vid1900's ratings

Cool Playmatic game that has an 8-track tape player inside to play Disco music.

Also has chick voices that I could not understand (might be in Spanish).

If you own this game, you should make a backup copy of the 8-track and use that instead; because if the machine eats your tape, it's going to be hard to ever find a replacement.

Only played a few games on it, but it seemed fun, especially if you like black chicks or disco.

This game made us a ton of money on route.

Great WTF 1970's artwork, eerie droning sound, and of course, the curved flippers (Williams never called them "banana flippers").

Curved flippers are the ONLY way to play Time Warp. There are 6,931 other pins with straight flippers, but only 2 games with the cool curved ones. If you just want to bat the ball around, pick any of those other games. But if you want a challenge, you've got to step up and get your ass kicked by the curved flippers. They allow you to put a wicked spin on the ball, sometimes clearing all the drops on the playfield in a single sweep.

There are some tough shots on the playfield. Getting up the right lane to the upper target is tough, and trying to shoot through the pops to get the ball back to the top of the playfield is for skilled players only.

You might not want Time Warp as your only game, because once you master the curved flippers, you can only transfer your skills to one other game (Disco Fever); but in a line up with a few games, Time Warp is a game you go back to again and again. Visitors playing the game for the first time squeal with delight as the flippers impart a strange spin onto the ball, "Are their magnets on this?" they always ask.

A great oddball game for those those who want to further their pinball skills past the everyday Italian Bottom games.

This was Bally's first "fast" pinball machine.

The horseshoe would whip the ball back at the player with amazing speed on a waxed playfield.

Probably the best artwork of any pinball machine ever, even the cab art was an amazing depiction of power.

The deep futuristic sounds fit the theme perfectly. The whah, whah, whah, whah pulsing will be drilled into your brain forever.....

Jim Patla had another huge success for Bally with this one.

AFM is the perfect game.

A beginner can step right up and enjoy it, and an experienced pinhead can play it for years and never fully master it.

It is funny without being "gay".

The music is amazing and of course the cow mode is the stuff of legend.

Easily the most fun pin ever created.

The Shadow is a HARD game. You could own it for years and never be sure you could just walk up and it would not own you.

Sounds are amazing and rich.

Backglass is not the best, but otherwise the game is beautiful.

WOZ is an amazing game that needs better GI lighting and better sound (that "zing" sound gets on my nerves like nothing else in pinball.

A great start from JJP!

TRON = FLOW.

Crazy fast flow game, one of the best of all time!

I just restored one of these rare games for a customer, so I got to put a lot of playtime on it.

Usually I don't gravitate towards Card Games, but mix Cards and Showgirls and you at least have my attention.

Most guest at the shop had never seen the game, but loved the kitschy 70's design and colors.

Same with the 70s "video game" sounds. They really define the era.

This is a Steve Kordek design, so naturally it's a shooter's game. The playfield has lots of wide open area, so you can really show off your shooting chops (if you have any).


This game has Double Action Flippers which allows the inner flippers to operate first, or all four flippers to operate, depending on how far the flipper buttons are pressed. Unlike other 4 flipper games, this allows you to avoid losing balls between a pair of flippers (once you get the hang of it).

The Kings captive balls is a super ingenious twist on the Newton ball trick. I'm surprised that this never got reused in any latter games. 4 balls need to be knocked around a loop and stacked to score the Kings. A post, powered by a solenoid, drops below the playfield to release the balls to their starting position.

If you are into shooter's games, Pokerino has a lot to offer.

Fireball is the best EM of all time, bar none.

While most games of that era were Cards, Cowboys and Clowns, Fireball was "mean" with fire demons and Norse gods.

Great Multi-ball action.

The spinning disk makes for great fun watching a ball spin and then suddenly do a 180 reversal.

The best skill shot ever in a pinball machine, even 40 years latter.

Fireball Classic is a great game that lets you own a solid state version of the rare EM version for thousands of dollars less money.

You can change the settings from the new electronic "vocal" sounds to the internal bell, if you want a more authentic experience.

One of the last Bally games, it is usually pretty reliable compared to the late 70s ones.

Watch for faded backglasses on this game if buying.

Probably the most perfect playfield ever designed. Space Shuttle is the game that literally saved pinball (please Google this if you don't know the history).

The playfield graphics show the Hubble Telescope being serviced - 9 years before any servicing of the Hubble actually occurred (1993). In fact the Hubble did not even launch for 6 years after the game came out.

The game is just plain fun. A non player will immediately take to it, and any real player will love it.

Little touches of black humor like the sound of an astronaut screaming to his death as the ball drains, always draws nervous laughter from a new player.

Other touches like the center playfield light show spelling out T-I-L-T are way cool as is the "Heat Shield" rising up to protect the player from ball drains between the flippers. Clever ideas and integration.

This game is usually found in terrible shape, but just in the last year reproduction playfields and ramps have become available - so finally players can play this game as intended with no Mylar or bare wood to slow the game down.

One of the true Williams Greats!

F-14 is one of those super fast Steve Ritchie games. Its claim to fame is that has a surprise "fire back at the flippers" launcher in it. It is not unusual for visitors to say that the game is simply too fast to play.
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The game is built like a tank, no plastic ramps to crack at all.
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There are a few downsides to the construction of the game that keeps many people from ever having experienced the game as intended:

1. Most of the playfields have a ton of raised arrow inserts. The games came with complete mylar installed from the factory, complicating the resetting of the inserts. The arrow inserts would seem to have extra surface area to hold themselves in place, but almost always they are all popped up every which way.

2. More so than other games, the pop bumper needs to be in great working order to keep the upper loop in play. Most games have a sluggish bumper and old rubber across from it.

3. Williams issued a service bulletin requiring the replacing of the upper flipper coils. Games should now have FL11722 coils installed.

F-14 is a super fast fun game to play. Too bad most people have never had a chance to play it corectly. If you play a properly maintained game, you won't soon forget it.

How can someone not like Pinbot?!

Great game that stands the test of time.

I own some pretty cool games (MM, AFM and TZ to name a few), but the best pinball game ever made is White Water.

I don't say that lightly, it really is.

There is an amazing symmetry from this very asymmetrical playfield. The clear plastic ramps have an almost liquid feel over the more typical metal skeletal ones.

The game calls out the next shot so beginners instantly can play without memorizing an obscure set of rules.

The game plays really fast. The ramps often take the balls out of sight, sometimes finding the "secret passage".

Cons: The mountains in the game were made from some of the cheapest, thinnest, vacuum formed plastic in the world. I've seen replicas made from both brown or white plastic. The white has an interesting look, but the brown matches the playfield better.

Out of all of the games I own, the KISS pinball is the one everyone wants to play. People simply gravitate directly to it.

It is fun to play and has a great backglass. They made lots of these tables, everyone should own one.

Remember the first time you saw your ball captured on the side of the box? Excellent effect!

One of the all time greats.

Comet is a great, underrated game. LOTS of ramps and interesting stuff to complete. Hard to make the 1,000,000 shot.

If set up correctly, with good bumpers and slingshots, the game plays nice and fast. This game needs clean and powerful flippers to give you any chance of the corkscrew shot. Most of the ones I see are pretty poorly maintained.

HEY TURKEY... C'MON HIT ME......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! (splash).

Is there a faster, better sounding, darker mood game on the planet? Crazy fun.