Paul_from_Gilroy's ratings

I've been in the hobby about 20 years. I almost never get a machine that was made before 1990. I wasn't expecting much when I acquired The Games, my first Gottlieb System 80A game. I was pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind that healthy pop bumpers and flippers make a big difference in this particular game.

Here's what I like about it.
- Fun. This game reminds me, in some ways, of Total Nuclear Annihilation. The rules are straightforward but for some reason the shots are very satisfying. There are key shots (the captive ball, the spinner, and the vari-target) where you get a reward if you hit them, but you get the best reward (an Olympic gold medal) when you hit them well (a solid, well-aimed shot). Your goal is to collect all 5 gold medals before you drain. Each time you are rewarded with a medal, you hear a arcade-retro-sounding reward tune which is great. You re-light medal shots on the left by hitting into a saucer on the right. There are 4 well-place pop bumpers. The designer did a great job on the playfield layout.
- Retro sound. It reminds me of early 1980's arcade games like Galaxian and Frogger.
- Bonus countdown. Like a few other games fom this era, you build up a bonus by hitting certain shots. When you lose your ball, you see and hear the bonus tally count down via sound effects (throaty bass whoops) and a column of playfield inserts. It's pretty cool.

Here are some things that aren't so great.
- Old. Nothing against old stuff (I'm old), but one of the issues with a game like this, from 1984, is that playfields from this era didn't have the same quality clearcoat as more modern games. So usually, when you find a game like this, there is playfield wear. Being an older game, the sound is fairly basic (no speech, and no funny commentary). And, as with most older games, there is no LCD or DMD, no built-in freeplay setting (you need to do a mod), primitive diagnostics, passive slingshots, etc.
- Background sound. During gameplay, there is a constant "crowd cheering" background sound. According to the manual, you can turn it off via a DIP switch setting, but as far as I can tell, that feature (the ability to turn off background sound) doesn't work in this game.
- Artwork. I would say the artwork is appropriate, but somewhat uninteresting.

If my rating was based only on fun, the attribute that matters most to me, it would be a fairly high rating.

Another masterpiece from Pat Lawlor (the designer of Funhouse, Twilight Zone, and many other pinball games). I've owned this game for 8 years. In Addams Family, you visit different rooms in the mansion and work your way towards "Tour the Mansion" wizard mode. The toys in this game are great, especially the Thing hand that comes out of its box and takes your ball. The cloud topper with lighting effects is pretty neat. The shot to Uncle Fester's electric chair is quite satisfying. The use of a knocker in the bottom cabinet is novel and cool (used in-game during Seance mode as you try to make it "knock three times"). Good humor, good art, interesting layout, under playfield magnets that are a hoot. All in all, extremely well done.

I've owned this game for 15 years. I got my first taste of it in the early 2000's playing a computer game called Williams Pinball Classics. The theme is great, a 1950's drive-in movie theater (where the movie is Creature from the Black Lagoon). The under-playfield hologram is a very cool toy. The rules are straightforward... spell FILM and start the movie, find the monster and rescue the girl. The artwork is really neat. The game isn't super deep or super challenging for a good player, but very fun. The shots are smooth and satisfying. Aside from the hologram, my favorite treat is when you make the shots necessary to open up the long habittrail to the whirlpool.

I've owned this game for 11 years. What can I say, it's a masterpiece. Coming off the success of Addams Family, Pat Lawlor created this amazing widebody game. There are toys galore, lots of humor, great Chris Granner music (although I rate the fidelity as only "decent" because the DCS sound system didn't make it into this title). The layout is the most interesting of any game I've seen (an upper playfield with different paths underneath it, a diverter to a gumball machine in the back, interesting ramps, habitrails, subways, orbits with magnets, and more. I think this was Pat Lawlor's best game.

I've owned this game for 6 years. It's an original, meticulously restored game. Probably the best humor I've seen in a pinball game and the toys are great. Generally, the goal is to start each monster mode (Creature, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Mummy, Wolfman, Dracula. Once a monster mode is started, you make the shots to collect the monster's musical instrument. The monsters are "getting the band back together". It's essentially a fan-style layout with a lot of smooth, satisfying shots.

In my collection, games come and go. I've owned this one for more than 7 years. It's a beautiful game, fully restored. What is it that makes Fish Tales a keeper (no pun intended)? I think it's a combination of the Chris Granner music, the whimsical artwork by Pat McMahon, and the overall design and gameplay by Mark Ritchie. Some people are turned off by the double boat ramp right smack in the middle of the playfield. It's tempting to shoot that ramp over and over (it's a satisfying shot), but it's high risk. Not a super deep game, but deep enough to keep you coming back. Catch fish, stretch the truth, catch a monster fish, rack up points in a feeding frenzy, visit the clubhouse to start a tournament, master the different types of fishing... super fun.

I own an Oktoberfest and I've played about 300 times. When I first saw the game at Texas Pinball Festival 2019, I was drawn in by the theme, the bright colors, the toys, the humor... and the fact that I liked their previous game Houdini. What I didn't realize is what a great job API did on the rules and flow in this game. To say the game is "fun" might be an understatement. Here are some of my favorite things (off the top of my head):

- When starting a tent mode, you can choose any tent mode you want (there are 14 to choose from). Even more cool is the fact that you can choose a mode that you played previously and failed to complete. It remembers your progress in each mode so you don't start from scratch. Thus you can keep at it until you turn each tent green without it feeling repetitive or tedious. It's just fun, challenging and satisfying.

- I love the way steins work. Each stein awards two benefits (it makes one thing easier and it makes something else more valuable). For example, the Engler Pale Ale stein gives you more time in tents AND boosts Juggling scoring. When you enter the Juggling tent, you'll know that you have the Juggling boost because the Engler Stein is on screen (on the entrance to the tent). How cool is that? You can increase each benefit/boost a second time, a third time, or more (depending on on settings) by collecting the same stein over again! Well done!!!

- There are many treats in the game. I like the beginning of Corkscrew Multiball as well as the beginning of Beer Barrel multiball. I'm not going to describe the events here (no spoilers). My favorite tent is the giant slide. Again, I won't describe it (no spoilers). Just be sure and visit this tent! There are mini wizard modes, uber wizard mode, ways to earn your ball back if you drain via an outlane, etc. All tremendous fun and very well done.

- I don't know if this is a formal combo, but one of my favorite "feel good" shots is a left orbit shot followed by an UR Flipper shot into the Tent to start a mode. I call it the "Side Entrance".

- Magnab is great. You have to earn magnabs. Then you can use magnabs to make tough shots a little easier (the Beer Barrel Ramp, the High Striker, the bar shot...). I'm not a huge fan of "autograbs" in the current code, where the game decides when to grab the ball for you, but the developers are still working on this.

- The use of the knocker is brilliant. It's an add-on kit, but well worth it. It goes in the bottom cabinet, near the cross bar. The "pop" when shooting targets in Target Shooting mode (or Ducks in Duck Hunting mode) is great. I haven't seen a knocker used this well since Addams Family. The shaker motor is used in things like Bumper Cars and the Corkscrew Coaster, but, honestly, it doesn't do much for me in this game. I think shaker motors are better in games with battles, explosions, monsters, catapults, etc.

I could go on and on. If "fun" is important to you, this is a great game. If you like strategy, there are an infinite number of paths to try. Rating it based solely on the categories here probably doesn't do it justice.