Jrnyman's ratings

Played once at an arcade and was sick of playing it on my second ball. The rules? You're buying letters trying to solve a puzzle on a pinball machine? It just does not work, and I really did not care to complete shots to make these objectives. I "got an R" ... wow. It's just a horrible idea for a pinball machine. Stern's try at William's Pin-Mation with their contestants characters just looked cheap in comparison. The weird drain blocker feature does not play smoothly. Big-time collector's may want this game for its rarity. But ... for the rest of us ... yuck.

The backglass is very unique looking and stands out in an arcade, but it was a swing and a miss. They tried to do gothic and dark, but the design is just ... weird. The playfield art however looks great, especially the gothic building sculps for toys. However, the main feature toy, the coffin, I always thought they could have made a little more interesting/animated and give more detail to. As for the playfield layout, it is very unique and difficult, which works with the Dracula theme. You should have a hard time defeating Dracula. However, after a while you will learn the unique shots on this game (including the difficult right ramp shot) and the ruleset on this game is on the shallower side, so the game can start to feel repetitive as you master it.

One of the few pins from this era not to have any original callouts. The sound clips from the movie do work when you make your shots (and the sound effects are awesome), but they do get a little repetitive. Never was a fan of the music on this game. It sounded too electronic and dated for the game's time period, and it's just a little dull and repetitive.

If you are looking for a fast, challenging game just to try to put up a monster score with stacked multi-balls, this game is for you. If you want a game with more flow and lots of objectives, go for another title. If you need another darker themed game in your collection, can't go wrong with this one!

Definitely one of John Borg's most fluid playfield designs,; it's a great balance of "fast and flowy" and variation in shots and shot difficulty. Just like Metallica, you could not do better with the KISS theme (artwork and pinball concept). When it comes to the Rock n Roll pins, KISS is "the one" that truly puts on a rock concert under glass.

So theming, artwork, and playfield design are great, but this is a game that severely needs code. Yes, it's not meant to be a serious, deep goal-driven pin like WOZ or LOTR, but right now the ruleset is ridiculously shallow, and the rules around the wizard modes are beyond confusing. Actually trying to figure out any objectives of this game (other than hit the lit up shots) is beyond perplexing. And call-outs are too few, and way too repetitive. I know you can't do too many call outs when a pin has music with vocals, but this is way too quiet a pin. It's missing the call outs that put pressure on the player to hit a shot or complete a mode.

Pro vs. Premium\LE? Yeah, you need the upgrade on this one for the dynamically changing RGB lighting. When Demon or Love Gun Multiball kicks in, and the lighting totally changes, it just feels like a rock concert (and the ambient lighting colors they chose for the different songs work). The floating pinball on the back-wall premium feature is a one trick pony that gets old very fast.

In Summary, with more robust code in this game it will be a classic IMO. If Stern does not fix the code, the pin becomes a game with very little lastability that will be forgotten quickly. Own it? No, only if you're a KISS super-fan and a pin-head. For me, right now the game is just fun to play at a bar or arcade after I've had a beer or two. But even then I'll only play a game or two, because it gets very repetitive fast.

If speed is your thing then this is your game. Tricky ramps, hard to hit crucial shots, and toys that will drain you if you're not careful. The gameplay fits the theme perfectly. The playfield art is very simple and photo-shoppy. However, the game is fun to play and has that one more game feel. If you get a high score on Iron Man you have earned it (and definitely have advanced nudging skills). Great game for a medium to large collection.

Watching Thing grab the ball never gets old, and the sound and lights build-up to multi-ball is the best presentation ever. Perfect blending of theme with a pinball game. Raul Julia's call-outs are very unique, along with some of the kooky sound effects. The modes are all quite varied, and none of them feel like chopping wood. The layout is perfect and balanced for making a game with a lot of flow but is also unforgiving if you don't know the shots to make (or goof up). The game has been played to death by pinballers for 25 years and will be for many many more.

After playing it my first thought is that it will be a great game to get kids into playing pinball, because gameplay-wise it is one of the slowest (and easiest) machines to come out in while. It's a slow and flowy game (if that makes sense). The pop-up monsters don't even add that much difficulty at making your shots because the playfield is so open you can easily get around them if you like. The ramps are a piece of cake to make since they're pretty much straight up the middle.

Rules-wise, I can't tell from the screen what I'm working toward. Seemingly random modes I am able to start and complete, and there isn't much of a score payoff for them. It shocks me when I complete 10 modes and have a lower score than someone who just has a long-running multiball. Yes, that's true of a lot of games, but not to this particular degree.

The RGB inserts are creating some greens, pinks, and blues that are way too light for the theme. They need to create darker colors (like the insert colors on LOTR). The playfield art is beautiful, but the cabinet is very non-original (a bunch of photo-shopped arranged characters). The sound quality is amazing (and love the seemingly endless music). In the current code the game has very few callouts however (other than a couple of funny lines from the movies).

Overall, a fun game to play that really needs some more code badly, and especially needs more speech to add tension to the game and guidance of what you're doing.

Have played this game many times at the Pinball Wizard Arcade. The sore point on this game is the backglass, which is one of the worst in modern pinball IMO. The colors look faded, and the color choices of these strange blue, pink, purple, and green pastels just do not work. The image is not one that will draw players of any age over to the machine, and is not one that people would call great art to frame on the wall. The image fits the theme/gameplay and that's about it. The game has a lot of toys, but the problem is they look like they were ripped out of a playskool haunted house toddlers playset. I understand that the game is trying to be a little goofy, but too much goof makes for a game that's trying to make up for its shortcomings.

The sound on this game is great, with "spooky" sound effects that startled me the first time I played it. Some of the call outs are the funniest and best in a pinball machine in years (like the tongue and cheek ball jokes). As for gameplay it is quite fast and brutal, but the layout of having the ghost in the middle causes a lot of SDTM drains. The game has a tendency on a few of the shots to send the ball so fast to the flippers that air balls are prominent. Rules-wise there is a lot to accomplish, but it's not always obvious what your objectives are, or what you're currently trying to shoot for. The scoop on the lower right is just way too powerful (which is why a ball save is coded after it ejects).

Great to see new Pinball Manufacturers coming on the scene. However, this pin does not have the same look and play-feel as a world-class game manufacturer like Gottlieb, Bally/Willaims, or Stern. However, it's a game with a deep ruleset, and challenging, fast gameplay that I would still choose over other new games created in the last few years.

Metallica fans and fanatics could not ask for a better themed pin. It has the band's imagery and dark-comic flare. The rat-fink-like street style artwork is very unique and great to behold. For a rock-pin it has a pretty deep ruleset that is for the most part easy to understand. The game is brutal if you keep missing your shots, and the steep angled ramps can make for a challenge.

Sparky is a cool toy, but a "one trick pony". Watching him get electrocuted time and time again would definitely get old over time. With that said though, whenever I'm in an arcade that has a Metallica pin I have to play it. Great game for a large collection (unless you just absolutely love Metallica). Lots of songs to pick from with the latest code. When it comes to gameplay I believe that the PRO plays better (the hammer just screams add-on and warps the gameplay). The PRO still puts on a great lightshow, and all the white lighting works when the artwork is so colorful. It's a pin that does not take itself too seriously and is just really fun to play again and again.

As far as I'm concerned Rudy is still the best pinball toy ever. Period. Gameplay is very well balanced for both speed and challenge of the shots that need to be made --- not too hard and not too easy. The game's flow is decent but the two machines I've played both had issues with airballs. The game has great lastability because it never gets old to hear Rudy mocking you, or having the urge to bash him or make him swallow a ball. Great lighting effects for its time. FH will always be a sought after classic pinball machine.

One of the first pins I ever played. I remember seeing this at my local bowling alley side by side with TAF, and at the time I would have never guessed it wasn't at least a decade older than TAF. What made it feel old to me is the very 70's/80's feel of the music and playfield art.

However, I always did like the backglass art, and the wind blowing in your face added a nice dimension, and the spinners moving on the table made it stand out with an extra challenging fun factor. There are some hard shots that will take a little while to master, but, the rules/objectives always seemed a little too 'blah' for a "90's" pin, so I never took the time to try.

First lets get my only complaint out of the way: the asteroids are definitely a little tacky... looks like aluminum foil balls.

The gameplay definitely is top 20 of all time. This game is all about making your [challenging] shots, and the more you do, the faster and faster it plays, and the harder it gets ... love it.

How does the theming blend with the great gameplay? The sound effects and lighting add a brilliant tension to the gameplay. I would compare Star Trek as being a pinball machine version of Space Mountain in Disney World (if that makes sense). They both give off that same harrowing space adventure vibe.

The mirrored backglass on the LE looks amazing (both the artwork and the high-class presentation). Would love to own one of these, but then I would never sleep again, because I would be playing Star Trek all night, every night, in the dark!