Williams
Pharaoh Pinside Rating
This game received 52 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.459 /10
Pharaoh
Score breakdown
Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:
Game Design: 7.46
Artwork: 8.048
Sounds/Music: 6.511
Other Aspects: 7.417
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.
Found 19 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 19 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 1.
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6.837/10
4 months ago
Saint Paul, MN
Really neat use of magna saves and a cool separation between the upper and lower playfields. The upper flippers feel pretty terrible, but slapping around and eventually making progress feels good when you find the lane you’re reaching for. Separation of playfields has been done better since but this one was an important one for its time; it’s fun to play even if ball time seems pretty short. Wide flipper separation makes things go by quick at the bottom but it’s tough and fun regardless.
7.973/10
4 months ago
I think this game is more fun than Black Knight. Upper playfield is used nicely and I like the amount of drop targets on this game. The magna saves are tough to master but man it's satisfying! I wish I picked up the Pharaoh that was offered to me years ago before!
8.100/10
11 months ago
Toronto, ON
Really like how the upper playfield has more space. You can really "play" for some time in the upper portion of the playfield because there is more real estate. Surprisingly, a really fun and fast game.
7.089/10
3 years ago
Williams classic and one of the more interesting upper PF layouts.
Controlled magna saves are a ton of fun to master. Theme works well, BG/PF flashers are a nice touch, and call outs / sounds I’ll get caught saying to myself after gameplay. Art package looks great w/ more to be desired for BG.
Overall good ruleset for ERA with left flipper backhand getting a bit repetitive in placing ball to upper PF. Regardless, always a pleasure to play.
Controlled magna saves are a ton of fun to master. Theme works well, BG/PF flashers are a nice touch, and call outs / sounds I’ll get caught saying to myself after gameplay. Art package looks great w/ more to be desired for BG.
Overall good ruleset for ERA with left flipper backhand getting a bit repetitive in placing ball to upper PF. Regardless, always a pleasure to play.
8.456/10
3 years ago
I had fun playing it. Its from 1981 and plays better than most games from that era.
6.800/10
3 years ago
The artwork is great! The gameplay is fun but very different...so it would go well in a lot of collections. I think it is underrated.
8.118/10
7 years ago
I really loved Pharaoh! It stayed in my collection for quite a while and I played it a ton.
I didn't really want to sell it, but I had more pins coming in than going out; so...
The artwork on this game is really good. I always found it fun to point out the suggestive stuff in the backglass.
The gameplay rocked! It is a upper playfield heavy game, but the shots to get up there are satisfying. It's critical that the upper drops work correctly, or the game isn't worth playing.
Getting multi-ball gets easier over time, but keeping it alive and up is a challenge. I think the most satisfying is getting the extra ball. The target light to hit moves back and forth from upper and lower, so timing and accuracy is key.
I miss having it around.... But, some pinsider in IL is happy playing it now.
I didn't really want to sell it, but I had more pins coming in than going out; so...
The artwork on this game is really good. I always found it fun to point out the suggestive stuff in the backglass.
The gameplay rocked! It is a upper playfield heavy game, but the shots to get up there are satisfying. It's critical that the upper drops work correctly, or the game isn't worth playing.
Getting multi-ball gets easier over time, but keeping it alive and up is a challenge. I think the most satisfying is getting the extra ball. The target light to hit moves back and forth from upper and lower, so timing and accuracy is key.
I miss having it around.... But, some pinsider in IL is happy playing it now.
6.877/10
8 years ago
I played a modified version of Pharaoh at Zapcon 4 (2016) that was set up with no legs and odd controls. Still, it was fun and of the four Williams in the series, I like Pharaoh the best (then Solar Fire, then BK, then Jungle Lord, if you're curious).
The raised playfield is fun, but almost takes up too much space on this particular table. It's neat to watch the ball go off and explore on its own (where you can't see it), but I really need a little more room to shoot. Besides the cramped feel, I also think the raised pf shots are too hard or lack the capacity to allow the player to make a variety of shots. Still, the theme is great, the art is very detailed and eye-catching, and the overall game play is still fun.
I'd like to own a Pharaoh one day, so it's on my list. I recommend playing it several times with special attention to getting that raised pf shot to go through (you'll know the one when you play it).
The raised playfield is fun, but almost takes up too much space on this particular table. It's neat to watch the ball go off and explore on its own (where you can't see it), but I really need a little more room to shoot. Besides the cramped feel, I also think the raised pf shots are too hard or lack the capacity to allow the player to make a variety of shots. Still, the theme is great, the art is very detailed and eye-catching, and the overall game play is still fun.
I'd like to own a Pharaoh one day, so it's on my list. I recommend playing it several times with special attention to getting that raised pf shot to go through (you'll know the one when you play it).
9.042/10
9 years ago
One of my favorites. Love the color schemeing. And the design of pharaoh himself. I don't care for split level games but this one gets a free pass on that.
6.971/10
12 years ago
Wiedlisbach
Good looking machine with rather limited ruleset. Somewhat unbalanced layout, as the purpose of the lower - and very narrow - playfield is limited to rack up MagnaSave(tm) units. For the main feature you need to keep the ball on the upper playfield, multiball is a rather "useless" - playfield scores double - and the memorizing capabilities of the SS technology are completely wasted, as no achievement/value is held over to the next ball. The only "pros" beside the great artwork are the MagnaSave(tm) feature and the Bonus-Ball feature for two or more player games, IMHO.
Nailsea
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