I never thought I'd see this game in a Pinball... honestly it's one of those dream themes that never crossed my mind that it would be produced.
My way of qualifying this game is going to be quite selfish on my part and the reason is because I am fan of The GodFather and therefore (obviously) I lean in favor of the production of this Pinball, however I must be honest saying what I didn't like it either (and I mean on a personal level).
Personal cons:
-The 5 month wait was more than boring, I was fed up, this is a purchase of $24,000 CDN Dollars and there is nothing more exhausting than knowing that something this expensive takes so long to produce, 1 or 2 months would be more than enough(period!)
-Jersey Jack made a mistake by including scenes with characters outside of everything related to The GodFather as such... when I saw that, I felt betrayed regarding the originality of the title, genre and theme, plus there are cheesy speeches (very ridiculous) that are, to tell the truth, unacceptable for any person/public that likes The GodFather... but, fortunately! Fortunately!!! You can remove it all in settings, otherwise it would be unbearable to see and hear something so absurd in the middle of the game.
-There are certain shots (Hideout and Compound) that require time to catch the hit, you are not going to hit those shots overnight... in the case of my girlfriend, she was annoyed with the top flipper until that she managed to learn how to use it.
And personal pros:
-Starting with the art, there is absolutely nothing to criticize. Christopher Franchi obviously delivered one more masterpiece into our hands. As much as you are a hater of JJP, or The GodFather, there is no reason for you not to admire this work, take your time and detail the backglass, artblades, cabinets, playfield, and you will only find loyalty to the movie, from the gestures of the characters, the colors, the oranges and the newspaper on the right side of the artblades, McCluskey with the fork, Sollozzo's look, Clemenza with the cannoli box, Luca.etc, absolutely all the characters are in their best expression.
-the topper is just amazing, I'm someone who enjoys having toppers in their games (Stern's Batman66, Attack From Mars and Cactus Canyon remakes from CGC are amazing toppers), however, this topper is another new level... you don't know how amazing is to see this in action! the movement of the gangsters shooting, the lighting and the sound of the machine guns is an achievement that I had not seen in any topper, this is something that went beyond my expectations.
-Regarding the gameplay, I summarize...
This is possibly the game I've seen that has the most negative reviews in many different threads(not GodFather threads)but many of those reviews are baseless... this game is fantastic! the ramps, diverters, the rules are quite nice, and you must understand that The GodFather(the movie) is a Drama, it is not action, and to bring that world into a Pinball it takes a lot!...
The amount of detail that this game has is something beyond the limits, the Golden Wireform Ramps, it has Dual Bi-directional ramps, 29 ball paths(this is an amazing touch), 13 skill shots, that sparkle in the playfield, those lion leg sculptures among other things, are details that make this a spectacular game.
-I add that I take my hat off for this production... I'm not just talking about the rights to The GodFather (1972), I mean having Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan together in a Pinball, and being able to achieve not one or the other but all the characters like Sollozzo, Clemenza, Luca, McCluskey, Emilio Barzini, Tattaglia, Tessio, Carlo, Cicci is something that makes me very happy as a fan... this is one of the top 10 best films made in Hollywood (like it whether you like it or not) and JJP did an excellent job of bringing it to a Pinball.