most inventive, gutsy designers ever, and this is arguably his best work. Deserves to be part of the “Super Pin” line-up. It would likely be much higher ranked if the theme was more popular and it was more forgiving to lackluster maintenance/set-up.

This game is quite a bit of fun, along the lines of Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Forever, and Last Action Hero...cheesy 90's movies with good pins. Plenty of shots, some cool multi-ball action, and corny enough call-outs. Out of the other three games I mentioned and this one, I'd say only Batman Forever is superior.

I just got one of these and have been playing it alot as a big Judge Dredd Fan, this was a bit of dream pin to get, and is my second after a Gottlieb Surf n' Safari.

Gameplay:
It plays similarly to DH/STTTG I've played before, it's a bit of a beast being the wider pin and I'm told a wider gap between the flippers, which is does feel like. It's fast, the ball is returned quickly to the flippers after making shots and the variety of loops is always a challenge to make off the top flippers with the speed it can come round at. I need to play it some more, but I find the sniper shot very satisfying along with both the main ramp shots. I've found it a bit trickier to nudge due to the size, but still doable to save from outlanes or slide when it's coming SDTM from a slightly off sniper tower shot, again, satisfying to make. My multiball method is to basically hold up the left flipper and catch whatever I can, whilst trying to make the ramp and subway shots off the right. It can get very hectic in multiball otherwise. It's nice to be able to pick the modes, and there is a suitable skill shot given there is no plunger. This makes sense with the futuristic theme. It's not as smooth as a later bally (cactus canyon/Pin2000/Even a JunkYard) or any of the more modern sterns, but the solid tank like nature suits the theme and doesn't stop me enjoying it.

Whats great:
It looks fantastic, the artwork is brilliant, the sounds and callouts sound like Judge Dredd and the humour is spot on with the comics. The ramps are fun to hit, the subway makes a great sound when you smack it in there, also the metal lanes at the bottom near the flippers make a great noise when post-passing. The deadworld looks cool when it's spinning and when you get a ball dropped off the crane, it makes that upper left flipper shot a little easier. Animations are good, and video doesn't interfere with gameplay. Also like the sneaky little extra target on the left lower playfield to help with modes. Loads of wireforms for the ball to roll down satisfying. Great lights in pursuit mode. Extra ball button if you didn't get a multiball and it was unfair! Being Bally Williams, its well supported for repair bits and mods. LED's/underlighting/colour DMD I think all would look great on this to keep it looking that sci-fi and modern.

Whats not so great:
I guess deadworld is a bit big and underused in the code. Been a bit of a pain with issues with opto's going wrong and having to fix (Trough/Deadworld). For gameplay: I don't get what the in-lanes do? Maybe I'm missing something, but they just make a noise. No lights in anycase, seems a bit of a waste considering there is three of them. The kickback on the left lane (Air-raid) isn't as good as a T2/ACDC gun, and just usually hits, around the middle, so this is more luck than skill/timing it seems. Again, seems a bit underused as people have complained about the captive balls. Personally don't mind the captive balls as they are. Bigger one maybe: There isn't any pop-bumpers... Not even one. Thats usually a bit of a given with a pinball machine. Though it's certainly still random enough and doesn't really suffer for it.

Overall:
I'm chuffed to bits with it. I don't think I would want it as my only machine, but I certainly don't want to get rid of it. It's a beastie!

Beautiful artwork. Easily one of the best art packages ever...but certainly for its era. Ramp and multiball heaven. The deadworld mod is a must. It REALLY pops with bright colored LEDs

This is a very underpriced game. If you can get one, do it.

This machine has several things going for it, the first being the art package, which is awesome. It also has great callouts and pretty good animation. Dead World was a great idea but requires the mod package to make it functional. Ramp shots are generally good. Overall, a fun pin, with one of the best if not the best topper. Not at the top of my list, but overall solid. Not a fan of supergame, seems like you are buying your way to multiball, so seldom play it. I have been known to "buy" the extended play multiball on the regular game, though.

So fun. Colour DMD adds a great deal to the playing experience.
Some of the best flow in pinball. A top-5 game for me, all day.

2023 edit.
Played this recently and did not find it to be as stimulating as I had in 2018.

I just love playing this game. Ramps, ramps, ramps. No pops, no slowdowns. As others have said, it's a wide body, but it plays fast. I don't mind the repetitive riff, because it kind of serves a purpose. Modes play really fast on this pin, and hearing that riff lets you know the mode is over if you run out of time since there's not a lot of time to stare at the DMD. Deadworld mod is very cool. You get to BE THE LAW, what more do you want??!!!

I love the Dredd comics and character, and this machine is appropriately grandiose and gigantic, like Mega City itself. It's just packed, and the "more is more" aesthetic completely works with this theme.

The artwork and visual design is great, and it unifies the characters and gameplay rules / progression well. The animations and voices are hilarious and nail the humor of the Dredd comics.

The rules are pretty interesting. There are incentives to "flow" and collect crime scenes to earn extra balls and rolling bonuses, there is "risk/reward' in many of the modes and the bonus shot, and the way that mode scores are applied as bonus makes tilting much more perilous. The mulitball and wizard modes are great. The music is pretty annoying and gets old quick ... I get that it is kind of "tongue-in-cheek" butt-rock, if I'm being generous, but it is very repetitive.

At it's core, Dredd is a very flowy widebody, loaded with ramps, habittrails and gimmicks, but it has a geometry that punishes poor shooting. This is what makes it addicting but also, at times, frustrating, and I think it takes a minute to get adjusted to it if you've just played a standard body.

I just flat out love this game!

I am a big Judge Dredd fan, used to have lots 2000AD comics when I was younger. I was very disappointed with this game, I was lost what to do, nothing was exciting, gave up after 3 or 4 shots. Boring callouts. With Bally this should have been brilliant, not one of their better efforts.

Great shots, flow, modes. Unique layout. Calls outs are funny. Plays like what a wide body should be. The only downsides are the repetitive music and the amount of maintenance and lack of specific parts, as well the modes all feel very similar and the left ramp is too easy and not satisfying to hit.

Plenty of great shots
It's a lot of fun
Great sound/music package
Neat toys/gimmick
Playfield layout is great

I own the game and have played it for many years without getting bored. I have many friends who come over to play it and they all get addicted to it. It’s got tons of special shots and sequences. It’s a real fun game and in my top 5. I don’t understand why it doesn’t rank higher. Very under-rated game IMHO.

I never could get into this game, lame and boring.Sorry but it will never enter my collection