hogzillaman's ratings

I FINALLY got this game working properly with the help of some good people near me. This game was near butchered and frankensteined with many wrong parts.
I really enjoy this game which is pretty quick to play especially next to my two wide-bodies. There are plenty of challenging shots that I still have not learned. I think the theme is great and the designers really got this down better than most games of the era. Everything about it is about speeds and loops.
Its pretty easy to get the multi-ball up and running and have often done it multiple times during a game but man, I really want to get all three balls into the super-charger at one time!

I own this machine and don't really play too many others so I'm trying to avoid bias in my rating. First, the scoring is over the top. Do we really need to be able to score into the Billions?! I think this game would not have suffered, and been just fine if they'd have capped it in the 100s Million range. My 2 1980's era Bally machines dutifully conserved digits (6) only to be squandered by this machine. I suppose it adds to the 1970s hyper-inflation theme so...
It is a really fun game with lots of shot choices and a tough second ramp shot. The epilepsy-inducing flashing lights does not help when trying to time this shot off the upper flipper. There are of course several levels to be conquered with various targets for each and a few 'mini games' so to speak that can really crank up your scoring if you can achieve them. I've been playing it for a few months without really reading the rules. I like to learn the machines by playing. I still notice a few lights that come on without knowledge of why. This tells me there is a lot of good replayability and it will be a while before I have done it all. Long live Calahan!

Nice older game and of course the artwork is on-par for the era. So unacceptable by todays standards, god forbid...which just adds to its charm :). At first it seemed a bit predicable and simplistic with the rules and shots but there is a strange attraction about it. It's certainly challenging due to a few key shots which will assuredly drain your ball...every time! The play field is reasonably easy to figure out as are the rules. The upper left flipper is not often used and though it seems to be poised for hitting drop targets across on the right side of the field, its tough to do so. I love the 4 in-series drop targets. So tough to get them all down but man, soooo satisfying when I do. The right lower flipper is tough to get used to - No trapping with it! You can trap with the others, but shots from these are limited. I wish I could reprogram the midi noises into some real sounds and even voices. Amazing what difference 2 years made in tech, back then. My '81 Embryon sound, though limited by today's standards, seems light years ahead of the Paragon from '79!
FYI, if you think you have mastered this game and is no longer a challenge, try it with a ceramic ball. My game came with one so I had it in play to speed it up. I noted a significant difference in how the game reacts (of course). I would think the ball simply moves around quicker but using this ball makes the game significantly more challenging, imo. Coming out of the upper right ball capture, it has a high % of throwing it down between all pop-ups, right down the drain. Avoiding this requires bumping the machine before it's kicked out. This of course, is not really an issue with the steel ball. Anyhow, interesting tid-bit.
Overall impression--strangely addicting and I recently have racked up a lot of playtime revisiting this.

The only game I ever really played as a kid. I'm not a big pinball guy, but I had to have this one in my home. So ya, I am bias.
UPDATE:
After owning this game for more than a year, I have to say I really enjoy going back to it from my other games. Ya, its a slow wide-body, but each time I return after not playing for a while, I find myself trying to determine a better scoring strategy. There are at least a few ways to put points up, but it seems the most consistent and safe is the upper left field to gain multipliers and possibly free ball. the upper right field with 3rd flipper can score bonuses and extra ball but not a lot of point generation. Targeting the lower left and right trapped balls and associated drop targets can put up points with the lower of the three left targets sometimes being a bit of a challenge. These are a tough way to generate points. And of course, the center captive ball is possibly the easiest, but also a high risk of drain. I freaking love it when I get a perfect dual-ball hit which sets off the lightning-ish flash and 'thunder' sounds. Again, the rebound from this shot has a high % of draining nad thus a bit riskier. this slower machine is a bit more relaxing as well, but maybe that's just age (ugh). My only wish is that there was more than 2 multi-balls. All the steps to get this to trigger can be a bit challenging, requiring first that you hit the center capture ball numerous times, then a skill shot to trap the ball (I'm pretty good at this one now), drop target hit, and again hitting the trapped ball behind that same drop target. It its a bit anticlimactic and I usually drain one of the balls not long after. I still have a strong bias to this game. It was the first and will be the last in my collection.