mux_'s ratings

I was looking forward to the release of this new JJP machine with great anticipation. When it came out, I first saw it being played online and thought: Seems like it shoots well but something isn’t quite right. Ball times were relatively short and the rules seemed weird. Even the pros didn’t have decent games on it. But of course I can’t judge a game without playing it before, so I waited until I finally got a chance to play an LE. Well, what can I say... the first impression I had from the videos didn’t change much. It felt like it looked on video. It shoots well, no question. Shots are buttery smooth, and there is some flow in it. But being a big fan of Pat Lawlor and even a very big fan of Dialed In! (to me, one of the best games ever made), I felt that this one was just lacking something. It felt a bit dull, myself not being fascinated by the theme itself doesn’t help much, either. I think that the right part of the machine feels a bit too crowded, with only offering the ramp shot that doesn’t do much, while the upper part offers more shots, but is somehow blocked by the horizontal center targets. The left part does only offer two blocked shots (a dead end and the gobstopper) and some sort of orbit, while the center ramp seems a bit boring to me. I also think the upper part is strange, it often feels rather like “oh where did my ball go?” and does not offer a good vision in general. The two entrances on the top right wich are placed one next to the other are weird, shooting them from the lower left Flipper feels a bit arbitrary, and the inner loop shot that leads to the wonkavator is very hard to hit from the upper left Flipper. I also often miss the shots from you can take from the upper right Flipper, since Vision on this part is kind of impaired due to the crowdedness of the playfield. I had a few games and I was not very tempted to put more coins into it, It just felt a bit meh. The artwork is good, but not great - I would have chosen another color theme, since DI was also kind of blueish. The Lightshow - just like on every JJP - is awesome. The sound didn’t do much to me, it even felt repetitive and underlines this stagnating overall feeling I personally had with this machine. Given the high ratings and some people that are full of awe with it, it might as well be that it’s just not my kind of thing. I wouldn’t say it’s essentially bad - but it wasn’t great either. In times where pinball is on a high again, with lots of good games coming out, luckily there are some options and I just feel that there are machines out there that just make me more happy. I really love JJP in general and I wish them well, luckily there seem to be many people digging this game and buying it, which is great for the company.

I played a version that had a computer installed to run the game. It contained classic and extended mode, I tried both and I have to say that no matter which code you play, this game is a freaking blast. It is one of the few games that still feel modern and it can compete with the very best there is in pinball - great and fluid shots, the rules are nice and it generally is a ton of fun to play! There is so much happening and whenever you shoot the ball somewhere, it feels pretty satisfying. One could argue about the train and the guns, but to be honest - I've seen worse stuff going on in games. The duel is super-cool. JJPs the Hobbit borrowed a bit from that mechanism.

I was lucky to play an extremely well maintained machine which felt very polished and new. If you ever have to opportunity to play this one, you shouldn't miss out!

I also feel like this one is under-rated.

Classic! Whirlwind is one of the defining games of that era, it was fun, innovative and had one of the best layouts available at its time. I really loved it back then, and I still do. The idea was cool, the theme charming and they made great use of the toys (spinning discs) and the fan on top - well, not exactly a toy, but a nice feature which makes it a good game for hot summer days :).

The shots are well thought of, the flow is nice and everything just feels very balanced. Pat Lawlor already knew how to design very good games back then. The music is catchy and there are some nice details in the sound effects, just launch the ball slightly so that it drops back to the plunger and listen what happens...

Very good game I would definitely recommend to anyone!

First of all, I have to say that I am not especially an Iron Maiden fan - but I don't think they are a bad band, and the fact that they had their dedicated 747-airplane (and their singer Bruce Dickinson flew it) makes them sort of cool. But now, back to the important things: The game!

Iron Maiden Pro to me is a mixed bag. I really love the artwork (yes, it's one of the best packages recently), the gamemplay is fast and fun, and the layout by Mr. Elwin feels quite refreshing. I also think it has a high lastability, I constantly felt like I had to come back for more. The shots are challenging, there are a few difficult shots, e.g. the right ramp or the extra-ball target. Overall a nice experience - even to a point where I might consider getting one. But there are some drawbacks: For example the Pharao-Target. It feels a bit odd and takes the flow out of the game, there should happen something more satisfying than just hitting a target on the wall (just compare it to the ring on LOTR and you might know what I mean). Also, there's absolutely zero toys - but maybe that's the reason for a better gameflow after all - but come on, one toy at least would have been fun. It also does not have a video mode, which I consider a good thing (I hate video modes as they take away flow and focus). Also, the small upper left flipper feels a bit bulky - it's difficult to get shots right with it.

The modes are sort of a bit dull, too - at least that was my impression. I am not a big fan of the animations on the screen, as they sometimes look a bit cheap and too rendered for my taste. Multiball is relatively easy to achieve, so it's by no means like the rather unforgiving Star Wars, which takes quite a lot to figure out.

The music works surprisingly well to me - it feels like it was made for pinball as it seems to have a certain appeal that goes very well with the game. The songs are catchy and I even had them stuck in my head after playing it, I might even claim that this is the best Stern Band-themed-pin. The callouts are kind of cool, too. Overall audio-quality has been critisized by some, but then again keep in mind that lots of the songs are pretty old and that the recordings back then were possibly not the most sophisticated.

The lighting, well. Pretty much standard. It's solid, but nothing too special. Lots of white lights, although the playfield may seem a bit dark overall. I've seen better recently.

Thing is - it's a very solid and overall fun machine - but compared to Dialed In for example, I think that the gameplay is nowhere close to DI in terms of layout, flow, toys and modes. Also the lighting of DI seems to play in another league - but, to be fair, IM Pro is only 2/3 of the price of a DI.

Sorry to compare the game to another one, but I can't see why exactly this game is ranked better than DI, as it's less elaborated and less detailed by a far margin, even gameplay-wise.

I would not mind to have an IM Pro in my collection, though. It undeniably offers a great layout, fun shots and a good value-for-money ratio. I would love to try the Premium now.

Decent machine! I was surprised how well it played - And the Artwork package is awesome, so are the animations - I am not that much of an Aerosmith fan, though - which hinders me to buy one of those.

Another underrated one. Gameplay is fast, fun and fluid, the modes are challenging, the jump is cool. I also think the artwork on the playfield is great. I like the pace of this one - although it's fast, but then again, it's not a drain-monster at all. Video mode could have been better, though. Overall a nice and challenging machine. I don't miss the bumpers, btw.

Is it good? Oh yes it is! It's awesome (And Jack Guarnieri did not pay me to tell that :P)! It reminds me of the 90ies, gameplay and feeling-wise, but with nowadays technology. Solid Williams-Style build, premium feel for a premium price. I would say it's one of Lawlor's best games - if not the best. It's not as fast as some of the modern Sterns, but it has its own pace and it really delivers in terms of flow. The modes are diversified and fun - and to all of you out there thinking that this is about a cellphone - it is not - at least not exclusively. It's yet another disaster theme. Think of the phone as just another gimmick to start your modes - and the title "Dialed in" really shines in that context. I absolutely love this one - I might even get one. I consider it a masterpiece and I guess that this might well become a modern classic. Sure - one could argue about the theme, but it's a memorable one with a strong character. And yes, finally an original one - Something that I've been missing lately.

EDIT1: I finally got one - because I decided that I could not live without owning what I consider being the best pinball game at the moment. This game doesn't stop to amaze me, it is a piece of art. Superb layout and flow, and the theme - well, it's brilliant! It is way more genius than most people who claim that this is about a cellphone would assume.

It is fun, cheesy and it is a perfect reflection of what is going on in our society: Cellphones, drones, a news channel, selfies, surveillance, emojis - and a "trustworthy" tech giant. Pat and his team really nailed it - I mean - they are rather "old men", but they absolutely captured the spirit of now and made an excellent game out of it.

Both game and presentation are State of the Art - What a freaking blast! My other 90ies tables now look like ancient technology compared to this. If you are looking for the best Pat Lawlor game - there's a high chance that this might be it. Pinball doesn't get much better than this. It's expensive, but considering the efforts that have been put into this, it's well worth it.

Great respect and admiration to Pat Lawlor & Team and to Jersey Jack for building this!
I am really excited of what is about to come. The new era of pinball has just begun...

EDIT2: After weeks of playing it, I guess that this might be my all time favourite pin. I'd like to give it a 10/10 - but nothing is perfect and so there's one thing that is not so cool: One of the most important shots - the SIM-Card - is freakingly annoying. Turns out to be quite random, which is a pity for an otherwise nearly perfect machine.

This game is severely underrated (maybe it comes from the relatively awful backbox design - playfield doens't look too cool, either). But this machine has great flow, super-smooth shots and wicked multiball. Also a lot going on - there are 9 entrances you can possibly hit, the cryo claw is a nice toy and the overall presentation is also cool, dot matrix animations and sound are awesome. I am not a fan of wide-bodies, but this one I already liked back in 1994 - and I still like it now. I got one at a relatively good price - which made it an awesome bang for the buck!

People might argue that this one is sort of shallow and repetitive - I don't think so. It's just pure fun - sure, it's not too complex, but it's challenging anyway to get high scores. I really love the theming, everything goes together so well - it's ecstatic, wild and "loud" - it really delivers fast paced action. If you get the jackpot, red line mania, the machine freaks out. I also love the physical movement that comes from the turbocharger, it makes the game feel quite alive. For me, one of the best tables ever made. I guess I will never be able to sell it unless I'm starving.

I am definitely fond of the hyperloop, so I was thinking about eventually getting a Premium one. Last month I fortunately got to play an LE. The game is engaging - fast, and furious. The shots are rather challenging and I like the layout in general, typical Ritchie stuff going on. I am an average player and sometimes I achieve high scores - but, and now comes the downside: the ruleset of this machine is a real pain. It might be of great fun for some Pros to actually have such a complex rulesheet and multiplier system - but for me, I guess this machine does not suit me at all. I like No Fear and Getaway, which are both quite fast but not as complex - but Star Wars LE (and even the pro) have an insane ruleset for my taste. I could not even figure out how to achieve a single multiball in five games.

I mean you could have a complicated ruleset for sure, but not on such an incredibly fast and rather brutal machine. But the title suits well, since it feels like a war going on. I guess it may be frustrating if you have to pay for every single game.

EDIT: I got to replay this game and now I know how to achieve multiballs and advance the modes. Does that make it better? Yes. But it's still exhausting. At least, you always feel like "Let's try that again, maybe I'll be better this time" (even if you will fail again). It can be fun, and it's definitely one of my favorite STERNs. But you definitely have to be in the mood for fast paced action. Btw., silly asteroid-field video-mode. It really takes the flow out of an ongoing game and feels misplaced. But that may be just me, not being a fan of video modes in general.