Williams

Junk Yard

Pinside Rating

This game received 335 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.623 _/10

7.623

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #163 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.675

Artwork: 7.867

Sounds/Music: 7.066

Other Aspects: 7.484

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 8 of us have rated this game.

7.462

Your Rating?

You need to be logged in before you can rate pinball machines. No account yet? Registering only takes a sec!

Found 173 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 173 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 5 of 7.

List options

Ratings sort order

Type of ratings to show in list

Owner status of review

Exclude flagged ratings

Keyword or username search

7.928/10

10 years ago

ANV

captainadam_21

Inactive member

Sioux Falls, SD

12y 74,150 3,104 46

Fun game. Grows on you after a while.

8.960/10

10 years ago

DAN

pindan3

Inactive member

Sarasota, FL

10y 49,900 272 19 106

Cute under rated game...I noticed that it a game with no pop bumpers.

pindan3 has owned this game in the past.

7.439/10

10 years ago

ALG

frznpixel

Inactive member

San Francisco, CA

11y 22,150 10 22

Wrecking ball is tons of fun to play around, haven't played it enough to see if it gets repetitive. Great game- fun to play!

7.584/10

10 years ago

ATE

AdamTheGamer

Pinside member

11y 56,150 270 2 133

Junkyard was fun, with some really great shots. The machine I played was tough as nails, and I really enjoyed the difficulty. Fun game, that I hope to play again someday!

9.760/10

10 years ago

DAD

unclebucky

Pinside member

Fenton, MI

11y 19,750 3 15

I had never heard or seen this game, discovered at a tiny arcade. Just love it, silly, the dog, building the time machine, flashes to CFBL and Adams family. AWESOME

7.098/10

10 years ago

SPO

What attracted me to JY is the speed and wackiness of the game. Love the fridge kickout to the left flipper as well as the wrecking ball. Two shots are difficult, the others, meh. Good control is a must because missed shots/halfway shots lead to drains most of the time.

The ruleset is simple and you will play the game through in the first week tops, depending on your skill level of course. Because of this, I recommend that it be in a collection with skill machines to change things up a bit. If not, it will loose it's attractiveness quickly. I still love it though.

LEDs in the backglass are a must to bring out the beauty of it!!

7.829/10

10 years ago

PSP

Spywell

Inactive member

Wichita, KS

10y 29,400 10 5 13

I like Junk Yard in the fact that, even though I have probably played on it for over an hour, I still feel like there is a whole lot more to do. I find the play field simple with easy shots and good momentum. As simple as I find the layout to be, I am surprised at how much there is to do, every time I play it I find a new animation or new mode to play which keeps the game interesting, otherwise the easy shots could bore some. I like the multiball, you hit the wrecking ball in the middle four times which isn't difficult for anyone. Then it lifts up and you shoot the ball straight into the middle, now on the machine I have been playing on there is a little metal button that has seen better days and constantly launches the ball in any direction besides the middle making what could be the easiest shot in the game the most difficult for me. Also after you get multiball, when you get back down to one ball, shooting the center again immediately starts up another multiball, which is frustrating only if you are on your last ball and cant get the next multiball on what should have been the easiest shot of all.

This is definitely a machine I will be spending more time with!

8.424/10

10 years ago

SIR

toasterman04

Pinside member

Saskatoon, SK

11y 99,600 1,733 30 22

Very fun game. The video modes are really neat addition to the already kooky game. Shooting for spike is great and the premises on collecting 'junk' and building a flying jalopy to escape the junk yard in my opinion is brilliant. My kids love it it is colorful and entertaining.

toasterman04 has owned this game in the past.

9.820/10

10 years ago

???

nicegirl672

Inactive member

Unknown

10y 4,150 5 19

just bought the game love it starting to have a good collection. fun fast playing and always comming back for more!!!!!.

nicegirl672 edited previous rating on September 10, 2013.

7.244/10

10 years ago

ALR

canea

Pinside member

11y 94,150 1,905 22

Most people have several criticisms of Junk Yard. The first is that it's too easy. This is true. You'll beat Crazy Bob in Outer Space within a week of owning this game. After you beat him, there's not much to do except replay the four modes and beat him again. The second is that there are no pop bumpers. Also true (but not much of loss, imo).

What Junk Yard does have is super fun gameplay that is very engaging for children and non-pinheads. Bashing the crane is always fun, the toilet makes kids laugh, and the four (!) video modes are silly and well-done while riffing on classic pins like CFTBL and AFM. It's easy to trigger multiball (and to keep triggering it), and even missed shoots result in flashing lights and sounds so anyone who plays will feel like they are doing well. While it's easy to have a GOOD game on Junk Yard, having a GREAT game is still somewhat challenging if it's not your day against the outlanes.

The artwork, cabinet, and translite work really well with the original theme and the machine looks awesome. Sounds and animation are funny - some of the opinions of the angel and devil characters come out garbled over the otherwise clear sound effects, which are very cartoony.

The bottom line: A great looker and casual player with an original theme. Pinheads will find it too easy, but still fun.

canea edited previous rating on April 20, 2015.

9.320/10

10 years ago

MCT

Pinball3000

Inactive member

Redmond, WA

10y 23,650 18 2 17

The first game I played and the first I bought. I've played the hell out of it over the years, and it's starting to become less fun for me, but I still love it. I mean, THERE'S A GIANT TOILET.

Pinball3000 edited previous rating on January 04, 2014.
Pinball3000 currently owns this game.

6.444/10

10 years ago

JLA

Jodester

Pinside Moderator

Lake Charles, LA

11y 121K 2,506 11 114

Played this for the first time last night. Never could get in a real flow with this game. Didn't like the layout at all. Not my cup of tea...

8.172/10

10 years ago

???

pinaddict0315

Inactive member

10y 11,650 5 1 34

GREEEEEAT PINBALL !!!!! THIS IS A GREAT WEIRD PINBALL .....THE CRANE IS JUST AMAZING ....THE ORIGINAL IDEA BEHIND THE NEW STERN BATMAN PIN ......

9.580/10

10 years ago

BCT

Nemesis041

Inactive member

Redmond, WA

10y 34,900 47 3 47

This is my absolute favorite machine. This should get more respect than it already is. Enjoyable theme, entertaining features, and the artwork is very cool. To sum up: I love this game!

Nemesis041 edited previous rating on August 15, 2013.
Nemesis041 currently owns this game.

8.020/10

10 years ago

JIM

Captive_Ball

Pinside+ Frequent

Cypress, TX

11y 128K 7,186 17 86

"I'm Crazy Bob, and your trapped in my Junkyard." This title gets dogged a lot, and maybe deservedly so, but is a lot of fun. Shooting the toilet, bus ramp, wrecking ball, or Spike's doghouse....fun is abound. Building up the junkyard DIY tools for fighting Bob in outer space are both fun and rewarding to collect. The blueprint on the middle of the playfield also helps the player in deciding which things to put together.

Not a deep game and probably one that would not last by itself, but when grouped with several other pins it is a good complementary game. I usually walk away feeling entertained even if I fall way short of defeating Bob. Great call outs.

Captive_Ball edited previous rating on December 28, 2015.

9.060/10

10 years ago

???

PCPINHEAD

Inactive member

Unknown

11y 12,150 1 8 7

This is a one you have to play a bit to warm up to. Unconventional in several aspects, but challenging. Wizard mode is a tough one to crack.

PCPINHEAD currently owns this game.

8.700/10

10 years ago

GWT

dirtrider

Inactive member

Colorado Springs, CO

13y 23,650 377 1 10

Fun and Funny game. From the sometimes understated call-outs to sneaking into the yard at night, sounds and animations are top-notch. Another great non-licensed theme from Williams!

dirtrider has owned this game in the past.

8.647/10

11 years ago

DB

whisper

Inactive member

Melbourne

11y 80,550 1,680 6 67

Fun game realy enjoyed it,multiball is very fun,the crane is cool,and liked the dot matrix games,lots of toys which is great, the dog in the kennel and the toilet are super..think this is a great family orianted game,good rules and easy to understand,really had a great time playing it....

whisper edited previous rating on April 07, 2014.

9.185/10

11 years ago

ROB

Exterminador3

Inactive member

Serra

11y 13,900 2 2 6

I've pay for 5 years to play Medieval and a Junk Yard on the shopping mall, than i think, i've spend a lot to play this machines... I wanna buy one for me, so, last week i've put my hands in MY Junk Yard. For me, it's the second best pinball of all time. It's easy, funny, the sound quality is owesome, the music is very cool, the crank is the second best toy ever. The video mode is king of boring, but I used to play Circus, twillight, AFM, TOTAN, none of than are better then Junk yard in my opinion.

Exterminador3 edited previous rating on April 01, 2013.
Exterminador3 currently owns this game.

7.500/10

11 years ago

???

rocketmoon3

Inactive member

Swisher, IA

11y 6,500 3 11

This has always been an underrated pin IMHO, Pros- lots of humor, nothing like assembaling your toaster gun, wrecking ball is a fun feature and i really like the playfield lay out. Cons- Backglass isnt my favorite, and the scoring is ok, not great but all in all a really fun game.

8.660/10

11 years ago

RVG

Harley

Pinside member

Houten

14y 26,750 4 13

super pin in my opinion underratted ist fast ande not so hard to play lots of humor

Harley has owned this game in the past.

8.416/10

11 years ago

DAR

Chicagoland

Pinside member

12y 35,900 40 15 14

I picked up one never playing it. Got it to my cave. I love it. It super super fun. Few pi heads came by and said the same thing. This game is tons of fun and u want to keep on playing it. The animations and video are the best I've seen on a dmd. And this game is a 1996! This has gone up a few pegs. One of my current faves. I highly recommend u go play one. I have a feeling guy will be shockingly surprised.

Chicagoland has this game on the wishlist.

8.333/10

11 years ago

???

fromthepinside

Inactive member

11y 18,650 23 153

The swinging ball thing works a lot better here than it does in Circus Voltaire. That's because it's in a much better spot. Otherwise, it's a pretty good late-era Williams game. Not too difficult to get multiball and ramps are fun enough to hit. The rating is lower because the lighting is a bit underwhelming and I wasn't a fan of the music.

8.480/10

11 years ago

JON

limbo76

Pinside member

Maple Grove, MN

11y 24,400 32 6 6

We have really enjoyed Junk Yard and have found it to be sticking around longer than expected. Plays great with all levels that play my pins.

limbo76 has owned this game in the past.

6.342/10

11 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,455 51 1011

Junk Yard is another game that could have and should have been great. This game suffers from rules that can be exploited for insanely high scores with no risk.

The Pros:
A cool playfield and no orbits. Barry Oursler tm outlanes make you keep that ball in control! The wrecking ball is one of the coolest toys to grace a pinball game.

The Cons:
All the best design, layout and artwork can't keep this game from being a stinker when it comes to software and playtesting. If this game had a video mode auto adjuster on it... the rest of the game would play much better. The whole quest idea is a good one, but makes for rather predictable and linear play. Unfortunately this makes all the quotes and progression through the game can be a bore. That is if you choose not to work the video mode point exploit.

The Takeaway:
A good game for the kids... When you want to have a talk with your shoulder angel/devil on your pinball game. Here it is.

Sidenote:
My understanding is that Barry Oursler was let go from Williams as he only had 2 10k+ selling games throught his career, But Barry consistently made some of the most memorable and classic pinball games (with some of the nastiest outlanes) ever created:

Gorgar - The first talking pinball game.
Pin-bot and it's younger siblings The Bride of Pin-bot and Jack-bot.
The roller coaster trio of Comet, Cyclone and Hurricane. Dr. Who, Bram Stoker's Dracula
Jungle Lord and Solar Fire (2 of the fantastic foursome from Williams) and lesser known gems like Barracora, Cosmic Gunfight, Defender, Joust and the criminally underrated Time Warp. And lest we forget, the game that many credit with saving pinball at Williams after the great video game crash of 83-84, the incomparable Space Shuttle. Barry's production exceeded over 100,000 copies of his designs were produced over an 18 year pinball design career.

Maximum respect to the humble pin-fu master. Thank you Barry Oursler. My life is better for the work that you quietly created.

Update:
I really enjoy knocking the wrecking ball out of the way and then shooting the other ball into the frustratingly deceptive center jackpot lane at the top of the PF. Even just hitting the car targets at the top of the arch (that look like the rear ends of cars) is a hoot. And watching the pinball drain down the toilet always gets my inner child laughing. This game oozes character and tells a story like few others. Even with the hippy bus. Junkyard is a fun game, not a great strategy game. If you are in tourney mode, points is points is points. But you know what... sometimes that isn't what it's about. How about just playing pinball for fun. Imagine that!

Scores updated accordingly.

Caucasian2Step edited previous rating on November 19, 2013.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

Previous Next 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

There are 173 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 5 of 7.

You too can add your own comment by rating this game! Click here to rate this game!

Over the years

Visualizing this game's rating and rank over the years

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!