Mystic

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Found 14 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 14 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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9.443/10
6 months ago
Mystic has got to be my favorite George Christian game of all time. Filling out the grid with all seeing eyes or pyramids is challenging and forces you to pinpoint your shots to the three sets of drop targets. It has two spinners, and a crucial captive ball shot. Like all great games of this era, it's simple to learn, but damn hard to master. Kevin O'Connor's art package is magnificent, as the back glass is appropriately mesmerizing, and I love all the nods to magic, the occult, and... Egypt? The cabinet stencil might be the best of all time, with the skeleton in the pharaoh's headdress. This game keeps you coming back, because you are always *just* about to break it wide open, but rarely do. An all time great pin.
7.341/10
9 months ago
Old '80 SS pinball.
It immediately seems poor in rules: in reality, to score so many points you need to complete the board (hitting the drop targets) with the same image. Difficult to do because every time you hit the bumpers the symbol changes. The sound effect when hovering over spinners is awesome!
7.881/10
10 months ago
From a glance this looks like a very simple game, and it is in layout, but the rules utilize it perfectly. Getting all of the same symbol on the Tic Tac Toe board in the center of the playfield is a fantastic feeling, and it's not as easy as it looks. Every 10 point switch changes the symbol forcing you to hit the ball into the bumpers to get it back to the symbol you need. From there you need to hit all the drop targets, hoping that it won't hit a slingshot changing the symbol, or go straight from the dangerous middle targets right down the middle. This is a wizard mode before wizard modes. Art is great too.
8.000/10
11 months ago
Awesome 80’s game
7.252/10
1 year ago
It’s a good intro game, simple scoring and easy to understand rules.
9.091/10
4 years ago
Big, open playfield. Spinner lanes to the top. Three banks of drop targets. A captive ball and a saucer at the top. Everything I love in a game. At no time is the ball hidden from view. (I hate it when the ball or parts of a playfield are obstructed from view.)

The bonuses are held from ball to ball. It is heaven listening to the machine rack up all of the bonuses at the end of the ball.

The key to this game is playing the whole table. You've got to shoot the spinner lanes to the top to get the extra balls. (One per ball in play.) You've got to play the drop targets to build the bonuses. And you have to hit captive ball pretty square on to get your bonus multipliers.

It doesn’t matter so much whether the eyes or pyramids are lit. Just keep hitting those drop targets and you'll be fine.

A really fun aspect of the game is hitting that one drop target that completes several rows on the grid. Suddenly you bonuses jump from 9k to 45k or more. Did someone say "BINGO"?

Early in the game, concentrate on the drop targets and spinner lanes for the extra ball. The extra ball is important not just for more game play, but because the bonuses are held from ball to ball. That's an extra set of points. And that's where the captive ball comes in.

The captive ball awards the bonus multiplier. The bonus multiplier is held from ball to ball, but you have to earn it. Let's say you end a ball with a 4x multiplier. On the next ball, your multiplier is 1x, but make the captive ball shot one time and you're back to 4x.

If you have a really good first ball, your task for the rest of the game is to get another extra ball and hit that captive ball.

One of the my favorite features is the three pop bumpers in the upper playfield, right below the saucer. You can get those pop bumpers going like crazy, working the ball back up into the saucer. The saucer advances the stars, working your way to the extra ball. Mystic will make you look like the wizard you are, playing that triad of pop bumpers. You can score so fast there that the machine has to catch up once you finally land in the saucer.

I love this game. The sounds are hypnotic. You want to shoot the lanes just to hear the spinners. Listening to the sound as it counts down 4x 72,000 in bonuses is like a brain rush. There are plenty of toys (spinners, drop targets, saucer, captive ball) to keep a new or casual player interested. And it has the great playability that keeps you coming back for more.


Two years later… I still love this game. Get all eyes or all pyramids and the knocker goes Pop! Pop! Pop! Three free games. Way fun.
7.773/10
5 years ago
Great artwork on the backglass and playfield.
Rules take a little time to figure out, but the game is more interesting once you do. The sounds are not all that spectacular compared to more modern technology, but I still love the sound of the spinner spinning.

A Classic Bally Sleeper.
6.328/10
6 years ago
File Mystic under the "bingo card" or matrix style games from the 1979-80 Bally/Stern offerings. This one has a unique hook that every square on the card can represent two different symbols, thus making it two bingo cards in one. Stern's Big Game makes it a little more clear having three cards laid out separately on the playfield. Mystic is a bit confusing to get your bearings on, having each drop represent a square on the matrix, and each square being lit for one of two symbols, but it sure as hell isn't as confusing as Bally's Spectrum. The art package works for what it is, but how great would it have been to have had this as a Houdini theme? It's just a sidestep away, but not having that attached theme probably relegates this game to Bally's C-Squad of offerings from the early solid state era.
8.164/10
7 years ago
A game with an incredible artwork package by Kevin O'Connor (especially the backglass).

A solid design with an initial "ultra confusing" ruleset based on depth for its age.
"You must understand the all seeing eye..."
Many people still cannot score the gameplay on the first attempts, including the captured messenger ball.

For this point alone, it did not always do so well when it was originally produced for operators.
It came out just a little too early before its time of the early Bally golden era.
Two different backglasses produced.
Two different cabinets produced.
Various differences between production and early models.
Compete keeper, no matter which version you find.

Don't underestimate this title if you like early solid state machines.
I am looking for another to add back to my collection.
6.736/10
9 years ago
Really nice layout. Fun shots, spinners on both sides. Takes awhile to figure out how to score here but makes you want to learn more each game.
7.898/10
9 years ago
I love the artwork & color on this game, & I'm also a fan of drop targets & captive balls. So needless to say I was a fan of this game the first time I laid eyes on it. Don't see many for sale so when I had a chance to get one I did. I really enjoy it & it fits great in my collection where I have a few more modern style games with ramps & flashers. This is just pure pinball, simple but challenging. Yet there are still several ways to score on the game. Nailing lit spinners, knocking out the stars, going for the drops, or going after the captive ball. The sounds are typical of that era, obviously, but I like how they were done for this game. They seem to fit. Anyhow, between the looks & the layout & the rules,this seems to be an underrated game. You won't find many amazing reviews on it, yet when a nice one comes up for sale everybody wants it. If you are into ramps & flashers, this might not be for you. If you appreciate early SS Bally (& you should!), then its hard to go wrong with this game.
6.972/10
10 years ago
Even better when Vajazzled.
7.745/10
10 years ago
This is another game where you can be either really rewarded or really frustrated at the end of a ball. It's a classic design with drop targets, spinners and a saucer. The captive ball was a nice addition in place of in-line drops like on other games because the shot is always as drainy hit 1 through 5. I'm a particular nerd for this semi-Egyptian style art, so that's a big plus for me, and one of the main reasons I wanted to take it on as my first restoration project.
8.183/10
11 years ago
Mystic is a good example of how a simple layout can be made into a solid game with well thought out rules.

The Pros:
The KO'C art package makes a simple game look fantastic. Similar in layout to Evel Knievel with orbits, lanes and pops. The drop targets are the biggest difference along with the addition of a captive ball lane. A simple and solid layout by George Christian. Good rules make this deck shine requires you to shoot all targets, the captive ball for bonus x and the spinners.

The Cons:
The game can feel like it is too simple at times. If the setup is too easy, the game rolls over in no time flat. Of it it's set up to hard, your game time will be less than ninety seconds, all day long.

The Takeaway:
An understated design that plays great when setup correctly. If not set up correctly, this deck shows its tempermental nature. You'd better level this deck out before starting your game. Freshen the rubbers, wax it up and let her rip!

Update:
I got the chance to play a nicely "tuned" version of this table that was used in competition play and it was great. All 9 targets need to be selectively hit (depending on if they are lit white or orange) and then, bang away on the captive ball to increase the bonus multiplier to make the most of your 72's. Stars are nice for extra balls and specials, but for big scores, bonus seems to be the way to go! This design can be absolutely brutal especially once the ball heads towards the outlanes.
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