Flipstream's ratings

The layout and flow on the Pro table is amazing on the table. The Newton magnet adds an incredibly unique ball movement mechanic, catching and tossing building shot exits to the left ramp lane for the upper left flipper or over to the tail whip shot. Some of the shots are more challenging to hit like the left ramp or Maser Cannon, although none feel unfair or brick/reject prone. Slower shots into the u-turn just to the left of the building may send some balls SDTM.

The code and rules are still early, although I have concerns that there is going to be some wood chopping required to reach Planet X. As it stands in .8x code, reaching Planet X seems to require destroying all four cities, and each city destruction requires a Bridge multiball/destruction, a Kaiju battle, a Tank Attack, and a Powerline Attack. Each of those modes require progressively more shots to activate/clear. The four main Tier I Kaiju battles also have a good variety of completion steps, although Megalon is significantly harder than the other three due to the quickly roaming shot that sometimes has a delay before relighting a new location. Points seems to be tied more to Kaiju battles and built-up multiball jackpots/supers than anything else in the game. Managing the Heat Ray timing and usage (Like DP's Super Boom) will also make a huge score difference.

The video clips fit well with the game modes, the content is a mix between rendered content and clips from prior Godzilla movies. The lighting isn't to the extreme level of GnR, although it works very well with the GI setting an appropriate destruction/burning mood for mode starts and the building status. The sound and music is good, with the BOC Godzilla song being the prominent stand-out, as expected.

The three main playfield upgrades from the Pro are the collapsing bridge over the Newton magnet, the central building diverter and physical ball locks, and the Mechagodzilla magnet figure and rotating ramp/target bank. The bridge is fun to watch chatter after it has been destroyed, although it doesn't add much to the overall experience. The building is far more significant of a feature. For the Pro model, the left and right ramps only return to the left and right flipper respectively, where locking a ball towards Godzilla MB on the Premium/LE will lower the building one "floor" and change the return paths of the ramps. This makes for interesting gameplay decisions for timing the Gigan Kaiju battle and Super Train modes when the right ramp shot returns to the left flipper. The Godzilla MB lock on the building roof is also fun to watch, although it is fairly common for the three locked balls to partially or completely drain SDTM after they are released.

The biggest gameplay difference with the Premium/LE feature set is the Mechagodzilla target bank. The magnet is not as much of a factor as the Pro has a similar return to the "Tail Whip" lane. The largest factor is that the targets rotate where both lower flippers can shoot for the targets. On the Pro, only the upper left flipper has a clear shot at both targets.

Overall, Godzilla is easily Elwin's best table design and layout to date, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rules continue to evolve as Stern adds more content.

The layout and flow on the Pro table is amazing on the table. The Newton magnet adds an incredibly unique ball movement mechanic, catching and tossing building shot exits to the left ramp lane for the upper left flipper or over to the tail whip shot. Some of the shots are more challenging to hit like the left ramp or Maser Cannon, although none feel unfair or brick/reject prone. Hitting the u-turn lane between the magnet and building shot can send the ball quickly SDTM on some tables. This could be a factor of table pitch and level as some Pro tables I've played send the ball to the right flipper.

The code and rules are still early, although I have concerns that there is going to be some wood chopping required to reach Planet X. As it stands in .80 code, reaching Planet X seems to require destroying all four cities, and each city destruction requires Bridge multiball/destruction, a Kaiju battle, a Tank Attack, and a Powerline Attack. The four main Tier I Kaiju battles also have a good variety of completion steps, although Megalon is significantly harder than the other three due to the quickly roaming shot that sometimes has a delay before relighting a new location. Points seems to be tied more to Kaiju battles and built-up multiball jackpots/supers than anything else in the game. Managing the Heat Ray timing and usage (Like DP's Super Boom) will also make a huge score difference.

The video clips fit well with the game modes, the content is a mix between rendered content and clips from prior Godzilla movies. The lighting isn't to the level of GnR, although it works very well with the GI setting an appropriate mood for mode starts and building status. The sound and music is good, with the BOC Godzilla song being the prominent stand-out, as expected.

Overall, Godzilla is easily Elwin's best table design and layout to date, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rules continue to evolve as Stern adds more content.

The table layout is fun overall, and the rules are a min/max paradise with all of the different gem placement options. The best description would be the layout feel from Elwin's Jurassic Park, with a heavy dose of the minor villain rules from Batman 66. The comic style playfield artwork looks amazing, although the display animation is primarily sliding/zooming stills of the characters like a digital comic. It doesn't look bad (Other than the bland trophy room background), but it does feel a bit lacking compared to what Stern put together for TMNT's animations with 3D modeling. Theme integration is spot on, following the comic version of the Marvel Infinity War.

There are definitely some minuses with the table layout. The outlanes are ridiculously hungry, with the somewhat higher placed slings often throwing a ball directly into an outlane with no real possibility of saves. The table has the outlane post adjustments in the easiest position by default, although the openings to the outlane still feel huge. Flipper fade from overheating coils can also be an issue depending on play style, which can prevent some ramp hits after a solid 30-45 minutes of play. Solvable with an after market cooling system, although concerning this is becoming a more frequent issue with Stern tables. Earlier Prem/LE runs also have problems with the Subway ball-walk mechanism breaking, the subway not dumping into the VUK correctly, spinning disc leveling issues, and playfield chipping from the Ant Man and Thor guides.

For Prem/LE specific features, the subway and lifting disc look neat, but it's all flash with very little practical function. Having played the Pro as well, I can say the subway mechanism doesn't really decrease the flow of the game, it just doesn't add much either. The Captain Marvel ramp is the biggest difference since it provides safer Ant Man and Captain Marvel shot returns. Unfortunately, ramp rejects are somewhat regular with shots that rattle out partway up the ramp or a hard clunk off of the leading edge of a rail wire. I've had a few shots escape toward the back of the table out the hole in the rail, as well. When the shot is on, though, it does feel great to hit that 180 vertical turn. There is a 3D printed clip-in part tdiddy created that makes a dramatic improvement with the ramp reliability which I strongly recommend for Prem/LE owners.

The table is fun to shoot, although the issues with the Captain Marvel ramp might make the Pro more attractive for moderately skilled players. I'd also not recommend this for someone's first table to own, unless they have very solid pinball skills or are really into Avengers/Marvel.

Post v1.0 code milestone:
With the latest updates, if you don't really care as much about scores and typically focus more on mode completion and progression, this is probably not a good table to own. I really don't care the direction Stern went with the rules, although I fall strongly into the mode/progression category. If min/maxing the score isn't a key focus, progress consists of collecting gems and repeatedly collecting the same set of Avengers. The game also forces a timed gem defense mode that ends in either losing a collected gem (And possibly a ball) or the gain of one gem.