toyotaboy's ratings

its not often i fall in love with a pinball at a show. this was an instant hit for me. it played butter smooth, and even early code made me smile hearing all the quotes from the movie. the lower pricing certainly helped me make up my mind, dont know if i could have dropped $8500 for this game. but $7500 feels right.

I never played this title until I bought it. There was one at MGC, but it was always full. It's definitely a sleeper title, great bang for buck. You've got a cool crane toy, 6-ball multiball, top kickback, dropdown targets, magnets. I highly recommend getting the updated modified roms because it not only balances the rules, it randomizes some of the sounds (some you'll never have heard). They were hidden away and never used. That means instead of hearing "come back later" over and over when you go into the scoop early, you'll sometimes hear "not yet".

I've played very early versions of this at pinball shows (intial showing had nearly no code, as chuck said it had no code 48 hours before it's showing), and over a year you could see how the modes and scoring progressed, as well as the speeches and animation. Ben really created a simple yet rewarding pinball, taking features like the 3-bank drop down standup targets from attack from mars. The hellevator is like a slow version of a VUK, but perhaps this will last longer than a coil since it's an efficient motor. The action is fast and has great flow. Yet another great title that is out of my price range, and with low production numbers it's sad that you'll only get to play it at shows.

I'm rating this based on playing a virtual one (sorry, but when am I ever going to play the real thing, I've never seen one in my entire life). I will say the tic-tac-toe board in the center looks pretty innovative for 1984, still not sure how it's done without pulling up the playfield. I'd imagine it's simply a decal with clear sections to let light through, though not sure how you'd separate the X's from the O's (they overlap each other). The gameplay feels frustrating as many shots are major ball drains (even with nudging). I do like the gobble hole on the lower right outlane that pops the ball back in play. I also dig the music, it's that very eerie bassy music you'd hear in an early 80's movie like escape from NY or terminator, or perhaps a van halen song. As far as the rules, it seems to be using tic-tac-toe as a crutch more than anything. Also comparing this to another pin from the same year (space shuttle) which has a ramp and a toy, this flat playfield feels very dated.

Every revision code, this game just keeps getting better and deeper.

Took me a good 3 weeks before I could finally play this in a public location. I must say, growing up with metallica makes this theme much more applicable to someone like me. This is very unlike AC/DC and rolling stones which I was aware of both but still mostly before my time. The theme goes along very nicely with the band icons (the cross, the ride the lightening bobblehead, the fuel meter, the snake). Very glad to see Stern going back to metal wireform ramps while maintaining the solid metal ramps with cutouts for the "M" logo. The game is tough, but lets you win just enough to keep wanting to play. I found that at first the bobblehead was a bad middle drain much like AC/DC, but found if I shot it slightly at an angle instead of straight on, the ball would bounce to one side and avoid that. Even if I did find myself shooting straight on, there is enough playfield space to nudge it off to one direction. On the game I played at enchanted castle, I found the right slingshot too strong. Twice while playing it launched the ball so hard it hit the glass, once draining in the far left lane. Also the left flipper button pushed all the way through while playing, which is yet another Stern quality issue. Overall this is a fun game that should have long lasting enjoyment. Even if you conquer it, it's still fun playing along to rocking music.

Like I said in my "story", haven't played this in 22 years. I now remember why I loved this title so much. The playfield layout is just amazing, the ball is bouncing all over the place, it really keeps you on your toes. The sound effects are great, and really make you feel tense. The strobing lighting makes for a great playfield light show. Getting to hear all the female voices is almost a goal in itself "gimme shelter!!".

Wish the multiball were more challenging to get, but still rewarding. The gun adds a good distraction, great video modes too. If you add LED lighting to the underplastic GI, it really makes the playfield light up better. As most people, I wish the leo getts (ok ok ok) wasn't so pronounced. It's equivalent to playing austin powers and hearing the "yea baby!" over and over.

Played this at tatman's party (though I've played this before, a looooong time ago). I remember why I loved this pin so much, the theme is done so well you almost feel like your racing down rapids. The vacuum formed mountains in the upper playfield are really cool, the ramps with drains are fun, the bigfoot that blocks your shots is a great toy. I love the hilly ramp on the left side, and I'm now remembering how the fact that they made this ramp so close to the playfield glass that it grazes it as it goes by (9 times out of 10). I don't know if it came stock with a topper, but I love it because it reminds me of those old beer signs. This pinball also seems to have fairly simple rules (aim for left ramp, lock some balls, play a multiball). I prefer pins that don't get too deep.

Played for the first time at tatman's party. I really dug the DMD inside the playfield (instead of having to look up at the backglass). I'm not sure what the point of the balls popping in the backglass is, maybe if I had more time I could see what it was doing. Seemed to be running when you popped the balloons that pop up from the playfield. The coil with the ball in it is a neat randomizer. I love the purple metal siderails on the cabinet and the purple flipper rubbers. The artwork really pops too.

This is the 3rd pin I've owned. Definitely feel the pat lawlor era, even though I've never played this until I owned it. Has that similiar sound, similiar alphanumeric coding, similiar playfield layout as earthshaker. Would I prefer to own an earthshaker, heck yes.. But this pin can be had for a lot less, and it has pretty good gameplay. Definately a nice pin if you can pick one up for less than $800.

this was and still is my first pin. Sort of slow gameplay, but not bad for it's time.

I remember playing this at a couple bars in my younger days. haven't played one forever, then I married my wife who was huge into NASA stuff. I remember having fun playing this, so I picked one up for $450 in not so great shape. I'm in the process of completely restoring it and keeping it in my collection forever, especially now that the space shuttle program is over.

Friend of mine has one of these, and he got it for a steal. There's so much going on in this game, the depth lasts a long time. If I had the money, I'd probably pick one of these up. It'd be really hard to get bored with this game.