I'm finding it very hard to square the other comments on this game with my own experience. In my view Gottlieb really fluffed the rule set on this game. Let me explain.
I'm a huge fan of Sing Along the replay version of this game. It was the game I played most as a kid, it was the first pinball I ever bought, I still have it, and I still rate it the best EM I have ever played.
So when I had a chance to acquire a beautiful condition Melody I thought "fantastic, AAB games are usually better for a home environment than Replay games so surely this will turn out to be the best EM ever". How wrong could I be. In the rule set Gottlieb adopted for this game IMO they mucked up what could be a truly great game.
This is where I think they went wrong.
1. Scoring:
On Sing Along the "3" targets and the "2" lanes are each worth 100 points. So a great way of scoring is to get the ball to the top of the playfield just above one of the top bumpers, and from there nudge the game to get several hits on a 3 target before exiting down the 2's lane. Let's say you get 3 hits on a 3 target before going down the 2's lane - that's 500 points, yaaay.
On Melody, for some reason Gottlieb decided the 2's and 3's should score 50 points :-(. So in the same scenario your first hit on the 3 target will start the game scoring 50, and chances are it won't have finished by the time you have passed through the 2's lane. Total score .... 50 points - all your skill will have been wasted. You may as well just aim for the 100 target in the playfield centre. Even if all you do is pass down the 2's lane, having two switches closely spaced in line both scoring 50 means you will never get the points for the second switch. What were you thinking Gottlieb?
2. Skill Shots:
On Sing Along completing each 1-4 sequence lights one hole occasionally for Special. This creates a lot of excitement since not only do you have to drop the ball into a kickout hole (lit, or to the left of the lit) but you have to do it when it is lit - if it isn't lit you have to try and get it lit first by getting in the bumpers, and of course as soon as it is lit, a missed shot can put it out again. What's more, once you have completed a sequence it doesn't reset, so there are unlimited Special opportunities. What's more, the easiest hole to drop the ball into (because of the kick across operation of the holes) is designed to light less frequently than the others. IMO it's this feature above all others that elevates Sing Along to the ranks of greatness.
On Melody it is far more tame. Completing a 1-4 sequence lights one hole permanently for extra ball, until collected. So no more pressure to get the hole lit, no more pressure to avoid unlighting it - it just sits there until you get around to collecting it - lame. When you do collect it the sequence resets and you have to start all over again.
In addition on Sing Along going down the red or yellow 1 lane lights the corresponding colour bumpers for the whole game, so it is important to get the plunge right on the first couple of balls to maximise scoring opportunities for the whole game. On Melody there is no skill element to the plunge other than making sure you get a lit 1 each time.
3. Restrictions:
The Melody backglass shows it is theoretically possible to get up to 10 balls to play, but in practice this is unachievable. There are only two ways to score an added ball in this game - completing the sequences and dropping in the lit hole, or score. The problem is to complete a sequence you have to lose a ball since all the 4's require a drain (unless you have that very rare lucky bounce on exit that completes both red and yellow 4's at the same time). So you can't score a Special on ball one, meaning the highest the ball count will ever go from Specials is the number of balls you start the game with. That leaves score, but you would have to get 5 added balls from score (in a 5 ball game) to get the balls to play counter up to 10, which I would be highly surprised if anyone has ever done. Note, there is an adjustment which allows the game to start on 8 balls to play, but this is a novelty mode with no AAB feature so 10 would remain unobtainable.
Comment.
I'm a great believer in keeping games in their factory state, so I sold this game on disappointed. However if I ever get a Melody again I've decided to break my rule. I would modify the game so that:
1. 2's and 3's score 100 points, not 50
2. Holes light occasionally for extra ball when their respective sequence is completed (a la Sing Along) and not permanently
3. Sequences don't reset when an extra ball is collected (but do when all sequences are completed - to avoid unending games)
I believe that adopting these changes would make Melody what it should have been from the start, possibly the best EM of all time.