dmesserly's ratings

Classic Lawler design that is an all-time great pinball. Varied layout with four flippers gives shots all over the playfield. Rules are good but a few of the mansion awards are just points. Overall really good ruleset for the era.

One of the best theme integrations I've ever experienced back when you actually has new voice acting from the movie actors.

Everyone interested in pinball should experience this game whether you own it or not.

Yep. Us old timers love it because they have years of experience playing lots of pins.

Very fun game with fantastic implementation of a great theme. Well designed with fun, flowing shots. Great humor. Rules are fun and spider wheel is a great invention. Rules aren't deep so it's last ability is hurt a bit. I think it's a top 20 pin all day.

AFM is classic pinball fun. Fast, flowing shots. The theme is well designed and integrated with great quotes. Good rulle set. Challenging but not ridiculously hard.

Catacomb is a really fun pin with tons of drops. Another interesting ruleset requiring thought when aiming to complete target banks. The backbox bagatelle is a like or dislike among many players and I like it. Mix of chance and skill to advance the "toast". One of my top three Sterns along with Star Gazer and Nine Ball.

I'm a fan of billiards themes and love the backglass on this pin. Its a tough pin when playing fast and strong. Lighting the kickback is the priority then multipliers. Not the best from the era but fun...if you like punishment.

Shadow is a challenging pin as it is fast and flowing but you need to keep on your toes. Great layout with player controlled diverters allows for strategic, quick decision making play style. Battlefield is nice but not the best upper playfield that B/W made. One of the best ball lock mechanics and effect.

Varied modes and multiballs are fun. Wizard mode is tough but not impossible to achieve for decent players. Hard to finish. Love, love, love this game.

One of the top pins of all-time with genius design, mechanical inventions and ruleset. Expansive rules that aren't necessarily deep but you can have lots of things going on at once. Great multi balls that don't hand out jackpots like candy. Earn them, relight and earn them again.

Callouts and music are good. Unfortunate that it just missed being DCS.

Challenging but not impossible for regular players to get to wizard mode.

Love it.

Funhouse is a great game with a simpler, multiball oriented rule set. It does give you the mustard with the mirror awards and modes. It's one those pins where you are battling a foe, like BK. That makes it satisfying to beat the pin's personality. Beating on Rudy and making him scream is great!

Medieval Madness is one of the top DMD releases. The game has a fun theme that is integrated well with art, rules, layout and toys. Just a fantastic game in all respects. Flows well with the castle moat being the only slow down area. Doesn't hurt to have a 1-2 second breather.

Love this game.

Classic Stern goodness. Drops and spinners work well in the rules. Fast and fun. Interesting flipper area design takes getting used to but nice to see different designs. One of my top three classic Sterns. Get one if you can find one.

I love this game. It keeps me coming back to play one more. Not a terribly difficult game but can be punishing if you are missing shots. Love the drops and inline is cool. The rules on various shots mesh well and strategy of when to go for certain shots is good for the era.

This is manic drop target action. Make sure you have robust mechs because the drops are up and down continuously. Fantastic fun game with interesting sequence of knocking down targets by pool ball. Ball lock is fine but challenging to get balls in. You need to learn how to bank the ball off the right side into the lock. Hanging spinner is nice and fun to keep going when lit for big points. I only wish there was some additional scoring benefit to getting multiball like 2x scoring.

Really fun drop target pin with complex scoring rules that bring strategy to shot selection. With the bingo-style cards, you have to pay attention to what's lit and when to complete targets. The Big Game feature is fun and spinners are good.

Another fun mid-70s Gottlieb. This one has a lot going for it. Drop targets, playfield rollovers, spinner, kickout with score tied to rollovers and drop target reset tied to rollovers. Lots of games don't reset drop targets but this one does. Also, you can multiply bonus by rollovers and side lanes. Lots to shoot for and great re-playability. Its a Gott with drop targets!

Lots of fun going for the targets. Great rule that pops up horseshoe targets repeatedly once you knock them down for 5K each. Top rollovers and kickouts add to game scoring. Go for double or triple bonus.

A pretty fun game with strategy tied to the roto-target. Do you go for the 500 or star or do you try to spin the target to a better value? Vari-target is OK but not one of my favorite playfield mechanics.

All time top 5 for me. Variabilty of playfield, toys, features all make for a fun game that lasts.