mystman12's ratings

I had the pleasure of keeping a Doctor Who in my home for a few months in order to repair the Time Expander and some other issues that the game had. I really, really enjoyed my time with it, though I will say that this is also the most infuriating pinball game I've ever played! It can be absolutely merciless at times, but when you get a great game you feel like the coolest person in the world, and that's what keeps you coming back.

The Time Expander is probably the greatest toy in pinball, I can't think of anything else that affects gameplay as much and looks as cool as it does. I suppose the sky scraper in Godzilla Premium comes close, but even that doesn't have quite as much going on. The way the Time Expander makes its area of the playfield go from lock shots, to bash targets, to scoops adds so much variety. Besides that though the rest of the playfield is pretty good. There are some awkward spots, like the massive wall of REPAIR targets, and the randomness of the video mode start shot as the ball often exits the bumpers the wrong way, but overall the game is fun to shoot IF you can make your shots. A WHO combo is always fun to hit, but it's also very hard to get. Loops are also lots of fun too of course.

The rules are really special considering when this game came out. The different Doctors enhancing different areas of the playfield adds a layer of strategy not often seen in other games of its era. Personally I really enjoy setting the game so that Doctors aren't automatically spotted each ball. This makes it so you really have to work hard to earn all seven Doctors and makes a couple of them more valuable. Besides the Doctor system though the actual game objectives offer a lot of variety. Multiball, loops, video mode, WHO combos... There's a lot of stuff to work at and it all offers lots of opportunities to experiment with different strategies.

Lasty, the presentation had a lot of effort put into it and it shows. Voice talent from the show, an original plot that feels just like a real Doctor Who episode, detailed DMD animations, and the Dalek topper, which looks really cool even without the rotating head thanks to lights synchronized with speech. The music and sound is solid, with some really cool sound effects and a faithful, albeit somewhat repetitive, cover of the Doctor Who theme song. I've seen some complain about the artwork, and while it's certainly not perfect, I really like it. To me composition is the most important part of an art package and I think it's great on this game, especially the translite which sets the exciting tone of the game well.

Big Guns was one of the first pins I ever got to play in real life. It sat next to Lord of the Rings in a local arcade at the mall. Being a teen in the 2010s typically means you never get the arcade experience of the 80s and 90s, but I got pretty lucky to live so close to a place with a couple pins and other arcade classics. It recently closed down, but when the opportunity came to buy that same Big Guns, I couldn't pass it up, and I'm really glad I didn't, because this game is fantastic!

The playfield design is really unique. It's almost entirely symmetric, with only a couple minor variations at the top center. No ramps, no pops, but lots of spot targets, drop targets, a few saucers and a couple tiny loops at the top. The result is a game where you can never let your guard down, and I really like enjoy that. The ball never stops moving, and when it does, it means it's probably about to be fired out of one of the two cannons! The cannons are really great toys, launching the ball through the air towards the back of the game into a wireform that whips the ball back around towards the flippers. The effect doesn't maintain its initial wow factor, but it never really gets old either, and it fits the theme perfectly. The bagatelle in the translite is also a fun toy, and thanks to it having lane change it's fairly interactive.

The rules are super simple, but with how brutal the game is that's okay. You pretty much just try to start multiball as many times as you can by loading the canons, but there's a few other things worth going for as well, such as the multipliers, or relighting the kickback and right outlane gate. What really makes this game shine though is how multiball is played. When multiball starts you'll need to shoot one of the three lit saucers. This starts a timed invincibility mode, during which the kickback, center post, and right outlane gate are all active. To score the jackpot, you must hit all the lit center spot targets before the invincibility mode ends. This works so well because it gives you an opportunity to just go crazy and bash the otherwise dangerous center targets as much as possible, without having to worry too much about draining. I have my game set up so that you need to hit all 10 of the targets in 15 seconds which makes invincibility super intense, and scoring the jackpot pretty uncommon, which I really enjoy.

Finally, the presentation on the game is incredible. Sounds and music all add to the excitement perfectly. The music, the "YOU ARE INVINCIBLE!" callout, and the lightshow that accompany invincibility all work together to make it one of the best moments in pinball IMHO. *All* the light shows in this game are fantastic though. The designers really took advantage of the symmetric playfield when choreographing them. Finally, the artwork, in typical Python fashion, is quirky, detailed, and super well integrated into the playfield design. The playfield is a warzone with soldiers running around it. The cannons are pointed at the castle you're attacking, which extends from the back of the playfield all the way up to the translite. The translite is also masked so that light only passes through certain portions of the artwork, which makes it look a lot more dynamic than most other translites. Whenever the translite GI is blinking on and off it it really grabs your attention. It's a super nice looking game, even if the stenciled cabinet artwork is a little underwhelming.

This game is bolted to the floor. When I first brought it home I knew it would be out of sentimental value, but now that I've gotten to know it better I know I'd keep it for a long time regardless. It's a bit too shallow and intense to work well in a one or two game collection I think, but as I have five games now I always enjoy putting in a few games, working up a sweat, and then cooling down with something else. Super underrated IMHO and there's quite a few System 11's that are generally more popular that I'd rank this higher than, such as F-14, Diner or Mousin' Around, which I own. It's high intensity might not be for everyone, but I'm a pretty big fan!

Mousin' Around was a game I picked up from a local arcade when it went for sale. During it's time there it was never in very good shape, so when the opportunity came up for me to buy it and fic it up, I jumped on it. Now, about two years later, I'm glad I did!

Playfield design: It's a lot of fun to shoot, with lots of flow. The left and right ramps can be pretty tough to hit consistently, especially the left one, which can be a bit frustrating at times since the game relies on being able to combo those ramps. The left orbit is also hard to hit, but that makes sense since getting extra balls would be too easy if it were easier. The toys are what make the playfield really shine though. The two mouse trap locks are pretty clever and fit the theme perfectly. The mouse hole is also a super clever way to theme the ramp that goes behind the back panel, and I really enjoy how it makes the right ramp a bit more difficult to hit when it's lit for big points. The lowering target bank in the center is the cherry on top. When it lowers it allows you to shoot the center ramp which is a lot of fun. My game didn't actually have the center ramp when I first got it, so I played it without this feature for a little over a year, and still found the game lots of fun. I definitely prefer the game with the center ramp enabled though!

Ruleset: It seems pretty unique to me for a System 11 game. Rather than just trying to start multiball as many times as possible like on most System 11s, this game also requires you to first build up your jackpot. Spell CHEESE by shooting any ramp or the right lane spot target, and then shoot the ball into the mouse hole for a "cheesy bonus" and increase the jackpot. It can be a bit grindy at times, but thankfully this is helped by a few other game features you'll want to pay attention to as well as the fact skillshots also increase the jackpot. The double scoring feature in particular will have you stop combo-ing the right ramp to try and activate it. The center ramp will also light "spell MILLION" lights which you can use to work towards a million point shot. Once in multiball, getting the jackpot is a good challenge so it's always exciting to earn it, and even more so when I get more than one in a single round! You can even use the double scoring feature to double the jackpot, which is something I've only done once. Ultimately I really enjoy the ruleset on the game and I wouldn't change much if anything. I don't even think the center ramp is overpowered like a lot of people tend to complain about. It might be a bit unbalanced for competition play, but if you want to get the highest score possible, you're going to need to get some jackpots!

Presentation: This is the game's weakest point, mainly in the art area. The music and sounds are very good, not my favorite System 11 tracks, but still really catchy. They get an extra point for how they interact with each other and the lights though. Many sound effects transpose themselves to match the current key of the music, and many light effects are also synced with the music. I'm a big fan of those sorts of features as they really help pull the music, sounds, and lights together. The lightshows are also solid. I particularly like when all the lights "spin" around the playfield whenever a ball is locked. It's a great effect. The artwork leaves a lot to be desired though. The playfield artwork is pretty fun, and I enjoy the comic book style, even if it feels a bit empty in places. The cabinet has a nice logo on it, but for some reason it's mirrored near the top like it was originally drawn too small and needed to be stretched out, and it doesn't look good. The translite is pretty good overall, but it loses a point for the awful cat-lady on the top right. It's just completely out of place and ugly.

Summary: Mousin' Around is a solid System 11 game that I highly recommend purchasing if you have at least one other game in your collection. Having had it for a couple years I feel like it will probably be the first game I end up trading, but that's not to say I haven't enjoyed my time with it! Plus, getting the center ramp up and running definitely breathed some new life into the game. Just make sure it's not set up too easy or else it could get old pretty quick. Make sure the flippers are strong as well, otherwise the mousehole shot will be next to impossible, which will also make the game pretty unfun.

White Water is pure and unadulterated fun. It's not the deepest game out there or even of its era, but that's not a problem because every single element of this game is great!

The playfield design is fantastic, one of the best out there. There's a wide variety of shots and the mini playfield is great as it encourages flow, unlike many other mini playfields which break up the flow of the game (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course). No shot feels too dangerous, and while some are certainly riskier than others, their value generally reflects that risk. For example, Disaster Drop can be unpredictable, but shooting it progresses you closer to different rewards, including lighting the extra ball. Risky, but worth it. Of course it's also tons of fun to watch the ball travel across the crazy ramps, fall through the secret passage, or come out of Big Foot's Cave during the uncommon Bigfoot Hotfoot mode. It's the little details and excellent theme integration that pull everything together.

The ruleset is top notch. There's always something to work towards, and a decent amount of strategic options available to the player. I particularly love how at any moment in the game you can progress down the river by making lit hazard shots. It's basically like having an infinite mode that stacks with every other mode, and it ensures that there is *always* something to shoot and score big points with. There aren't a ton of modes in the game, but they're all unique and I really enjoy how some of them have a unique way of starting them rather than tying everything to the Whirlpool Rewards. Scoring is mostly balanced, although there are a few clear ways to get huge points (Mainly involving 5X Playfield.), but they don't feel *too* overpowered. The Vacation Jackpot is a great wizard reward (There is no wizard "mode" in this game) that seems to be a decent difficulty to reach, if not a bit too easy. I feel like the it could have been improved a bit by making a little bit more difficult and more valuable. Like I said it's fine as is, but I think making it harder and more valuable would make getting it even more exciting and special. Something like requiring the player to collect the camera on top of everything else or actually beat Wet Willy's instead of just reach it, and making it worth 500 million points instead of 200 million would really make it shine as one of the greatest rewards in pinball. If I had any complaints about the rule set, it would be that I wish there was some reward for getting all the Whirlpool Rewards. Big points or a mode or something would have been nice instead of all the boulders just un-lighting and becoming available to collect again. Also kind of a shame the right orbit is only used as a hazard and nothing else. Considering how tough the shot is, it would be nice to be able get some sort of valuable reward for making it.

Finally, presentation in the game is is some of my absolute favorite in pinball. The art is great fun and integrated with the playfield well, the animations are all really nice to watch (And really shine with a Color DMD!), and the light shows are really impressive as well, making great use of dimming effects and featuring some really nice choreography (I have LH-6 installed in my game which adds some really nice light shows not found in the original ROMs, which are all great). Of course, the topper is nice to look at as well, even with some bubbling that mine unfortunately has. The thing that stands out to me the most though, and is honestly one of the biggest reasons I decided to buy this game, is the music and sound. In my opinion WH2O has one of the greatest sound packages in pinball. I'd probably only rank Twilight Zone's and Black Knight 2000's sound packages higher. Every music track perfectly captures the excitement and mood of what's going on, and every sound effect makes all the shots so much more satisfying to hit. The way the main theme evolves and gets more exciting as you progress down the river is brilliant, since it keeps the music from getting too repetitive and let's you know you're having a great game when it really starts pumping. This all leads to Wet Willy's where the music continues to build until you beat the mode and get the fantastic "HUNDRED MILLION!" callout, after which the music transitions back to the first raft theme. It's basically the ultimate execution of an idea started with games like Swords of Fury and Space Station, which would add more instruments into the main track as you locked balls and got closer to multiball. More than any other pin I often find myself humming along and nodding my head with the music. Sometimes I even dance to it, haha. It doesn't help me player better, but that's okay because I'm still enjoying it so much!

I've only owned the game for about a month now, so I can't say for sure how much longevity it has in a small collection, but currently I can't get enough of it and my Mousin' Around isn't getting much love (My Stargate would still be getting some play I think, but it's currently at an arcade and unfortunately due to the pandemic I can't play it...). Ultimately though I can't recommend this game enough. Prices are definitely pretty high right now, but man, I'm enjoying this more than most NIB pins available at a similar price. One of the best for sure.

I've been playing this game for about 10 years at a local arcade that usually keeps it in wonderful shape. I've probably put hours upon hours and hundreds of games into it, and I can safely say, this is my most favorite pinball machine I've ever played.

The playfield design is fantastic. For the most part it's a fan layout, but every shot is unique in some way, and every single one is satisfying to hit. The ramps are specially satisfying. The wireform ramp on the left is blazing fast, whipping the ball around 180 degrees and bringing it safely back to the flipper. The sword ramp sends the ball into a spot target before it goes flying back down to the right flipper, somehow maintaining all the speed it was shot with. The ring ramp is the most satisfying, being challenging to hit right so it goes through the ring, and when you do get it right you get to see the game's coolest toy in action as it holds the ball with a magnet, which then either lets it back down or throws it through the back panel into a wireform for a safe return. Another plus with this shot is that, despite being straight up the center of the playfield, most failed shots don't go STDM and can usually be recovered. In fact, that's kind of true of every shot. There's a reason this game is known for its long ball times; missing a shot usually doesn't punish you too bad, and if you are a good player you can easily recover most of the time.

The rules are also fantastic, and integrated with the movies perfectly. One multiball for each of the three films, each of which is challenging to start (Especially on harder settings which I highly recommend), a blast to play, and an even greater challenge to beat (Each multiball is like a super hard mode that can be completed). Playing all three mutliballs lights the Destroy the Ring Wizard mode, which will get your heart pounding! Collecting rings of Men, Elves, and Dwarves is another excellent aspect of the rules. There are many shots that can be lit to collect a type of ring, and these shots shuffle throughout the game making it necessary to shoot a large variety of shots. The type of ring you'll probably focus on the most is Elf rings, as collecting three lights the ring for one of the game's six modes. All of these modes are engaging, challenging, and best of all a great way to score big points. Playing all six modes allows the player to play the There and Back Again wizard mode, which I'll admit I still haven't reached... It's not easy! Then there's Valinor... A wizard mode I can't even imagine reaching, but that won't stop me from trying!

Then there's presentation. Once again, it's fantastic! I knocked a single point for the playfield art as I think it could have been better and less photoshoppy, but that doesn't mean it's not great. It's all designed around the playfield layout well and represents the films really well. The translite and cabinets are also great and I don't have any complaints about those. The DMD animations are great, recreating events from the movie in custom made animations that look as good as you can get on such limited technology (And personally, I love the look of good DMD animations!). The light shows are beautiful and exciting, especially with some nice bright LEDs (Withe and LED controller board of course) installed. The audio is incredible, as should be expected from composer Chris Granner. The sound design is great, fitting the theme well while also generating the excitement that any good pinball game should. The music is also excellent, as it uses melodies from the films but, just like the sound design, is composed in such a way as to fit the excitement of a pinball game (I would never want the tracks taken straight out of the movie and used in this game. The movie soundtrack is legendary, yes, but each track is filled with moments that just wouldn't make sense to listen to while playing pinball). Then there's the callouts. Elijah Wood (Frodo) and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) both recorded custom callouts for the game, and they did an amazing job. Add onto that a ton of quotes taken straight from the films and you have one of the best sets of callouts in a pinball game.

All in all I really cannot find much, if any fault in this game. If I had to find something to complain about, it would be I think the playfield art could be a tad better (as previously mentioned), the cave shot to the bumpers can be annoying to shoot sometimes (This shot allows the ball to pass through it into the bumpers, so sometimes the ball will pass through, bounce around a bit, and then exit the bumpers another way, and you don't get credit for the shot. Can be infuriating if extra ball is lit!), and the game's super long play times *could* be tiring in a home environment. Emphasis on the "could." As my only experience with this game is in arcades I see this game as a challenge to make the most of my fifty cents and I am always up for a thirty minute game. I can't say for sure how I would feel about this in a home environment, but I do worry it could get old after tons and tons of free games. That said, if I ever get the opportunity to buy one I won't hesitate to get it!

Summary: Everything about this game is near perfect. Learn the rules, find one, and play it!

Stargate is my first pin, and while I was a bit warry purchasing it since I had never played it myself, I decided to go for it since it receives so much praise. I'll start by saying this is definitely a great game!

The playfield design is very good, with plenty to shoot for. At first glance, the two guards and the rollover drop-target blocking shots may seem a bit overkill (That's three shots that can be blocked), but in reality it really helps give the playfield more variety, and keeps the ball moving rather than going into a hole whenever these shots are made. The two ramp shots are really nice too. The right ramp is tough to hit, but super satisfying when hit right, and the left ramp is really fun because, if the shot is failed, the ball often rolls back down in such a way that it comes back to the upper right flipper and you can try to make the shot again. Sometimes this happens three or four times in a row before finally making it up! Similarly, the left-center kicker target, used to cycle through transporter awards, often kicks the ball back to the upper flipper, allowing you to make multiple shots at it until you have the award you want ready. Honestly, this game might have one of the most used upper flippers in pinball! The pyramid shot up the center is very satisfying, and can actually be made from all the flippers, but since it's so small it's easy to miss, and weak shots often go SDTM, so it's a good, challenging shot.

The rules in this game are really good! You could simply go for the pyramid rounds, but there's a slew of other ways to score and awards to earn. Transporter awards can be collected by shooting the left guard then making the shot after it lifts up. A five way combo can be started at the left ramp. A hurry up activates on the sarcophagus shot after 10 bumper hits. And, one of the coolest rules, is Quartz. Throughout the game there a different ways you can collect quartz, and at any moment you can make the shot past the right guard to trade it your quartz for different rewards. You have to be careful though, because if you get too much quartz you may surpass the reward you want (For example, light extra ball is available when you have 7-9 quartz, but if you accidentally get to 10, you'll have to trade your quartz, get back to zero, and recollect enough to reach the extra ball again), so collecting and managing your quartz is something you'll need to pay close attention to if you want to get the best rewards. It's a really cool feature as it really makes you think about what you're doing. Probably my main complaint is how easy it is to reach both of the wizard modes. Eye of Ra is reached after completing all six rounds, and Stargate Multiball is reached after completing the seven different objectives in the center of the playfield. Oftentimes, however, Stargate multiball can be reached almost by accident during a good game, and Eye of Ra could also be easily reached by starting a mode, waiting for it to end, and then repeating this until all modes are completed. I think it would have been good if the pyramid shot had to be relit somehow, rather than just always being available to start a mode. Thankfully, however, the game is programmed so these wizard modes won't score super well if you just get to them. They both rely on super jackpots, which can be raised various ways throughout the game. Raising the super jackpot on your way to the wizard modes is extremely important to getting an amazing score, rather than just a good one. On top of that, Eye of Ra itself is actually very challenging, so just because you get to it doesn't guarantee any big points! Probably my only other complaint is just how common multiball is. The game's main multiball can actually be started from the skillshot! Four of the six rounds are multiball, rather than timed (although this works out pretty well, I think), and of course, the wizard modes are all multiball as well. I really prefer when multiball is an exciting mode that you really feel like you earn, but I got used to the common multiball in Stargate pretty quick, so it's certainly not a deal breaker.

The presentation in this game is pretty good. The callouts don't bother me at all, although there really isn't much variety. Most are just callouts directing the player to different shots, with a few praising the player for doing well, but there aren't any quotes from the movie or anything, which is s shame. The music is really good in my opinion though, and the different tracks fit the different modes really well. The main play theme is a bit tense, which worried me at first as I thought it might become annoying, but it really isn't a problem. The music for Glidercraft is really good in particular, and the music in the last stage of Eye of Ra really makes things exciting and tense! The artwork on this game is amazing! It's kept fairly simple, but that's a good thing. Specifically the translite, which simply has the Stargate on it and the walkway into it, yet it's really detailed and has the awesome mirrored rope light, which makes it look as if there's actually a portal through the backbox! The lighting on the playfield is good enough, but there aren't really any light shows. The main shots on the game can strobe to indicate it needs to be shot, and there are times when the lights all blink on and off, but that's about it as far as the light shows go. There is a nice strobing effect with the flasher bulbs on the playfield though, which looks pretty cool. The DMD animations are also just decent, There are some really nice ones, but there are also some pretty blurry and rushed looking ones. It's better than most Gottliebs, that's for sure! And finally, you can't have a review without mentioning the game's main toy, the Glidercratf! It's definitely a cool toy, although it sadly doesn't interact with the ball in any way. I love how it stays hidden behind the pyramid until the glidercraft mode starts, as it really takes people who don't know about it by surprise. (And you can also tape weird pictures to it and people won't see them until it comes out! :P)

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the game, and you can't really go wrong buying it. It's especially nice that it's a Gottlieb because System 3 is built extremely well (Or so I've heard), and prices are kept down. The rules are very deep with plenty of strategy involved, and it looks beautiful. I definitely plan on keeping this game for a long time!

I got a chance to play a good amount of this at a friend's house. I'm a big Nintendo fan, and after seeing some videos, this was a machine I've always wanted to try out. I think I managed to get enough play time on it to get a good feel for it.

First off, the ruleset, while it may not be something super special, is still good. The layout is great, with a good variety of shots, a fun little mini playfield, and castle shot through the bumpers. The game doesn't drain very easily, but it could probably be made more difficult be increasing the angle and removing some the rubbers around the outlanes. A lot of people call this a one shot game, and while I did shoot the ramp a lot, I still found importance in a lot of the other shots. Starting multiball was very simple. All you have to do is shoot shots marked by numbers 1-4, and then the left kicker. It's a bit too simple imo, but works. The modes are all good. Starting them isn't too easy or too hard, and they are all varied and can score pretty well, especially the exclamation round! Now, there were a few things I was somewhat disappointed with. For one, destroying the castles seemed pretty pointless to me, at least in a home environment. Destroyed castles carry over from game to game, and destroying the final one only awards a special. It didn't seem like I got any kind of big reward for destroying the last castle. A multiball mode or big score or something would have been really nice. There's also the Yoshi bonus, which sadly barley ever builds up many points, so t's pretty easy to just forget about it. The video mode, while a cool idea, is also way too hard. It's like a mini version of Super Mario Bros., but you can die way to easy. The moment Mario's toe hangs over the edge of a block, you instantly die! I was able to get close to beating it, but I never actually did. It required way too perfect timing. Finally, I think the worst feature of the game was the roulette on the DMD. This activates WAY too often, doesn't do much, and just slows the game down. Plus, if you get three 7s in a row, you get 200,000,000 points! That is WAY too much for a random award. If ended up getting that, I'd just feel like I cheated to get my score!

Now, the art and sound is all very nice. I love the classic Super Mario World art scattered around the machine, as well as the classic tunes used for the music. The sound effects are mostly taken from the Mario games as well. The voice callouts may annoy some, but I didn't mind them at all, and I actually found my self quoting them occasionally. The DMD animations are also well done, as long as they just use the sprites from the Mario games, that is. When they show Mario's face up close, or the Yoshi icon comes up... Yeah, Gottlieb was not good a animating! The lighting was just alright. The lights do a good job at telling you where to shoot, but the light shows were pretty disappointing. The only thing you could really call a light show would be when you get a jackpot, and all the lights blink on and off.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game, but I'm not sure how long it would last before get kind of boring or repetitive. Now, since I don't own it, I can't say for sure, and in fact, I'd still like to own one, but if you're thinking about buying one, I'd try to spend some time with it before making a purchase.