I love playing my black hole, but I can see why people don't like it. The 4-target bank that needs to be completed is very difficult to hit on purpose, and the shot geometry could have been a little better here. It's a critical part of the game to get the top playfield captive hole lit. Frequently it requires shots to be taken off the very tip of the flippers where the accuracy is extremely variable. Often times a direct hit will also mean a rebound down the left outlane also. I've noticed with the game on 3 ball the targets you have hit will stay unlit after a drain, however on the 5-ball setting they are all reset.
It's cruel that if you manage to get the targets lit for captive ball, and actually capture a ball (which isn't too difficult to do). The ball ejects. However, captive ball does stay lit so you can have another go.
The lower playfield captive hole is always available which is a bonus, and this captive hole is a pretty easy shot. It's somewhat challenging however to complete the banks to allow for reentry to the upper playfield without draining.
The bumper on the left outlane is pretty brutal, if you manage to get caught in this trap it almost always ends in a drain.
I love the playfield artwork on this, and given that its 33 years old it's relatively timeless as it doesn't look nearly as dated as some other games of this time. The rotating black hole in the backglass is a huge draw for this game.
The repetitive "music" is terrible, thank god it can be turned off on the sound board with a simple dipswitch setting. The speech is definitely from the 80's however, the speech on a speak and spell from the same time is better in my opinion. Sometimes the words are a little hard to make out, and there is very little variation in what is said.
For someone who enjoys a challenge, (i.e. 75-100 games before you get your first multiball, and even then you might drain it). This is a great game. It will definitely improve your shot accuracy and nudging skills, as they are essential to getting high scores. However, if you get frustrated easily or this game will be mostly for children I don't recommend it. I see this as a cool collectors piece, and can definitely be reconditioned and modded out to look amazing.