greenstreet's ratings

Have owned this game for two years and only have 200 plays on it. Summary: shallow rules, fan layout, bash toy, multi-ball where you hit all of the shots in the fan. Gets boring fast.

Think it would be a good game for a family that isn’t that into pinball and wants a pin to play casually.

You have to push through some pain to start loving this game. As a huge Star Wars fan I wanted to like this pin when it was released but struggled with it for years on location. I finally broke down and bought it solely for the theme. At first both my teenage son and I thought it was a mistake. It seemed like every shot was a drain hazard and the ball always seemed to be on the left flipper but all the shots were also on the left.

But then the magic started to happen. We found creative ways to limit the drain risk (some shots need to be backhanded and some can only be approached by one flipper). The rules became clear and they are fun with acute risk vs reward. Learning how to manage the multiplier bank unlocks the whole game.

I absolutely love this game now. Ball times are short and some games never get off the ground. But for home use on free play that is fine, just play again. Before you know it you are having a great ball, the multiplier is up, you are completing modes and hitting 50-million point shots.

As a Star Wars fan the movie clips, call outs, music and sound effects are fantastic.

This is an outstanding Steve Ritchie game but is also uniquely different than his other masterpieces. I’ve got no issue lining this up next to three other Ritchie games. This one stands on its own.

Have put about 200 games on LZ LE and I really enjoy the game. It is very fast. It is so fast it makes Star Trek feel slow by comparison. There is a fun risk reward element to the rules which keeps the game’s exciting and relatively short.

The open play field is actually a pro rather than a con. It allows for unprecedented speed and flow.

The only feature I gave less than high marks is the Magic Spinner. At least for me, it disrupts the flow and is a real drain hazard.

Game looks amazing in person.

Update: another 200 games in so approximately 400 total... this has to be the best speed/flow pin ever made. if you like speed and flow as I do, this game is a must for your collection. the code at 1.02 has added more reward to the Magic Spinner which offsets the drain risk, makes all the difference. The Spinner is still a hazard but the reward makes it worth shooting for and more exciting.

as far as cons, the shots are pretty tight/tough except for the center ramp which is easy peasy from both main flippers. the upper flipper is an extreme example of difficulty. to put it into context, i'm about 60% success on the spiderman upper ramp shot, 30% on star trek but only about 1% on LZ LE upper ramp. i mean, what's the point? the good news is that shot is completely irrelevant to the game rules so you and can ignore it (thank goodness). took some points off of my rating for this though.

Fun pin with a great theme.

The theme doesn't appeal to me so i was shocked how fun this pin is to play. The layout feels unique. Love the left orbit, it is so far away it looks like a tough shot but is actually pretty easy to hit, so rewarding. The crane is a nice toy too. Like how the villains from the TV series are incorporated. I don't think this will find it's way into my collection because of the theme but I will play it every time I see it on location.

This is just a great game. I've owned it for about a year and I still play it almost every day. The rules are complex which limits repetitiveness... each game is a little different. The layout is really top notch as well. There is so much to shoot for. The drop targets, magnetic tower and spinning disk are all well done and add to the gameplay and rule strategy. There are some very tough shots that also have huge rewards, which is perfect imo, risk = reward.

I've read some reviews that feel the degree of difficulty is too high. Obviously that depends on the player but once I got used to the way the ball bounces, ball times lengthened a lot. This game is just set up a little differently and that is a huge plus, but it also means there are traps and dangerous shots that might not be immediately obvious. Low left to right movement is very dangerous with these out lanes but there are protruding elements in the midfield that help avoid letting the ball get down there and can help you get control back once there.

Some other reviews have expressed displeasure with the nature of the callouts being defeatist. It is true Thanos and his minions are strong and kick the Avengers (the player) around. This is consistent with the essence of the movies where the Avengers pull out a 1 in 14,000,605 chance to prevail.

If being an Avenger was easy, everyone would do it.

Played this pin for about an hour at an expo so can't really opine on lastability or depth of rule set. But having said that, I really enjoyed it. I actually felt like a boxer getting ready for and fighting in bouts The boxer toy is fun, throwing lefts and rights and winning a bout is very rewarding. Will definitely play it again.

Pretty brutal game and a real disappointment for a great theme. Owned the Premium LE for several years and, even after extensive work, could never get it to play "right." The ball would get stuck a lot and in different places, most commonly on the Hulk or Tesseract. But even trying to ignore how often players have to go under the glass, the game play is awful. It's basically hit this shot a dozen times for the right to hit the next shot a dozen times for the right to hit the next shot, yes, a dozen times. And look, i get that people have different skill levels, but the Black Widow shot and to a lesser extent the Captain America shot are too difficult to be fun when you have to hit them so many times. After years of grim determination, I finally got to Battle for Earth, but by this time I was literally so bored and it was so anticlimactic I turned the game off in the middle of the mode and never turned it on again. Needless to say it is no longer in my collection.

My friend has a TOTAN in his collection and I've been fortunate to play it quite a bit. It is a very fun game. The rule set is solid. It is easy to follow but also has enough variation to limit repetitiveness. The genie and the lamp are fun toys and the ramps and loops are satisfying. One of my favorite Bally/Williams titles.

Have owned this machine for a few months and absolutely love it so far. It is fast and somewhat forgiving which allows the player to really go for those whippy combos. The lighting is amazing and the Vanquish toy is cool and fun to bang on. Theme is well incorporated. I read an earlier review that compares Star Trek to Spiderman (which I also own and love), and I think the comparison is fair. I'd have to give the nod to Spiderman which is my all time favorite machine but this Star Trek pin has the same feel and is really nice to have as a new flavor of the same style of game.

Have owned POTC for a few years. It is a fun machine that I still play for a casual game as a change of pace, but it is never my first choice. The shots are easy and repetitive and the rule set is shallow. But, that's the bad and really only applies to more serious pinball players. Now for the good... It is a great looking machine. The light show when you stack multiballs is really amazing. Stern did a nice job incorporating the theme. My kids and other casual players say it's their favorite! For the casual player, banging on the ship, killing the Kraken and popping the trunk are very rewarding (even if they become repetitive for an experienced player). So it's a great pin for a family of casual pinball players or as part of a collection for guests to play.

Update: Have upgraded my review slightly. I've come to realize my personal preference for pins that flow and are fast. POTC isn't a flow game. While there are plenty of shots they all hold-up the ball. I now realize I have a bias against this style and other players may actually favor it. Anyway, I upgraded my rating to try to remove my personal bias for flow vs single shot making.

I was "lucky" enough to have a three hour delay at the Louisville Airport and discovered this machine in the terminal. Very fun game and the rule set seemed interesting for as deeply as I could penetrate it in three hours. But let's be real... The typical pinball enthusiast is a middle aged male gamer. The attraction for this crowd is a sultry voiced Elvira dropping sexual innuendos that approach orgasmic as the player achieves more difficult shots and combinations. This machine belongs in a bar or bachelor pad and would not be recommended for a family. Without a doubt this is a quality pin but it is also probably a little overrated if measured on its pure pinball game play.

My parents bought this machine in the 80s when I was a kid. It has held up well and plays the same as it always has. When compared to modern games KISS is dated but if we measure it against it's era it has merit. The playing field is open and symmetrical. The objective is to build end of ball bonus by spelling KISS up to 12 times. Players utilize ten different shots to spell kiss so there is decent variety. There are four important targets on the right side that award 2x bonus and the extra ball (and hence another end of ball bonus). The left and right loops are money shots too when lit.

Very fun pin. The theme works well and the rule set creates variety. The ramps are nice and I actually like the trunk. Many people have mentioned the repetitive nature of the trunk shot but I don't notice it. Perhaps because it is right in my shot wheelhouse (same spot on the playing field as Legolas in LOTR or the left loop on the old KISS machine I grew up on). Definitely in my top 10.

I thought I was going to love this game. When I played it for the first time I had a great game and was able to go fairly deep into the rule set but I found myself getting bored. I actually left my last two balls unplayed. Got repetitive. I think my impression was hurt by the fact that I had just played Spiderman which is very similar and simply better imo. This is one of these machines that has been elevated beyond its merits by the Bally/Williams glow.

Have owned this machine for a decade and it is nailed to the floor. Has easily been my most played pin. It is fast. The rule set is complex enough to limit repetitiveness. You can focus on defeating the villains or the modes or both! Stacking modes with multiballs is very fun and a good way to run up your score.

I've owned LOTR for almost a year and still play it everyday that I have time to do so. The rule set is deep and thought provoking. There are so many ways to explore the rule set that every game seems new. My kids love it too which tells me novice players are not intimidated by the game play. The sound, lights, artwork and theme are all very well done.... I understand there is a love affair with Williams/Bally. Maybe it is because pinball enthusiast own a lot of Williams/Bally machines and they want to boost their value or maybe it is nostalgia, but this Stern blows them all away. It is perfection.