DanMarino's ratings

I bought a Space Station about 3 weeks ago and am thoroughly enjoying it. It is a very well done machine as far as the sum of the pieces coming together to make a very fun pinball machine. The music is great and doesn't get old. The music is so well done that it is somewhere in my top 3 for favorite music (right there with Black Knight 2000 and Swords of Fury).

The lighting for the game is very well done. The use of flashers, flashing playfield inserts, and back glass are all coordinated wonderfully. When you do something good the machine definitely rewards you with a great light show and great music to go along with it. Condition Green is very fun and really neat once you switch the Green General Illumination bulbs over to frosted green LEDs. It really is cool how something as simple as green general illumination during a multi-ball can enhance the fun.

The alphanumeric score displays have the best animation and programming I've ever observed. The way the score displays show animations is outstanding. The match sequence, end of game, and high score display work is very well done and really neat.

The game play is fine. The shots can be difficult to hit sometimes, but it is mostly because of the lack of in-lanes feeding the flippers. Like others have said, the goal is to get multi-ball by locking balls using a cool space station mechanism. The ramp can assist in ball locking and provides the jackpot during multi-ball (where the goal is to keep multi-ball going and redock balls into the locking mechanisms). That's it. It doesn't get old and both veteran pinball players and novices really enjoy it. My non-pinball playing 59 year old sister played Space Station the other day and it was easy enough for her to get multi-ball and experience Condition Green (at which point she blurted out, "That was cool!").

For the money it offers a great amount of fun. This machine is on the lower end of the price scale for System 11 pinball machines, so I highly encourage you to pick one up while you still can.

Flash Gordon is quickly becoming my favorite Solid State pinball machine. I remember playing this one as a kid at the local roller skating rink. It's a great looking and great playing pinball machine. You can have some very quick games, so it can be very tough that way.

I love the playfield with three ramps that connect the upper and lower levels. The kickout hole is really cool how it will kick to the upper and lower levels.

The machine had advanced speech, sound, and lighting for the day and it is still impressive and fun 4 decades later. I appreciate the 3 flippers and 3 banks of drop targets. Getting the in-line drop targets down to earn an extra ball is such a great feeling of accomplishment. Also being able to collect the bonus by getting down a drop target and having the ball go back down the shooter lane was a neat idea.

To score well you need to get the drop targets down and that forces you to make shots over the entire playfield. It's extremely challenging and makes me want to keep trying one more game to see if I can get a better score.

I also like how Emperor Ming the Merciless taunts you during the game and tells you to try again after you have drained your ball. Such a great looking machine to play with the lights down in the pinball room. What a great classic game made by Bally.

Jacks Open is a challenging EM. I need to experiment with the pitch of the playfield and see how the game plays with slightly more height on the back legs. The best part of Jacks Open is the drop target bank and sequence of card hands that you need to knock down. The roll-over card suits at the top multiply the value of the dropped targets. Progressing through the card hands using the drop targets is addictive and difficult. The difficulty makes me want to play the game one more time to try and do a little better. The flipper gap sometimes feels so huge, although it looks identical to my El Dorado. The flipper gap seems much wider on Jacks Open for some unexplainable reason. Jacks Open is definitely a fun EM machine. The back glass artwork is really interesting. That center Queen drop target will get you if hit it head on. I'm looking to playing a few games on my Jacks Open tonight.

Will I be able to get $200 worth of enjoyment out of this machine. Certainly, yes! This machine has two outstanding features: 1. The colorful time tunnel that awards scoring. 2. The 4 powerful pop bumpers that really get the ball moving. Game play is fast when everything is clean and adjusted.

Negatives: The flippers are strange feeling and weak. I'm not sure what is wrong with the mechanism mechanics, but the flippers don't feel solid...they are mushy. Maybe they felt this way when new in 1973, I'm not sure. The other negative is the game rules aren't fabulous and the machine is kinda random. Not a lot of real objectives to shoot for directly with the flippers. Fun things happen, but they are mostly what I would call happy accidents. The other negative is the playfield has a center block (which is a feature that I now realize I do not like). The 3 targets that control the time tunnel function and collect the tunnel value are a high risk shot. So I typically try to avoid it and hope to shoot the ball to the left or the right so the pop bumper mayhem can prevail.

Overall, it is fun. I am looking forward to playing it with other people, as that will probably be even more enjoyable. I like the skill shot on the plunge and the time tunnel feature is neat. Nothing else like it for the era. The extra ball is fun to get, but really it's just a happy accident. I also enjoy it when the ball makes it into the lane on the right to return to the shooter and collect the tunnel value plus a thousand or three points. The happy accident on the left side is when you get the extra ball, or the ball gets into the up kicker to shoot it back up to the top of the playfield and collect the time tunnel value. It's also nice that a post pops up and retracts from the playfield down by the flippers to prevent a center drain. It's not near as cool as zipper flippers though. It is a good change of pace when you just want to bash the ball around without thinking too much. It plays fast enough and the time tunnel and 4 pops make it worth a few plays. I keep wishing this machine had zipper flippers. I think it would be more popular in that configuration, but the time tunnel under the playfield takes up the space the zipper flipper mechanism needs.
It would be cool if the kickout holes up top would lock balls for some multiball.

Owning Fireball is something that all serious pinball players should experience.
1. All great pinball machines should have a meaningful skill shot. [check] Shoot it just hard enough to have the ball roll back down the ramp to get 3,000 points and light the two top pop bumpers.
2. All great pinball machines should have excellent artwork. [check] Fireball's artwork is beautiful, classic, and instantly recognized. Cool, caped, red, fireball demon god guys rule on the playfield and back glass. Fire and flames abound in blue, orange, yellow, and red.
3. All great pinball machines should have excellent programming. [check] Fireball manages to achieve 2-ball or 3-ball multi-ball using switch and relay technology. Add in the functionality to zip open and close the flippers, and variable values for ejecting balls from the kickout holes. Yes, strategy is involved to maximize your points.
4. All great pinball machines have advanced features that push the industry forward. [check] Fireball has a kickback ball save on the left out lane. Fireball has a giant spinning disc to create variability. Fireball has wonderful flippers that zip open or closed controlled by mushroom bumper switches. Fireball also has 2 or 3 ball multi-ball to enhance fun and scoring.

All together it's a wonderful machine and even more fun when playing with others. Explaining how the machine works to novices is easy and the game features are achievable, yet require skill to master. I doubt I will ever master the game thanks to the spinning disc, small flippers, and often greedy out lanes. It is a classic and loads of fun.

This pinball machine is a lot of fun and has a lot of replay value. The most unique feature is the playfield layout, which is excellent. It is a drop target shooter's dream. The rules for an EM are excellent. Focus on rollovers and drop targets that are lit for $5,000. The drop targets reset once all 15 are down. You can move the lit target to try and maximize your score. Hearing the knocker award free credits is fun. 4 flippers, 15 drop targets, nice playfield layout, and those wonderful Gottlieb chimes. Definitely a keeper for anyone who loves pinball. Easily approachable for new and experienced players. Once the flippers are adjusted, cleaned, and rebuilt, it's a nice shooting machine and will offer hours of enjoyment. It is my favorite Gottlieb EM machine that I have played.

Card Whiz is a fun EM. I love drop targets, so this a good one for me. I also enjoy the challenge of getting the jokers to enhance the value of the card hands/drop targets. The kickout hole is fun when it happens. Really the only thing that would make it better would be a spinner on the left hand side as you return the ball to the top lanes. However a lot of Gottlieb EMs lack spinners. The artwork is fine and I like the playfield layout and back glass. For an EM, this one should be a keeper in my small collection. Game play is leisurely, but that is definitely enjoyable for a change of pace. Plus those Gottlieb EM chimes are really nice to hear. Overall a solid EM with some strategy. I like it. I like the playfield layout better on Card Whiz than on Jacks Open. Both are great machines, but the playfield layout on Card Whiz is more fun to me. I like hitting the left lane to return the ball up to the top and the jokers. I also like the kickout hole feature.

This is my first System 11 and first Steve Ritchie pinball machine and I will likely get another of each at some point. I love how this machine is loud, flashy, and flows. The orbit shots are great. The ramp shot from the upper flipper is a blast. It's a lot of fun when you hit that ramp shot twice in a row from the upper flipper. Overall it's a great them. It all works together perfectly and makes you want to keep playing it. Getting balls locked into the hideouts during multi-ball is such a fun accomplishment. I also never get tired of the knocker and police beacon/siren. My wife even likes it and mentioned that it is her favorite theme so far that has come into the house.

There is no way this machine should be ranked #200. It is much better than that.

Maverick is a great machine if the Lauren Belle river boat toy is working properly. The game is very challenging. Lots of shots all over the playfield. Do you like drop targets? Maverick has 17 of them. It also has 2 stand up targets, a ramp, some wire forms, 4-ball and 3-ball multi-ball, a river boat toy that locks balls, nice lighting, decent music, and a large dot matrix display with good animations that are integrated to game play. 3 flippers and a really sweet orbit shot that can combo up to the ramp. You also get to play poker hands and black jack using the drop targets and dot matrix display. 5 modes to go through and a skill shot on the plunge determines how you start each ball. Oh, I also forgot the captive ball under the river boat toy that is worth lots of points if you hit it and starts a special mode to get points from the drop targets. It really is a fun game that is very challenging. The more you play it, the more you will enjoy it. Definitely has me playing one more game to try and get a better score and advance farther into the game modes and programming. The final mode is a poker championship that I wonder if I will ever get to. Great value for the money. You may have to mess around with the optical sensors on the river boat toy, but once you get that working it is loads of fun. The game requires you to think. Not great if you just want to mindlessly flip a pinball around. Fantastic if you like a machine that makes you think about strategy and where your next shot should go. The game will make you a more accurate shooter.

I enjoy the way Argosy plays. I love hitting the spinner, hitting the drop targets, and getting the ball into the saucer/hole. I had a cool combo of getting the ball into the saucer/hole having it eject to my left flipper, and then sent it up the right side to the spinner. Getting the ball through the rollover at the top of the playfield is helpful to keep your ball from draining down the left out lane. The chimes are fun for a change and the theme is family friendly.

Edited to add:
The game is difficult and fun. I love EM machines that have spinners and drop targets. The spinner shot on this one is my favorite. The kick out hole can be challenging and same with the rebounds off of the drop targets. This is an EM machine that has high replay ability for me. It's also a lot of fun to play with 4 players, given some of the short ball times. A second pop bumper on the top left would be the only way it could have been better.

Just purchased a Flight 2000. I really enjoy the theme and the mission of the game to spell Blast Off, complete the countdown, and then lock the balls to blast off and get multi-ball. The speech is great, the sound bleeps and bloops are fine. The only thing that would enhance the game would have been some cool music like Black Knight 2000. Once we get it working reliable, we will look into touching up the playfield and installing LED lights. Fun and challenging game that I think will always be in my collection.

Edited to add:
The spinners. I love the right and left spinners! Achieving multi-ball is so difficult and so rewarding. Very challenging pin and a lot of fun with 4 players.

I played the Led Zeppelin Pro pinball machine at Mom's Organic Market in College Park, MD. I had the entire arcade to myself and the first game I played was Led Zeppelin. I'm new to pinball, but I really enjoyed this machine.
1. I've been a Zeppelin fan for 32 years, so I like the theme.
2. I like the Led Zeppelin 3 album cover art work on this machine. It looks nice and Zeppelin fans immediately know what it it from.
3. The play list of songs in the game are all very good. I liked being able to select which songs were playing with the flippers before each ball started.
4. The game was very smooth and seemed pretty fast to me.
5. I liked the shots, ramps, orbit, and spinners.
6. I didn't figure out the rules, but had a fun time. Hitting drop targets is always fun. I was able to get multi-ball a few times, so I enjoyed that.
7. I never got the hang of the upper flipper.
8. I was so focused on playing the game that I didn't catch much of the animation on the back glass.

I ended up playing the machine 4 times and was entertained. I could envision owning this machine in my basement family room.

First impression: I liked this machine. I only played it once. I wasn't able to quite figure out what I had to do to progress into other modes. I enjoyed the music, but had trouble hearing the songs well because the Black Knight was still playing behind me. haha. The layout of the machine was very different and it took me a while to get the hang of the top 2 flippers. The magnet thing at the top of the play field was neat, but I couldn't figure out what made it come on and stop my ball and drop it. I liked how the game was bright and of course the Beatles music was nice.

Edit: After playing this machine on location more, I am a HUGE fan. I would love, love, love to own this machine one day. It is fun and challenging, especially the loop shot on the top of the playfield. Everything on this machine felt well done. I love the music, loops, drop targets and how each mode requires you to focus on different aspects of the playfield and game. Great artwork, lights, and music. The more I play it on location, the more I want one for my home. Very approachable for novices. It's beautiful, colorful, plays great music, and isn't intimidating.

I really enjoyed this machine too. I wish it had the upper play field, but I had a great time on this machine. Fun music and call outs from the Black Knight. The ramp shots that I was able to hit were smooth and fun. The Black Knight toy is fun to bash and I love how he taunts you throughout the game. I dig the Black Knight theme. This machine knows exactly what it is and executes that perfectly.

One of my all time favorites. Love, love, love the music. The game is beautiful and impressive. Love the flashing lights and the music. I enjoyed the game play. Game play is definitely enhanced by the music, call outs, and lighting. I really like the game and I thought it was challenging. Its a beautiful machine that has music and lights that perfectly come together. I could see owning this one. It's an impressive machine, beautiful, flashy, and such great music. I always want to play it when I see one.