danastude's ratings

This machine is amazing. I have never rated a table 10. The only reason I did not start now, is that I am not personally a fan of GNR, and I can't say I know the rules that well. Can anyone really know the rules of a modern table without reading and playing a game for a substantially long period of time? Given that time, I may edit my rating to a 10.

Should I order this machine, it would be the first one I owned, where I did not install a Pin Stadium. The lighting is that good.

The toys are outstanding, and follow the theme so well. It is a piece of art.

Like on POTC, the extra ball is only awarded with a very difficult shot. On the one hand, very frustrating. On the other hand, only right to do so, as the extra ball is almost always the most valuable thing on the table. Especially on ball 3.

Also like POTC, I have heard others saying it is too multi-ball heavy. ?????? How can that be a complaint?

Once again, JJP has raised the bar for others to follow.

This machine is the "Real Deal".

Hated the movie, Love the machine. Underrated game. Yes, simple and a little childish, but good shooter, with good flow.

Felt the need to review the machine reading the previous rating comments. The "good ol' games" are rated high for a reason. Their flow, toys, and shots. I give the newer games points on stronger and deeper rulesets. Depends upon what in most important to you in a table.

Straight out of the gate, the newest game ranks crazy high. The new shinny object. I liked this game, but don’t see it in the top 5 or even top 10. Newer games such as JP, Metallica, and IM, are under rated and seem more like possible candidates for top 5 games..... IMHO.

Great game. Love the dino eating the ball. Good flow. Not sure it's a top 5 machine.

Great game. Love the dino eating the ball. Good flow. Not sure it's a top 5 machine.

This game is under rated. I feel SS Gottlieb games in general are under rated. Unique and effective slingshots. Unique, interesting, and graceful flow.

The game is very under rated. Gameplay in upper playfield is best I have ever experienced. Access to upperplayfeild is unique with three options to drive ball up. Best integration design of upper/lower I have played. It is llike two games on one table.

Will be the first machine in my lineup to go. Theme, call outs, and artwork seem childish. Driving Range ramp is it's only saving grace.

Love the pin. This is the highest rating I have for a pin which I hate the theme. Fortunately, the music is not too dominate in the overall sound. I try to think of it as a military history themed pin, as opposed to a metal band I don't like. Flow and layout are great. Rules are good. This is an example of Sterns new breaking outside of the cookie cutter tables they have been making lately. My opinion of Stern tables has been getting better over the last few years. Hey Stern: No more rock and roll themes and what ever happened to original themed pins?

One of my favorites. OK, the rule set is pretty simple, but the flow is great with very satisfying shots. The humor is THE best of any machine I have ever played. My kids enjoy playing it, while having no idea that the call outs are continuously referring to male genitalia, and oral sex. While I am not necessarily a big fan of Elvira, I think she is perfect for a pinball theme.

Pro’s:

JJP always has the best toys. This game is no exception.

Ruleset will keep you intrigued almost indefinitely. Character choices, and plundering are a couple of my favorites. I read someone complaining about it being too multiball heavy. Really?????????? The ability to stack a large number of multiballs makes game play exciting. Next, I’m sure we will hear complaints about it having five wizard modes.

Beautiful playfield and light show. The animations are beautiful. Not sure having actors in them would make them better. No actors gives it more of an original theme kind of appeal.

Good Flow, with a very creative layout.

Cons:

The spinning disc is noisy.

Quality control seems lacking, with problems strait out of the box. Complicated toys and mechanisms are attributed to this, but would we want to give this up for generic, and repetitive Stern type tables? JJP explores “out side of the box”, which I guess we have to “endure” for the exotic. Still, I have experienced simple adjustment type issues on my Ruby Red, and POTC which should have been caught on factory quality control. On a positive note, JJP has been very responsive with helping me fix issues. Most important is how it will hold up over time. I like to believe it will.

Conclusion: I believe this game is amazing and more than worth the QC and noisy disc issues.

Side rant:
The haters/trolls on this game amaze me. I watched rating and comments on this game closely before purchase. Change the ratings filter to “all ratings” and see ratings of 2 to 5, with no comment. The bottom of the fourth page of Top 100 SS ratings start at 5.093. I flagged one which identified POTC as a previously owned machine. This is obviously one of the haters who cancelled his preorder due to the change in the disc and trunk. People complain about those who rate a machine 10.0. Mathematically, a rating of 2.53 skews a table’s rating more than nine 10.0 ratings. IMHO, I believe Pinside should disqualify any rating less than 5.0

Best game of the Star Trek franchise. Very fast, with satisfying . Keeps your attention as you generate adrenaline. One of the few Stern tables I really like.

Pro’s:

JJP always has the best toys. This game is no exception.

Ruleset will keep you intrigued almost indefinitely. Character choices, and plundering are a couple of my favorites. I read someone complaining about it being too multiball heavy. Really?????????? The ability to stack a large number of multiballs makes game play exciting. Next, I’m sure we will hear complaints about it having five wizard modes.

Beautiful playfield and light show. The animations are beautiful. Not sure having actors in them would make them better. No actors gives it more of an original theme kind of appeal.

Good Flow, with a very creative layout.

Cons:

The spinning disc is noisy.

Quality control seems lacking, with problems strait out of the box. Complicated toys and mechanisms are attributed to this, but would we want to give this up for generic, and repetitive Stern type tables? JJP explores “out side of the box”, which I guess we have to “endure” for the exotic. Still, I have experienced simple adjustment type issues on my Ruby Red, and POTC which should have been caught on factory quality control. On a positive note, JJP has been very responsive with helping me fix issues. Most important is how it will hold up over time. I like to believe it will.

Conclusion: I believe this game is amazing and more than worth the QC and noisy disc issues.

Side rant:
The haters/trolls on this game amaze me. I watched rating and comments on this game closely before purchase. Change the ratings filter to “all ratings” and see ratings of 2 to 5, with no comment. The bottom of the fourth page of Top 100 SS ratings start at 5.093. I flagged one which identified POTC as a previously owned machine. This is obviously one of the haters who cancelled his preorder due to the change in the disc and trunk. People complain about those who rate a machine 10.0. Mathematically, a rating of 2.53 skews a table’s rating more than nine 10.0 ratings. IMHO, I believe Pinside should disqualify any rating less than 5.0

Not a Metalica, or Stern fan. So my rating is probably not fair. For a Stern, I like it. Lots of fun toys. I frequently compete well on in, even tho I don't know the rules. A fast machine.

The lastability is just not there for me. The last machine to come into my house and probably the first to go. Don't like how the ball gets lost by the pop bumpers. Too start/stop ish of game play. I don't feel that flow.

So many things I like here. Earned ball save is one, however the state fair on could be a little easier. I appreciate that it was the first to bring in long overdue innovations such color changing factory LED's, headphone jack, and video screen. Made Stern step up to the plate. Visually stunning. great light show. Well themed. Did I mention visually stunning.

Problems: Very wide body floaty. Not a good shooter. Flow sucks. Can't bring myself to sell mine because it's just too pretty. Like so many women i dated in my younger years: Hot, drop dead gorgeous babe, with little substance inside.

Never liked the 1995. Not sure how the 2017 is rated higher. SDTM drains are too frequent from hitting the saucer. Playfeild is way too open. The theme is the only redeeming quality.

The oldest machine I like. Simplistically perfect. I like that even a crappy game can be cheered up (and scored up) on ball three with multiball.

I generally gravitate towards non-licensed original themes, but this theme sucks. The theme however is the only negative thing about the machine. Everything else on this machine is amazing. The flow, game play, lastibility, and rules are all 10 in my book. If my friend (a half mile away) didn't have one, it would be in my collection. After posting, I came back to note that I have rated this table higher than anything I have rated before. And No, I don't own one.

The game is a work of art. The fun factor is through the roof.

The only problem I see with the game is a flaw in the rule set. The bobbles: menagerie, spin, boom, and sideshow are too easy to accomplish. You can't play a game without incidentally achieving these goals. If I could change code in chips, I would adjust the difficulty of these particular goals. Aside from this flaw, the rule set of the game is good.

Don't get me wrong, it is one of my favorite machines, and will never leave my collection.

Three reasons this game has a low rating:

Rules are limited.
Games on location are beat to crap, and mechanically fail.
Theme can easily rub people the wrong way.

Three corresponding reasons this game should be rated higher:

Some fun machines should be taken for that....Fun. You don't always have a deep rule set to have fun. Don't always take pinball so seriously.
Don't rate this game solely on playing a dirty, beat up, machine on location.
Some people (like me) Love the South Park show.

Felt the need to rate this machine when I saw it rated higher than the original. I have played both. They are both great games with relatively little difference. What is the difference, Hard to define, just a feel. I like the feel of the original, thus I will rate it a hair lower than I rated the original. (tempted to give it a 1.0 to skew the average, but I won't).

To plagiarize from a forum I read:

If Ford decided to remake it's 1965 Mustang with current automobile technology, would you consider it better? Would you rate the remake Mustang higher than the original? The 1965 Mustang, and the 1997 MM are classics. Respect them.

My favorite machine of the nine I own. John's best work. Sure, it is an easy machine to reach the wizard mode on, but don't that add to the fun? And what a wizard mode it is. I don't understand the bashing it receives in some of these reviews.

Love the show. Don't like the machine. Classic cookie cutter Stern. Fortunately, Stern has been breaking out of this mode over the last couple of years.

Like the frequent multiball. Pop up heads in open playfield add a lot. The game is a good workout.

Update after a year: The lastability is not there. Playfield is too open. I own all other JJP tables. This is the only JJP I just can't seem to get my head around. Part of it may be the theme. Don't hate the movies, just not a fan.

Best Machine I have ever owned, or played for that matter.

3 years later update: Lastibility was not there. Always felt a fustration with the left ramp. Not a bad game, just neeeded to move on. Fortunate I sold it before original dropped in price.

Its' simplicity is its' biggest virtue. Its' offspring lost this virtue. Probably rate it high because I played it a lot in a bar.

The absence of knocker annoys me. Not a bad game, but it does not get much playtime in my collection. For the most part, I'm just not a Stern guy.

If I didn't like the theme so much, the rating would my rating would be substantially lower. Too much open space. I set it to five ball, as the outlanes drain so much. Would be the first to go in my collection, but the only one my wife likes.

A little dark in lighting, but great game.

Game is too busy, but a classic.

The machine is a work of art.