PanzerFreak's ratings

Had a chance to play a Foo Fighters Pro on location. This is a fun pin with a unique layout and a good number of shots. The pro version has zero interactive toys which is a bummer at these prices. For $7k Stern could have at least included the dead post mech on the pro. Artwork is excellent and the animation work by Stern is pretty good. It's nice seeing a music pin with a story associated with its ruleset compared to just playing through songs.

Had a chance to play some games on an LE on location and wow is this one disappointing. What a terrible layout and some of the worst animations in modern pinball. This game does not compare to Stern's other more recent efforts. Art work is very cookie cutter and basic. The main toy in the game is an odd vibrating rocket, not sure what that represents from the theme. The entire left side of the game seems open in an unappealing way. Overall this is one of Stern's worst releases over the past 5 years.

Toy Story 4 is a great pinball machine from JJP and one of Pat Lawlor's better layouts. I had a chance to play an LE on location and enjoyed it. Later this year I had an opportunity to make a trade for the the CE version and I'm glad I did. The CE version is absolutely stunning in person. The metallic red powder coat, sparkle playfield, mirrored back glass, Rad Cals, and the topper all together create an incredible looking pin. The included topper is gorgeous and weighs probably 30lbs alone.

Gameplay is excellent on Toy Story with a design from Pat that offers a lot of flow. Most shots are fairly easy to hit with the side loop being one of the more difficult shots in the game. The Duke Kaboom jump shot is incredible, rewarding (fun!), and is something we've rarely seen in a pin. The carnival landing area that the ball lands on from the jump shot is lit very well with a ring of RGB LED's surrounding it.

The main complaint about Toy Story is well a lack of toys, mechanical toys that is, considering the price of the game. I agree with this view and wish there were more mechanical toys in the game. The "mini" LCD in the game is far too large and the space for it would have been better suited for a mechanical toy. With that being said what is in the game is fun and there's still a good amount mechanically going on in the game. Toy Story 4 has a spinning disk (integrated very well with rules and animations), a pop up jump ramp, two pop up posts next to the jump ramp (Benson posts), a character pop up mech, 4 pop bumpers, physical ball lock, and a real mechanical kick back.

In regards to the ruleset I would say it's moderately deep (in a good way, read more below) and that getting to the wizard more is easier then any other JJP pin to date. Is that good? Yes and no. Yes it's good as more people will actually seeing the wizard mode for a change and at the same time it may be bad as some people do want that nearly impossible wizard mode to unlock. The good thing with the ruleset in Toy Story 4 is that while getting to the wizard mode isn't extremely challenging it's still a challenge and there's a lot of other things to do in the game. For one there's multiple paths in the wizard mode, besides the 7 scenes that need to be played (not completed, just played) to unlock the wizard modes there's 11 carnival modes, I believe 5 multiball modes, a mini wizard mode, and a Benson post mode. One last night about the wizard mode, from what I heard there's multiple stages in it, as well as two different paths to reach / play it. That type of wizard mode actually sounds fun to play versus typical wizard modes that just dump all the balls out onto the playfield where you can basically hit any shot on the playfield for simply points (no objectives / stages).

Had a chance to play an LE on location, great game. Avengers Infinity Quest seems to be a game made for the tournament player with modes focused primarily scoring points versus offering a deep quest based experience. The ruleset in AIQ is deep and the modes themselves have different strategies to them (placing gems on character shots). However, the ruleset doesn't have a feeling of putting the player on a quest to defeat Thanos, the complexity of the rules and lack of mode choreography contribute to that in my opinion.

The layout on AIQ is one of the best that Stern has put out with a ton of unique shots spread throughout the playfield. The main center ramp can feel a bit awkward to hit from the upper left flipper but it's still a makeable shot. Call outs are unfortunately rather generic and forgettable. Music again is just average in my opinion. Animations are subpar, a vast majority of the animations are static images that briefly change flying in and out of the screen.

As far as toys go I just feel that they just average. I'm not sure what the spinning disk is supposed to represent from the Dr. Stranger character. With that being said it's nice to see the spinning disk lift up to reveal a shot into a physical ball lock. The subway ball lock with view is a great concept but more often then not you can't easily see the balls actually locked. I suppose the Avengers tower shot can be considered a toy but besides that the game feels a bit lacking in the toy / feature department (similar to Iron Maiden) versus Keith's last title Jurassic Park.

I was not expecting to enjoy TMNT as much as I did when I had a chance to play an LE on location. My first thought upon seeing the game was "This is one hell of a loaded game". The game has a lot going on it with multiple toys / features that are miniature interactive mechs based on items from the theme. The toy van with physical lock is a great physical ball lock, one of my favorites in pinball. The dual direction spinning pizza disk adds a lot of variety and unpredictability to the game which is a nice. The glider ball diverter is an actual molded toy and is very useful for setting up your next shot. Finally we can't forget Krang, what a cool physical toy.

The ruleset on the game is what surprised me the most. A lot of modern Stern, probably a majority of the, seem focused on scoring points for tournament play versus playing a deep objective based ruleset. The rules in TMNT feel entirely objective based with unique moments coded throughout. There's 8 main modes in the game but another entire layer of depth is added based on the turtle you pick as well as if you choose to level him up. The training modes (leveling up your turtle) are basically another set of 4 modes. Add the main 8 modes, the 4 training modes, two main mulitballs, and 3 wizard modes and you have one heck of a deep ruleset (there's more there as well). Music and sounds are also top notch as is artwork. Stern did a great job on the callouts for this pin. My only criticism so far about the game is the animations, Stern should have put more effort into this area.

Again, I was not expecting to enjoy TMNT as much as I did. After playing the LE on location I ended up ordering a TMNT premium a few weeks later for my own collection.

I had the opportunity to play a Led Zeppelin LE on location. The first thing that stood out was how empty the game is. The $9200 price tag is not justified by toys and features, or lack thereof, in this game. Did I have fun playing the game? Yes and no. The music is great, the callouts are well done, and from what I saw of the modes I played the ruleset seems engaging. However, the lack of features on the playfield is disappointing as well as the complete lack of shots to anything on the bottom 2/3 of the playfield. The emptiness of the bottom 2/3 of the playfield hurts the gameplay in my opinion, it just feels off. LZ is a game that shows that too much flow is overrated when it comes at the sacrifice of toys and features in my opinion. The main toy, a pop up spinner, is one of the most disappointing toys in modern pinball considering the price. A pop up spinner is the main toy in a $9200 pinball machine and represents Electric Magic? The Zeppelin mold sadly does nothing. I don't understand that design choice other then to save money.

For $9200 I expected much more. There's no reason for Led Zeppelin LE to the cost the same as Avengers Infinity Quest LE and Jurassic Park LE when those two games have significantly more in it.

As a fan of the original Black Knight pins I had high hopes for Black Knight Sword of Rage. After playing a handful of games on an LE I walked away disappointed. Is the game bad? No. Could it have been much better? Yes. First off I found the main music track to be extremely repetitive and coming across as always being at 100% heavy metal versus having a build up as any main track should. A track like that would have been much better suited for a specific mode (or hurry up) but as a main track it becomes mind numbing in my opinion.

As far as the layout goes I was expecting more. There's only 5 main shots on the lower playfield and 2 on the upper playfield. The layout overall feel's very generic, too safe of a design, and the upper playfield feel's uninspired compared to Black Knight 2000's large sprawling upper playfield with a motorized target bank. If the upper playfield was larger, had a couple more shots, and featured a detailed 3D mold of the Black Knight's castle versus an unappealing piece of metal with flat plastics as the ball lock then I could see BKSOR being the ultimate Black Knight pin...sadly that isn't the case here.

In terms of toys I'm impressed with the interactive Black Knight toy. The toy has a moving metal flail and a moving shield that reveals an additional shot. However, beyond that the game is a bit lacking in features. Whereas Black Knight 2000 had a larger upper playfield with a motorized drop target bank + a physical ball lock the upper playfield on BKSOR features a large piece of metal with a few plastics screwed into it to represent a ball lock. For $7,500 - $9,000k depending on model there's no reason why the ball lock shouldn't have been built around a detailed 3D mold. Besides shooting around the ball lock there isn't anything else to do on the upper playfield. The virtual kickback also hurts the game as it makes it feel less feature packed compared to the last pin in the Black Knight franchise that was released 30 years ago.

The playfield artwork on Black Knight Sword of Rage is stunning and is a throwback to Black Knight 2000. As far as the cabinet and backglass artwork goes I found it to be too busy and prefer the more simpler artwork on Black Knight and Black Knight 2000. In terms of music I just don't find the extremely heavy metal soundtrack to fit the Black Knight theme and much prefer the rock theme used in Black Knight 2000.

Finally, the heavy metal soundtrack, muffled and bass filled Black Knight callouts, and frequent insult callouts thrown at the player make the game come across as taking itself too seriously. As I said Black Knight Sword of Rage isn't a bad pin, and I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy it. I was personally just hoping for more of classic rendition of the theme with a modern twist (with some comedy tossed in) over the cyber knight + heavy metal take.

Pat Lawlor took some of the best features and concepts from his past designs and created one of the best pinball machines ever made with Dialed In.

Simply put, Dialed In is one of the best shooting pinball machines you will ever play. Any game can have buttery smooth ramps and orbits by placing two standard ramps and orbits in a game. Pat Lawlor took those concepts to the next level with Dialed In and incorporated a lot of unique shots and ways for the ball to be diverted.

While Dialed In is JJP's first and currently only standard body game I would say it's as equally of a feature packed game as JJP's widebody games. The toys and features in the game are excellent and include multiple moving mechanisms from the QED roving electric worker, to the robot mechanic that features a moving arm to divert the ball onto a basic upper mini playfield. The game also features 5 magnets for some of the best magnetic effects in all of pinball. The rotating drone toys are also a nice touch as is the large physical ball lock. There's also a large theater toy that contains in my opinion the best use of a "peppers ghost" effect in pinball. Oh, there's also a trap door feature, kick back, camera for high scores, and more. The game is loaded with toys and features!

Rules wise Dialed In is a very deep but also approachable game. You start modes by hitting the standup target on the QED toy X number of times. Hit the target more and you will increase your scoring during one of 11 disaster modes, this adds a very nice risk reward element to the game. Starting 6 disaster modes will unlock one of the games wizard modes. Things don't stop there though as there's also the SIM Card feature which is lit when disaster modes are completed. Collecting SIM cards is done by hitting the challenging but makeable shot to next to the side ramp (set upper right flipper power to “14” to make shot easier). The SIM card feature creates a reward element to each mode in similar to the “Gift from the Elves” rewards system in Lord of the Rings. Collecting enough SIM cards to spell “Dialed In” will result in the player starting the games super wizard mode. I could honestly write another 5 paragraphs about how deep and fun the code in Dialed In is.

Dialed In sometimes gets knocked for its theme which I’ve never understood. Is the game about cell phones? Not really, it’s about playing through Disaster Modes and uses a cleverly designed cell phone toy to display video calls from people within Quantum City as well as mode information. What I love about the theme of Dialed In is everything is original from the animations, to the audio is custom made and as a owner I feel that adds much more value than incorporating video clips. Pat Lawlor didn’t just create a pinball machine with Dialed In, he created an entire world which is incorporated extremely well throughout the game.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my review Pat Lawlor took some of the best features and concepts from his past designs and used them in Dialed In. The scoop shot to the cell phone may remind you of the slot machine shot in Twilight Zone, the use of the magnets will remind you of Addams Family, and the roving insert targets coming towards the player during the games main multiball mode are similar to those from the Pinball 2000 prototype game “Wizard Blocks”.

Overall Dialed In is a game that will stand up to the test of time and keep you coming back for years to come.

Stuck on a deserted island and can only choose one pinball machine? Well, JJP's POTC it is then!

Over the past year I've had the opportunity to play POTC on several occasions including prototype and production model games. I ultimately decided to purchase this game as it comes across as offering the most varying gameplay, shots and rules in all of pinball. Want to focus on playing through modes? Pirates has 125 chapter modes, 6 multiball modes, 5 wizard modes, a video mode, multiple hurry up modes and a super wizard mode. Want to focus on scoring strategies? Pirates is loaded with them. Pick from one of nearly two dozen characters each with a different ability and attempt to earn multiple jackpots in multiball modes for higher wizard mode scoring.

When I first saw Pirates I thought "this is WOZ 2.0" and i mean that as a compliment. The game looks incredibly loaded. Sure the price is high but the game is one of the most loaded pins in history, certainly one of the most loaded of the modern pinball era. The game is packed with toys and features from the mechanical moving ship, physical chest ball lock, the maelstrom ramp, a huge multi entrance subway, apron LCD, spinning pirate, and more.

The light shows produced by the RGB inserts and RGB GI are excellent and the animation work by JP is easily some of the best in pinball alongside those found in JJP's other pins. David Thiel did an incredible job with the games audio with a ton of unique audio tracks and sound effects that fit the theme. It's a bit of a bummer to not have actor audio clips from the films but the callouts from Pirates of the Caribbean actor Kevin McNally are superb and help bring the game alive...just wait until you hear the extra ball callout!

In regards to the shot layout Pirates offers not only a high number of shots but also multiple satisfying ones. In terms of shots that pass through an area or drop into a saucer / hole there's 16 of them, that's excluding stand up targets and the extra ball shot which if counted is 17. 16 unique shots that pass through or drop into an area is incredibly high, possibly the most in pinball when counted that way. By comparison Twilight Zone has 11 of the shots I described and Wizard of Oz 10. Many of the shots in Pirares are also satisfying and unique to hit including the inner loop, under the upper left flipper, map hole, and canon shot.

Overall Pirates is one of the best pinball machines ever made. There's so much to do, shoot for, ways to play, ways to save your ball physically (outlanes), etc. Is it the GOAT pin or greatest of all time? Only time will tell but with more code to come its certainly on it's way.

I've owned a Star Wars LE for close to a year and have really enjoyed it. The game has improved a ton thanks to stellar code support by Stern. If you are a fan of objective based rulesets that tell a themes story through its code then you will love this game. The game feels like Star Wars thanks to the excellent use of licensed assets including licensed video (with actor audio / actor video) and licensed music. The toys on the premium / LE may at a glance look basic on paper but when you see them in person and in action I think you be impressed. The Death Star toy on the premium / LE is a very cool toy and its effect during use is awesome to see (and feel if you have a shaker motor, a must have for this game in my opinion). The hyperspeed toy is one of my favorite pinball toys and it's very satisfying to hit multiple balls up the fork ramp into it. Oh, one more thing, the mechanical right outlane save feature is a small but cool feature to have on the premium / LE.

Back to the games code I think its the games best asset. The ruleset that Dwight designed for the game is very addictive and deep. The games rules are broken up into 4 areas within the Star Wars universe. Each of the 4 areas contains 3 modes and each area contains a mini wizard mode. Each mode contains licensed assets from the films and all feel unique as well as progressively more difficult as you go through them. On top of the 16 modes from the 4 locations there are 2 wizard modes in the game, a separate Darth Vader vs Obi Wan mode (reminds be of Fellowship of the Rings MB in LOTR), a Boba Fett mode, and at least 2-3 (or more, can't recall) multiball modes. Finally, the game allows the player to select from 4 different characters. Each character has unique abilities that will affect how modes are progressed and scored.

Overall Star Wars premium / LE is a very impressive pinball machine. Would having more toys in the game be nice? Yes, but I wouldn't be surprised if the license for the game was very expensive and I wouldn't personally want to see licensed assets dropped in favor of more toys. My main gripe about the game is that the LE offering should have been more substantial. The side armour on the LE is cool but there's no excuse for the game not to have a mirrored black glass (only a translite on the LE). Also, I still think the 3 stand up target bank in front of the mini LCD should have been a motorized target bank that lowered with a shot behind it.

UPDATE: I recently revised my review score for Star Wars LE. I recently sold the game and it wasn't because I disliked the game, simply out of room for another pin. I slightly lowered my score for a few reasons. The skill shots on the game after over a year of owning the game are simply not fun in my opinion, the left outlane drains are cheap / occur too often, the mini LCD feels underused, and the end of ball Yoda video clips are too repeitive. I also wish that the LE included more. There was no excuse, other then cost, for the LE not to have a mirrored backglass. Star Wars LE is still a great pin, with deep code, and I stand by what I said above in my original review. I

I really enjoyed owning and playing the SS version of Cleopatra. The game features a symmetrical layout and although rather basic it is still fun. Gameplay can be quick from shots made off of the center drop targets.

The backglass looks absolutely great on Cleopatra and will really make the game pop in your game room.

I would highly recommend picking up a Pascal all in one board replacement for a Cleopatra if you buy one to greatly improve the games reliability.

Overall I think Star Trek Pro is a great game. The lighting is excellent on this game and you will see some great light shows. Music in the game is pretty good but I wish it offered more variety. My only gripe about the game is the lackluster backglass artwork. Also, while some of the DMD animations look impressive others can seem like an afterthought.

The rules although somewhat repetitive (hit the blinking shots) are fun and become more unique the deeper you get into the game. While there are 6 mission inserts each mission has 3 levels with each level containing more difficult rules and unique animations. In total there are really 18 unique missions, plus 3 wizard modes for each set of 6 you complete. There are also 3 multiball modes that can be started through normal play including Vengeance, Kahn, and Klingon multiball. Overall there are 24 modes in the game which is a lot compared to most pins. If you like mode based games then I think you will really enjoy Star Trek.

In terms value and fun I think Star Trek pro offers both. While the premium and LE are the more feature packed versions of the game I do not feel that anything is really missing from the pro version of the game that hurts its gameplay.

Below is breakdown by category of my opinion on the game

Code version: .83
Model: Smaug SE

Gameplay

The game no longer felt like the ball was just "ping ponging all over the place". Although the games flipper power still needed to be cranked up a bit I felt the game did not play slow and flowed fairly well. Also, I've complained before about a lack of shots on the game. Well, I can see now that as Keith and Ted add more to the code that the "lack of shots" thought didn't even come across my mind as you start to see shots open up in the game in unique ways. It's easy while not seeing the game to think "There's just a bunch of drop targets and pop ups in the game, those are not really shots". I probably would have agreed with that comment before I played the game but not any longer. Even though the game was running software version .83 you can see how Keith and Ted will take advantage of all of the games drop targets and pop ups in unique ways. With the way the drop targets act you can have a shot to a standup target between two drop targets, that's pretty cool. Also, the pop ups themselves can be hit from behind which when combined with the ramp divertor opens up even more shot possibilities

Sound

It was nice to finally play the game in an environment where I could actually hear the game. We all know that the game looks beautiful (it sure does) but it also sounds incredible. David Thiel has worked on a lot of top games and you hear his work in every aspect of The Hobbit. I noticed at least one mode where the sound for hitting an orbit shot changed due to being in that particular mode, a nice touch. You can already tell that there is a great deal of effort and detail being put into the games audio work. The music on the game, done by "Two Steps from Hell", sounds impressive and we still have yet to hear the complete soundtrack they created for the game due the game running fairly early code. If the game already sounds this good just wait until the rest of Davids work and the Two Steps from Hell soundtrack is in the game.

Rules / code: The game I played was running software version .83 and you can tell it's still fairly early code. Besides Smaug multiball I noticed a handful of hurry up modes and traditional modes starting. However, I don't believe the traditional modes in the game are 100% complete as they didn't really give me a feel of being in the mode compared to say while playing LOTR when more unique sounds and animations are played for each mode. The code overall was certainly further along then what I played at the Michigan Pinball Expo a year ago. There is not a doubt in my mind that the game will only get better from here thanks to Keith and Teds code work. Those guys did and are still doing an incredible job supporting WOZ's code, the best in pinball I've always said. With JJP they are batting a 1000 in terms of code support and being transparent about the status of code. As I've said in another thread "Don't underestimate the power of the Keefer"

Value

Does the game offer as much value as JJP's previous title The Wizard of Oz? WOZ seemed to be a special case, almost like Twilight Zone, where a calculator wasn't used to make the game and everything that could be put into the game was included. The Hobbit, although not as loaded compared to WOZ in my opinion, still offers a ton of value. Value cannot be judged by toys / features alone but also by the amount and quality of work put into a games rules, audio and animations. With TH you have two of the best pinball programmers of all time, Keith Johnson and Ted Estes, working on the games rules. The rules that I've seen in Keiths other games games, LOTR, TSPP, WOZ, are not just traditional rules found in other games. Keith Johnson has a gift for telling a themes story through code and making a player feel as if they are on a quest. That alone adds a lot of value to a game. The Hobbit is set to have over 30 modes, I'll say that again, over 30 modes! This is a game, like LOTR, TSPP, and WOZ, that you can own for 10 years and will always have an objective for you to achieve. Also, the value of David Thiels audio work and The Two Steps from Hell soundtrack adds a lot to the value factor as well. I recall David himself saying at a show that he's putting more effort into The Hobbit then any other game he's worked on. We know David has done a great job on his other games and that same quality and fun factor to the sounds can already be heard on the Hobbit even with early code. The "Two Steps from Hell" soundtrack offers a lot of value as well. The group has worked on major Hollywood films, such as Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean, and it's just awesome to hear that level of quality in a pinball machine. Finally, the games animations from JP are impressive to say the least. The layout and design of the screen is slick and the animations themselves are high quality and only help immersive the player more in the world of Middle Earth.

Well done JJP

I owned a POTC for about 6 months and had a blast playing it. Visually the game is one of Stern's best looking games to date with striking colors and great artwork. Toys wise the game has one of the best in pinball with that being the pirate ship which is very interactive. A lot of modern pinball toys are no where near as interactive as the ship in POTC and I would put it on the same level as the castle in MM.

Rules: Straight forward but too many modes that are only unlocked after you hit the same shot over and over again and once unlocked repeat. The rules for POTC needed a story based ruleset similar to LOTR where you have a set number of shots to hit on the playfield while DMD animations show scenes from the films. The game does have a wizard mode but reaching it requires you hitting one area over and over again with no unique rules to be seen. Rules for the different ship levels are to simply hit the next level ship "X" more number of times rather then making the player hit a set amount of shots.

Audio: I really like the audio and sound affects in this game. The Johnny Depp sound-a-like is spot on so no worries there. The game does lack voice jackpot call outs which does slightly hurt the games sound package. Overall though the audio is pretty slick and the game end audio track is a fun to year.

Gameplay: The game doesn't have much flow at all with the only bit coming from the "Jack The Monkey" shot. However, I do find the shots to the ship to be satisfying and it's really cool to see a hidden shot unlocked when the ships are sunk.

A game that has it all! 5 magnets. 5 flippers. Two mini playfields. Crystal ball toy. Spinning house. Monkey mech. Stereo sound. Outland mini games, deep rules and more. WOZ is the best pinball machine I have ever seen and play. The cabinet and playfield are a work of art with clear coating making it really stand out. Like I already mentioned there are so many toys on this game that I find myself thinking that it's more complex then even my TZ. The LCD is implemented extremely well with it doing it a great job of displaying progress for multiple modes. Seeing this game with an LCD is an evolution for pinball, DMD's are fine but this game is something else with an LCD. The animations are also very nice and integrate with the game well. I love the theme of WOZ as it's timeless just like TZ. The playfield is also so well thought out that the right half represents good (Munchkin Land, Emerald City) while the left represents evil with that being the Wicked Witch. The quality of this game is something that I have never seen before for a NIB pin. WOZ seems like the Ferrari of pinball machines due to the attention to detail that goes into building it as well as the number of features that the game offers. There's too many features to go into detail about but I'll comment on two of my favorites with that being the mini outlane games. Those two mini games are such a blast and add a lot of extra fun and depth to this game.

Finally, Keith has been doing a great job with the games code and with 1.21 the signs of a deep quest based ruleset are already in place and will only get better thanks to the game getting regular updates. Jersey Jack said that JJP set out to make the best pinball machine ever and I have to say that they have done that with hitting it out of the park with WOZ.

ACDC Premium is one of the best pins I've ever played. It took me a while to get into it as its not a traditional mode based game, which up until my Premium purchase is all I owned. After playing the game for several weeks I see just how complex and deep the rules are. Each song, 12 in total, is a different mode with its own set of rules for scoring. I haven't seen Encore but just the fact that a 3 ball wizard mode with multi ball progression is in the game is awesome. The animations in this game are top notch and provide for some memorable dots. Sound wise ACDC Premium is great as well with each song really getting you into the game. The callouts by Steve Ritchie are excellent and at times rather amusing especially with insult level set to high. The lower play field is a blast to play in and like the rest of the game is extremely quick. Speaking of quick this game plays extremely fast and has great flow! Overall ACDC Premium is a top 10 pin in my book.

UPDATE: I wanted to revise my review score for ACDC Premium. After owning the game for over a year and then selling it I still stand by most of what I said above. However, for me the biggest complaint I have about the game are code related and the underused lower playfield. I know a lot of people say ACDC has very deep code but for me I just never found the ruleset very engaging. All modes (songs) focus on hitting one main shot for the song, multiballs play similar with the same animation played for each, and the lack of a mini wizard mode hurts the games fun factor as the only wizard mode in the game cannot be reached unless all 12 songs are completed. The lower mini playfield is not integrated very well into the game and is used rarely. Still, the game is a blast to play and I could see owning one again down the road.