tbaum's ratings

I've played a couple dozen games on both the Premium and the Pro and, while I enjoy the game overall, the Pro felt very "empty" to me. Many of the shots felt less satisfying in the Pro, the right ramp and the left "van" shot in particular. The theme tries to break up the traditional band tour theming by having you "fight aliens" in different cities, but in the end it feels basically the same with a different label slapped on it.

Having said all this, there are a lot of really interesting innovations in this pin that show Jack Danger will be a leading designer for years to come. The outlane post is fun, the kicker on the right side of the playfield could have a lot of different uses, and the inlane targets are cool (but underused at present).

*code version 0.93* After a couple dozen plays I think the theme integration is the best I've ever seen. Everything fits together so well and brings you into the world of Godzilla better than any other theme I can think of.

Elwin clearly adapted some of his favorite features from other games in this - like the lower bumper (#Rick_and_Morty) the battles (#Deadpool), the way the clips are integrated into the gameplay (#BM66 and #Elvira) - but made them all smoother and better.

The game shoots beautifully, it reminds me of some of the best parts of games like #Lord_of_the_rings (but not as long), while also providing some unique shots that take a bit to learn (e.g., the left ramp).

The toys are perhaps the best in a machine outside of a very select few (I think JJP's #PoC has this beat, but only slightly). Collapsing buildings and bridges just fit so well into the theme and helps create an unparalleled "world under glass", and separate it from the Pro in ways that few Premiums do. I find many Premium features on other machines, hurt the overall gameplay for gimmicks, but in Godzilla is really makes the game better.

The playfield lighting could be a bit better at times. Some of the modes have lights flashing/lit up that are not mission specific and caused me to shoot the wrong things for a while until I read the rules. This is a small quibble and I assume they will be addressed by code version 1.0.

The gameplay is long, but requires real strategic thinking to score well. It is a risk vs reward on cashing in your city or trying to score a few more points to rack up the score.

Overall, super fun and super deep.

This is just a really fun machine to play. The video animations, both the movies and Elvira, herself are a great fit with the overall game. This is clearly an evolution of the level of integration I hadn't seen since Batman 66, and is maybe only surpassed by the newer Godzilla. The shots, mostly, flow really nicely, and the modes are interesting and different enough. Really has the "one more play" factor.

My only real gripe is that it did feel like you could get through most of the game with moderate skill. I hit most of the wizard modes pretty early on in my playing. As I mentioned above, it is fun enough to keep you coming back, but I think over time you would get to the "end" often (just to be clear, this isn't Munsters levels of shallow, just not as deep as say JP or as challenging as IM).

Honestly I really wanted to like this game, but it just wasn't good. The game shot very slowly, but not in a particularly good or fun way. The theme was there, but outside of the multiball, it never felt like anything I was doing was terribly connected to the theme - it was a lot of "shoot the ramp, hit the left side shots, repeat". I was really bored playing it, but kept going until I finished. Even getting the GC at a relatively competitive pinball place wasn't very exciting and I couldn't tell you what I did to earn it. Also the scoops that feed the ball out by the flippers is kinda dumb.

I just wasn't the hugest fan of this game - the upper playfield is nice, but it felt like a slow game with a fairly repetitive set of tasks.
I like the Simpson's theme, but that just wasn't enough for me.

This is just straight up a classic - so original for it's time, the four different flippers each have a role to play, the jackpot seems like you've earned it, and each mode is clear and distinct.

The bells and whistles are all classics and the sounds all fit perfectly. The music is generally decent, but not as great as the individual sounds (except maybe the Mamushka which I can still hum just by saying the name).

The game definitely has replay appeal and there's a whole other level of skill to get up in to the high scores (I've never made the billion club).

I really liked this game - I'm not an Iron Maiden fan, but the theme itself (the undead WWII horror) is really fun. It reminds me a lot of the Weird War Tales comics I read as a kid.

The shots are interesting, and there are enough tight and varying ones to make it interesting. My one complaint is that the ball seems to pop a lot, leaving the play field and bouncing around in ways that I think are problematic. I once had the ball jump up and hit a ramp in the air and then sewer. Despite this, it is still one of the first games I go for when I see it nowadays.