Williams

Medieval Madness

Pinside Rating

This game received 1453 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.872 _/10

8.872

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks 2nd in the game group "Medieval Madness". The group itself ranks #3 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 9.09

Artwork: 8.707

Sounds/Music: 8.398

Other Aspects: 8.963

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 10 of us have rated this game.

9.029

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This title is part of group: "Medieval Madness"

Medieval Madness

Medieval Madness
(Remake - LE)

Medieval Madness
(Remake - Standard)

Medieval Madness
(Remake - Classic Edition)

Medieval Madness
(Remake - Special Edition)

Medieval Madness
(Remake - Royal Edition)

Found 860 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 860 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 8 of 35.

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8.530/10

5 years ago

JIN

Pinasco

Inactive member

Malmö

8y 37,650 81 3 60

I entered my first encounter with this table slightly irritated about the extreme hype around it and the fact that some idiots actually said "You haven't played pinball until you´ve played MM".

I will make this short; the game is every bit as awesome as described by people in general. This is the way a modern style pinball machine should look (seduction capacity), sound and of course; play.

Insanely engaging and with a perfect playfield layout, beautiful in style, that includes one of the best bash toys ever and two hidden trolls that emerge from under the playfield with a bit of attitude…

Another positive factor is that many of the playfield gadgets seem to be well-made regarding design and material, unlike some more "cheap"-looking efforts from later Stern games for example

There really isnt many - if any - square inches on this playfield that feel like "fillers". Every little spot appears to have a clear purpose and ties in well with the general theme.

The only possible negative vote from me, and this is highly subjective, is that I would have preferred more aggressive and intimidating call-outs - rather than the comedy style lines her. Maybe with exception for the trolls and their comments….
The music itself is perfect and matches the dramatic and promising art on the backglass.

Straight up one of the best 90's games.

9.700/10

5 years ago

???

Houdini

Inactive member

Unknown

6y 14,750 1 1 21

In my opinion, the best playing game ever made. Good depth to the game but very easy to figure out what to do and when to do it. The GOAT!

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

8.933/10

5 years ago

FAB

Toothtitan1

Pinside member

Freehold, NJ

6y 31,250 1 9 9

I just love this game. My favorite classic for sure.

Toothtitan1 has this game on the wishlist.

8.926/10

5 years ago

DOC

TractorDoc

DPS

Ashland, OH

7y 245K 2,923 33 106

Really enjoyed playing this game -- will never forget the first time destroying the castle. Hope to own one someday!

TractorDoc has this game on the wishlist.

9.424/10

5 years ago

RET

SevenEightyRacer

Inactive member

7y 45,050 117 14

Man this is one of the best pinballs for a reason! I absolutely love this game and always pump coins into it and play until my finger hurt. Such a great game and totally worthy of the top 1-3 spot.

5.409/10

5 years ago

???

Bradpinfan

Pinside member

Fort Wayne, IN

7y 52,550 2 23 18

Pros:
The trolls are fun and so is the castle..... Unfortunatly that’s really it.

Cons:
Rules need a lot of work. Castle is just to valuable. You get a multiball and you should just keep hitting the castle. Merlin seems to be very poorly designed in that the majority of the time you hit it, it just lips out. Layout is very standard and is simmaler to Afm but just worse.

Overall:
This game is not good and should not be in the top five, not even the top 100. Just buy an Afm I can’t think of a single way MM is better.

Bradpinfan currently owns this game.

7 Pinsiders flagged this.

8.958/10

5 years ago

SUL

chromag

Pinside+ Frequent

Cloverdale, CA

12y 57,900 37 15 19 1

I really do love MM but did get burned out on it after a year or so and I think the ramps are too wide to be a serious challenge for a good player. Very fun, just not hard enough and too much money to keep forever with so many cheaper great pins out there. Sold mine and honestly don't miss it, I'm an EM wedgehead dude anyway.

chromag has owned this game in the past.

9.760/10

5 years ago

ALX

alex1973

Pinside member

Longueuil, QC

11y 19,150 11 2 6

Best of all.

alex1973 edited previous rating on December 28, 2018.
alex1973 has this game on the wishlist.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

6.432/10

5 years ago

DAN

dantorana

Pinside member

Brisbane

8y 29,500 2 60

So disappointed I was wanting this machine in my collection but hated it when I played it right beside it was a afm and it shat all over it

5 Pinsiders flagged this.

10.000/10

5 years ago

CAP

CaptNRetro

CaptNRetro’s Pinball Co

Snellville, GA

6y 36,650 44 5 23

this is the reason i love pinball..We had one at the CiCi's pizza and I spent roughly 3 years in there 2-3 times a week beating other peoples scores..or attempting too..this is the game that I would recommend to any newcomer..it's captivating and fast and fun..all you can ask for from a pin

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.940/10

5 years ago

RFN

Rafoon

Pinside apprentice

Ingrandes

5y 14,000 4 5

My second best one !

9.900/10

5 years ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside Moderator

Rockwall, TX

5y 266K 10,120 23 271

One of my favorite games of all time. There are no flaws to it...except the cost.

Daditude edited previous rating on December 31, 2018.

9.620/10

5 years ago

RSM

CaptainYuk

Inactive member

Aliso Viejo, CA

5y 15,250 2 6

This is my favorite machine of all time. The overall cohesiveness of the objectives in the game, the difficulty but fun nature of the shots, celebrity voice appearances by Tina Fey and Scott Adsitt, incredible sound, great toys and gimmicks make this a must-play for ANY pinball fanatic and a must-have for any diehard collector!

9.044/10

5 years ago

D D

RandomTask

Silverball Chronicles

5y 68,550 512 2 35

One of the top machines around and right away or obvious why. Fun shots. Fun theme made perfect with great humour. Masterpiece of enjoyment

7.456/10

5 years ago

MIK

Murphelman

Pinside member

Ottawa, ON

7y 52,550 373 11 12

I like this game. Castle toy is great and the shots are satisfying. Something is preventing me from liking it more. Maybe it is the bashing the castle over and over again to get a high score. Maybe the music. I have fun with this game but can't play too many games on it before I want to move on to something else.

7.532/10

5 years ago

MCM

middaleman

Pinside member

20y 64,300 14 47

I don't know why this game is #2, but I do enjoy it. Perfect entry level, beginner game. Not super deep, but fun toys and easy to grasp. This is the game that got my daughter into pinball, so for that I give it an A+.

9.564/10

5 years ago

KOJ

koji

Pinside member

Surrey, BC

6y 112K 2,657 14 65

Medieval Madness seriosuly catapults it out of the park. Love the modes, and strategy / gamble to stack up madness multiballs, and the feeling of accomplishment to here them all read out, and attempting Royal madness.

Humour is great, art both digital and on the table is fabulous, and the toys cannot be beat.

9.420/10

5 years ago

RW

Beebl

Pinside member

9y 139K 532 64

Yep, its up here for a reason.

Beebl edited previous rating on June 17, 2022.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

8.820/10

5 years ago

DDS

Shubbydoo

Pinside+ Frequent

Melbourne, Fl 32934, FL

5y 58,900 49 10 61 8

MM is one of the all time greats. It is considered by many to be the best pinball machine ever made and competes with MB and AF. That said I can agree it is very fun to play. It has great flow and the call outs are hilarious. To me the trolls are frustrating because they impact the flow but they are funny and antagonize the player. I have owned this pin and it frustrated when it kicked the pin out from the swamp it did it with just enough power to drain SDTM. The artwork is amazing. Its a nearly perfect pinball machine in every way. The only negative is the rule set is somewhat simple but that what the limit of the software at the time. Its one of those games that holds its own year after year. The remake hurt its value a bit. I highly recommend this game.

9.580/10

5 years ago

RAD

DumbRecords

Pinside member

Springfield, IL

6y 49,400 14 8 29

MM was the game that took my pinball obsession to the next level when I played it at Cedar Point in the late 90s. I never thought I would own one, but thanks to the remakes I was able to get my hands on one. I've played this game to death on virtual simulators and I'm still coming back for more. I've owned it a good while and I'm still coming back to try to improve my game. I've grown tired of most games after owning for a while but never this one. This is the gold standard that I will measure all other pinball by. Just the perfect blend of accessibility for new players, fun, challenge, humor, etc etc.

I finally parted with my MM after owning for about 4 years. I wasn't playing it very much and it was worth a lot of money and it was time to freshen up the lineup. I probably won't ever get my hands on one again.

DumbRecords edited previous rating on April 29, 2022.

10.000/10

5 years ago

RSK

RSKrouse

Pinside member

Des Moines, WA

9y 31,900 34 5 17

The game that got me back into pinball. Perfect in every way. Belongs at the top.

RSKrouse has this game on the wishlist.

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

9.700/10

5 years ago

GLN

Lawtalkinguy

Pinside member

San Francisco, CA

6y 24,150 48 1 9

No need to be redundant here. Probably the most fun game out there. Fantastic flow, great rules, great sound/callouts/music. #1 for good reason. Only negative is that it is more or less the same game as Attack from Mars in many respects.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

9.760/10

5 years ago

IKM

VanDaaame

Pinside apprentice

Alpharetta, GA

5y 10,000 6

Medieval Madness Pinball Review

Summary and First Impressions

About 5 years ago I caught the pinball bug after visiting the Pinball Museum and Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. When I got home I had to get my hands on more pinball and given my video game background, the first thing I delved into was Farsight Studio's Pinball Arcade on iPad. Eventually, I made my way to Pinball Arcade's version of Medieval Madness after seeing it on the top of many all-time pinball machine lists. I played the HECK outta it. Recently I had a chance to play the physical machine on location and it was even more fun in person!

Medieval Madness has everything I could want in a pinball machine. Great toys, fun shots, interesting rules and just the right amount of difficulty.

Highlights
* Watching the castle explode is incredibly satisfying
* Easy to understand rules that offer some interesting risk-reward decision making: completing a shot a certain amount of times lights a "madness." Shooting the Merlin shot will trigger all the madnesses. The more madnesses you have lit the better the multiball that is triggered. Do you take your madness now or do you risk it and build a bigger madness? If it's the latter then you have to avoid hitting Merlin!
* Hilarious call outs are strewn throughout the game!

Misses
* Those damn trolls
* Occasionally the strategy can lead you to simply shooting the castle a bunch

Layout
+ Great layout, each shot is fun to shoot, comboing the ramps is great and the castle has just the right amount of Risk-Reward
- The troll risk-reward is off, they feel incredibly dangerous but don't feel like they reward enough as a trade-off

Rules
+ I really like the "madness" system; trying to score a royal madness leads to you attempting every non-castle shot on the table
- The scoring of the castles incentivizes them as goto strategy

Toys
+ The castle is the best toy in pinball. It's placed perfectly and it's "explosion" satisfies every time

Art
+ Great overall art package
+ The castle multiball animation is a great highlight
+ All of the big scoring animations are great as well

Sound and Music
+ Lots of funny sayings by the castle "lords"
+ Great SFX, especially for the catapult and troll hits
+ Great callouts and reward sounds

Theme
+ Never takes itself seriously for a second, but still dripping in a medieval theme

Conclusion

Medieval Madness deserves every bit of praise it gets. It's got a great toy and easy to approach rules for the casual player PLUS great in-depth rules and rewards for the hardcore player. It's presentation and light show is among the best in the hobby. If you haven't played this game live, go find one and give it a chance!

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

9.700/10

5 years ago

FAU

ParisPinballAdct

Pinside member

Paris

5y 37,050 167 8 17

Right up there with Attack from Mars but would still give a slight edge to AFM... Obviously same game designer and two absolute classics: pick your poison theme (knights or aliens) and go for one or the other and you won’t be disapointed. MM is amazing and doesn’t get old.

ParisPinballAdct edited previous rating on October 16, 2020.
ParisPinballAdct has this game on the wishlist.

8.324/10

5 years ago

???

CptUniverse

Inactive member

Unknown

5y 10,750 1 22

A game that deserves a lot of praise! At the moment I'm having a hard time to find any relevant criticism!

CptUniverse edited previous rating on December 24, 2021.

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There are 860 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 8 of 35.

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