Magicmike0's ratings

One of the most brutal games I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning! Friggin loved it! It has the most amazing creepy music, and best pop bumper sound effect to date. The art is cool and creepy too. I hope to own another one, just don’t want the headache of the cracking playfield. Hope to get the better version one day. LED’s make this game look like a modern day blood sucking machine!! Mutliball stacking is a rush. The mist multiball is an incredible sight to see, and is one of the best uses of a magnet in pinball. A great gimmick. The callouts are great! It has friggin Keanu Reeves in it! Such a great theme. Loved loved loved this pin, but I had to let it go to get some Modern ones. Now that I have them, I’d love to add Drac back to the collection. Must play, must own pin!

Stargate is a beautiful game with still one of the most gorgeous back glasses I’ve ever seen. I truly miss this pin and it’s definitely Gottliebs best. If you LED it and add the light ring mod from Cobra Amusements…you’ve got a winner! I also added some lights to the eyes of my guards, Anubis and Horus. The game itself is a super satisfying shooter. Love the 5 way combo!!!! So satisfying! The ramps are so fun and steep. Do a flipper rebuild using the official gottlieb parts from pb resource and you don’t have to put in stronger coils. I honestly loved and miss this title, but the callouts were really repetitive. If ya know ya know. I always held the flipper buttons before launching to make sure I didn’t get the pyramid call out too often. It helps. I will own this one again one day.

Another nice pin that you should own at least once. I had a blast with Dredd. If you add the planet mod and LED this sucker, it’s a beautiful game! Shots are fun. I’d love to take another crack at it, since I’ve played and gotten better over the years. I bet I could beat it now. It’s just a heavy hard to move wide body that got me. Had to carry it with my brother up and down steps. If you own a stair climbing dolly should be fine.
The art is awesome, the cheesy crimes/fines are hilarious, and that crazy mutliball is so fun. Dredd again, is a must own once. I miss it!

A fast and fun classic! I owned it for a few months. A superb starter pinball, and also a keeper among collectors.
The sound is cool for the time. The rush of mutliball was crazy along with the sirens on top of the cabinet. If you’ve not had a chance play one. Classic classic pin.

Godzilla is my 3rd Stern machine. I’ve owned it for one year today as of this review.
Kaiju movies. Always liked them growing up. Somehow I left it behind though. Heard about this pin coming out and thought, meh. Lame. I guess I was thinking it’d be based on the new movies, though. It didn’t even cross my mind as too how cool the old Kaiju movies would be as a pinball theme. So yeah it wasn’t my ideal theme at first. Don’t get me wrong, the new movies are cool, just not what I grew up knowing. I was told by a trusted inside connection how awesome the pin was going to be though, and he ended up convincing me to get on the preorder list. Then I saw the stream and my jaw dropped. I had to have it!!! I never bought a pin without playing it first, but from what I saw on the reveal, I knew it was going to be special. Since owning it I have fell in love with the iconic original King of Monsters! This pin made me remember, and appreciate the old movies. They are so bad they are good. So let’s get straight to it. Starting with:

Art-
It’s the total package! Great comic cartoon style with colors that pop! Zombie Yeti killed it! I don’t even keep up with designers, but when you’re one of the best, if not the best, it’s hard not to remember his name. Every art detail in this pin is a 10/10! Green or Grey Godzilla who cares! It’s a win!

Design/Shots-
Speaking of designers…Keith Elwin has his best pin to date and shows why he’s considered the goat in pinball today. This brings me to shots and layout. Holy crap! There isn’t a shot in the pin that isn’t cool. If you hit the ramps the ball is fun to watch as it runs through the building. If you hit the building it’s fun to see it zip out and hit the magnet, only to be slung up the left ramp alley a bit, or to randomly fling the opposite direction. I wish I had the record button going every time I played, because I’ve seen some crazy crazy shots that randomly happen due to that magnet. I swear once I shot the left spinner lane and it went so fast it hit the magnet and slung the ball into the building. I’ve shot the same spinner only to watch the ball go up the right orbit or most of the time into the tail whip lane behind the MechaGodzilla ramp. Awesome shot. Using the 3rd flipper you can hit the repeatable loop, the tail whip, the MechaGodzilla targets, and upper right standup target. You can even hit the scoop or the saucer with that flipper. I do it all the time. I’m telling you. Every single shot is fun if you break it down.
There’s plenty to shoot at in Godzilla and it is an awesome experience.

Toys-
First and most obvious toy is the Building which has a physical lock and lowering/collapsing action. Not to mention it’s also a diverter. It’s Awesome and although it slows the game down a second while collapsing, it’s a moment. Enjoy and embrace it every time. REMEMBER how awesome it was when you first saw it. Just because it may get old to some, doesn’t take away how friggin neat of a design it is!!! Never tire of that. One of the best toys to date. Next you have the break away bridge. I love that thing! It’s so awesome the way it diverts the ball down to the playfield. I like shooting the ramp while the bridge is going nuts to get a random ball fling or drop. Never know. Haha. Another toy I’ve already talked about is the captive ball magnet which is just below the bridge. Best idea and use of a magnet to date if ya ask me. The random throws from that magnet keep me shooting it as much as possible. Beautiful design! Simple and super effective. Why hasn’t it been done before? As if those two weren’t enough, you still have 2 more toys. You got the spinning MechaGodzilla ramp which serves 2 purposes. The ramp serves as its obvious purpose…a ramp, and when it rotates it’s a bash toy! 2 uses from one mech. Incredible. Lastly you have MechaGodzilla himself, which catches your ball on his belly in mid flight! This could be the second best use of a magnet in a pin! (Close tie with STh Premium)

Sound-
not much to say here. Sound effects are spot on. Callouts are funny and direct. The music blasts killer hard rock n metal goodness!

Lights-
Beautiful use of color and it gets better every update.
Love how each mode uses different color inserts to show you where to shoot. Also the red lights when the building collapses or when you are shooting for the destruction jackpot! This light show is insane.

So wrapping up, the shots are smooth and flowy. The art is beautiful, and the theme is killer! Like it or not, you’ll learn to love it! I did, and I mean instantly. The cheesy Kaiju action pulls you in. The sounds are amaaaaazing! Light show is phenomenal. Toys and Gimmicks are plentiful and super fun!
Maybe some will think this is another bogus review, but I don’t give perfect scores unless it’s deserving. Let’s face it. This pin is deserving! It won almost every category in the twipys for good reason. It’s number 1 in the top 100 for a reason! I’ve played a ton of pinball in the last 10 years and my friends, I can say without a doubt this IS the best and most fun in the ones Ive played. The bar is set. I Hope Stern can surpass it, but as of now, The King of Monsters rules them all!

Everyone knows the story with this pin. It came out and was looked over and considered trash because of the rules. Well well well…how updates turn a “turd” into a treasure. STh is now a very sought after title for good reason. Starting with theme. Nailed it! It’s undeniably Stranger Things, and the creepy sounds music and atmosphere pull you right in. You want to accomplish each mode because you feel like you are rescuing those kids, or you are beating up a demodog. It feels like you are right there with them in the junk yard with a baseball bat, and it’s a rush. The modes are standard shots, but have a different feel.
Next the layout. Speaking of different feel, the shots are a standard layout, but so fun to hit when you’re on fire. They can be butter when hitting the ramps, and looping behind the demogorgon is so fun to repeat. The left spinner shot sounds so creepy with that dripping creaking ambient sound effect, that I want to constantly smash it. Again the ramps are so butter no matter how many times you hit them, it just doesn’t get old.
On to the toys. The fold down ramp is awesome and it leads to the big mouth scary Demogorgon!!! The lights on that thing are perfect showing his red mouth opening! You can almost see the slobber dripping in your mind, and you want to send the ball right down his gully! Feels so good to have a multiball going on that mode and make it in his mouth on your first shot/s
Smack that b$&@! In the face!!!!! Haha. Okay I got carried away there. Since I’m reviewing the pro I can’t talk about the other gimmicks from the premium but I hope one day to have that one! Such cool underrated features. What I can talk about is in the next section… which brings me to my perfect playfield art rating! The art is cool enough and really pops. Love the purple and hot pink colors. The real reason the art gets the perfect 10 is the hidden feature The UV kit reveals. The must have on any version is the UV kit. It’s beautiful and revealing the most important part of the Stranger Things world…the upside down! Woah! The hidden art is awesome and looks so cool in the UV. It’s a Must have kit and that mode is a true moment maker!!!
Wrapping up…Back glass art is ok, side art is ok. The Shots are standard but fun. It’s basically Attack From Mars with a Demogorgon! The modes go well with the animations, and there’s plenty of action in this game. The simple layout fools you because the game will kick your butt. Reminds me of Dracula. I can play it over and over, which makes it bolted! Play one today!!!!

What can I say. This game is a super fun shooter! The rules are deeeeeeep if you don’t know what you’re doing. Once you learn how to play it’s still deeeeeep. So many ways to play this game. I play to advance modes, but I’ve never tried to strategize too much. That’s fun for some people but for me it makes it stressful. Lol. I just like to play and this is a shooters dream come true. The best feeling/rewarding shot in modern pinball in years has to be that captain marvel ramp. It is even more rewarding when you shoot with the right flipper through the pops, looping it clean down to the left flipper and immediately timing it (left flip) back up into the CM ramp. The art is beautiful with a theme that has stood the test of time. Who doesn’t love comics? The tight shots superb, and combos are endless but not easy. The modes are super fun and make the same shots feel different. Each one will make you sweat, and that’s great for making moments. I wish the gauntlet would have done something like lock balls or at least grab them. That’d been sweet, but the only real toys are the portal and the tower. Tower is a neat but a last minute feeling design. Still very cool. Love hitting 2 balls up there on that magnet during iron man multiball. The portal is cool too, and gives ya just enough rest time as the ball passing through the visible subway. Not to mention it’s just fun to blast that spinning disc. I played the pro version on location and feel in love. It’s super flowy and it’s all ya need, but that Marvel ramp is so fun to hit, I had to have it, so I went with premium. New comers will love shooting the ramps and pros will love combo-ing the heck out of this. It’s a solid solid title and a must play. As of now I’ve owned it for a year and a half and have yet to tire of it. Only nit pick is the animations, but they went for a “comic style come to life” feel, by doing a couple of still frames instead of full motion animation, and it still works well. Some don’t like the call outs, but for me The voice acting is on par. The voices sound great if you aren’t comparing it to the movies. Love this pin!!!!

Highly underrated gem of a game! The shots are fun and satisfying. Ramps are harder to hit than most games I’ve played, but feels much more rewarding when you do hit them, because you know the shot was perfect. A complete flipper rebuild fixed that.
Clint’s voice never gets old to me. I’m not even a huge fan of the movies, but the game was a must own for me after playing it for the first time. I believe it will get more and more rare to find one of these as people discover the fun factor of it. The gimmick to the game is obviously the 44 magnum. It could be overused if you keep selecting it as a skill shot, but using it to hit the left ramp and seeing it go crazy on the last mode, make it a pretty awesome feature of the game. Another time you get to use it, is during “feeling lucky”, where you get a chance at millions or if you’re feeling lucky, you can shoot the gun at a random target on the playfield. If you hit the target you get another chance at a reward(extra ball etc..) The only thing that puzzles me about the game, is why they needed a magnet. I guess they figured magnet and magnum were close enough to do a play in words. Magnum force is a feature That could have been replaced by simply making one of the ball gates close, to deflect the shot back down for the skill shots. It would also save you the trouble of having to eventually replace the magnet, or have to cover it so it would not get damaged anymore. I would have also liked to have seen them leave the drop target in the game. Still overall, Clint’s calm and funny call outs keep my friends and family coming back for more. That’s what makes any game. Fun shots and great call outs that make the player want to hit them even more. This game has just enough of that to keep you coming back. I’ve yet to complete the game and always look forward to the next play.

This being my first pin,I have to say, I couldn't have picked a better one for the money! I may have rated it a little high but I did count off for the gimmicks/toys. It has a small playfield that I do enjoy,but I don't know if it's for everyone. This game has surprising flow to it once you learn the shots. I wasn't 100% sure about it because it doesn't have pop bumpers where as most good ones do. Surprise!!! after playing it for almost 2 weeks straight,I'd trade the pop bumpers in for the awesome horseshoe loops anyday. I love the gratification and flashing lights/sound effects when I hit that lower loop a couple of times and straight up to the top one for a nice combo. The game has a 3 ball multiball that is challenging as anything. If you manage to work one of the balls back to the mini playfield to hit the flashing target,that's when the big points come in. It's hard to do though because you still have to worry about keeping the other 2 in play. The rules aren't to deep, but it makes for a great short game. You don't have to stand there playing for 30min to appreciate all the game offers. All in all I knew after watching this underrated game on youtube a couple of times,that this was the 1st pin for me. It was between this, F-14, and streetfighter 2. I'm 100% sure now that I made the right choice. Like one person already said in reviewing the game,more and more people will soon discover how great this game is and it's only going to go up in value. Snag ya one today!!!