Winball_Pizard's ratings

Gold Ball maybe one of the last Bally games before switching to their cheaper tables and systems that is actually fun to play and challenging.

The design is fairly simple. However, there are plenty of games throughout pinball’s history with simple layouts that are still fun and challenging to play. There are many games with more complex or feature heavy layouts that are terrible. There are also many worse games than Gold Bally made during Bally's solid state design era. A couple of good examples that come to mind are Star Trek 78, Playboy, Lost World, Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton and Spectrum. I'm not going to look but, I wouldn't be surprised if all of these games are rated higher than 1/10. As bad as some of these games are, none of them deserve a 1/10 and neither does Gold Ball.

The rules again are simple but, with a pretty important caveat that makes Gold Ball much more interesting than a lot of games with similar rules. IMO the spinner is a key shot since it is always worth 1k a spin and leads to the top lanes which advance bonus and eventually an extra ball or special. Now that you've got some bonus you might want to multiply it by hitting the 1-2-3 touch targets in the upper right. Sounds similar to hundreds of other games right?

Here's where the game takes an important turn from other similar less interesting Bally games, there's a gold ball in a separate trough waiting to come on the PF and give you 3x scoring. Did I mention that Gold Ball is actually made from a different metal than the regular ball and similarly to the powerball feels different? How do you get this ball you might ask yourself. By default there is a percentage chance at the start of every ball that it will appear. This feature sucks like most random features but, it's a lot of fun when casually playing with your friends. If you are losing and are the lucky recipient of the gold ball, there's a good chance you might make up those points and beat your opponents. This is because the Gold Ball gives 3x to all scoring including bonus countdowns. This creates a fun dynamic with friends because you still have to have a good ball to come back. It's not a score swap or some other crappy gimmick. Still having a random feature like this can make a game unsuitable for tournaments which is frustrating!!! So, to fix this issue Bally came out with a new service ROM! What does the service ROM do? It creates a dip switch setting so that only after you spell gold ball do you get an extra turn with 3x scoring.

Now for the other elements of the PF that I previously didn't talk about, because they are worthless and dangerous without this new ROM addition. Most people know that shots near and directly between the flippers are death shots. Think of the captive ball on Fish Tales or an endless number of EM's from the 60s. Gold Ball has a similar bank of death shots. Hitting the center gold target awards one letter of Gold Ball but, the arrow above the words gold ball must be above an unlit letter or you get no letter and advance to the next position. There are other things that change where the arrow is like the spinner, slings and bumpers. You can also hit the stand ups to the left and right of the center gold target to move the arrow. So what if you want to skillfully gain the letters and maybe only risk mostly certain death, shoot the small lane on the right with the star rollover to claim an unlit letter. Spelling Gold Ball also advances awards. The first of which is 100k I believe and eventually a special. Another interesting aspect of gold ball is there is a skill shot that you can only claim while the gold ball is in play. If you avoid all of the top lanes and hit the star rollover to the right of these lanes you get a special. Not that great if you are playing for score but, a cool feature regardless.

Unlike the later Bally games that use the "cheap squeak" board, IE black pyramid, 8 ball champ, kings of steel, spy hunter etc, Gold Ball has some great sounds that still remind me of skate ball and other legendary Bally games. The sound package for Gold Ball is exceptional. If these sounds were in another more revered Bally game no one would complain I'm certain. The game does lack speach however and the constant background sound loop could be grating for some but, no more than any other game from this era.

Lastly the artwork is great. Most characters in the art appear to be a mixture of Daft Punk and Judge Dredd and are from a future where everyone plays golden pinball machines while wearing gold platform shoes. I believe this game is called the TARG 100 and someone who resembles the silver ball mania guy is materializing from out of the back glass inside the back glass, trippy, to hurl pinball’s at you. Luckily you can see your own reflection in the gold ball and you are ripped to shreds. Then there’s a few other characters on the left probably playing the TARG 100, "Watch your heel man! Get that thing out of my butt crack!!!" Lastly a Ms and Mr Daft Punk lovingly embrace after a killer game of TARG 100! Really I dunno WTH is going on in the art package but, its cool and the art is well done.

So before you rate your next game, I would suggest you try a game that truly deserves a 1/10 and is also from 1983, Gottlieb's Ready...Aim...FIRE! In the future please use Ready...Aim...FIRE! as the gold standard of bad before giving a great game like Gold Ball a 1/10. There are better Bally games out there and this is one of them.

V1.24 updated review. This game is awesome and there is still room for improvement!

I really dinged the rules on my last review because they were pretty lacking in the out of the box code. The first update made a big improvement but, not enough to keep my attention and make me think that this game is "done" With the latest rules I can see some room for improvement and it just keeps getting better! Riot is really one of the last modes that needs some extra flavor added. Arena and Riot are basically shoot the same shot over and over modes and while I feel this works great for Arena, since its a difficult shot to loop, it doesn't work at all for Riot.

Crossbow MB is still lacking and its one of the most difficult goals of the game, much harder than Horde. The points in Crossbow need to be seriously adjusted to reflect the difficulty to achieve crossbow MB.

Horde is a fantastic wizard mode that really reflects the tone and feeling of the show and the zombie genre. However, in its current state the zombies are a bit lazy. I'd say the mode needs to be tweaked by not reinvented. Essentially the zombies advance towards you at a snails pace so the anxiety of an approaching horde of zombies is lost. You can literally trap a ball and wait a minute or more for a zombie to eventually reach and bite you. OOOOOHHHHHH scarrrrrryyyyyyy.

Woodbury is another part of the game that lacks seriously. The awards need to be changed back to things that are useful towards progress in the game. Food, medicine, weapons, prison letters etc. If not progress then something else needs to be added to the ruleset that allows you to increase the value of the Woodbury plunge from 1M to 10s of millions. In its current form I select where the ball usually goes on a full plunge and take the 250k. It might as well just auto plunge. It's that lame.

TWD has become my go to game in my collection. I play it on a daily basis and think it will go down as one of Stern's all time greatest titles.





I really enjoy the shots on this game. Not a lot of combo opportunities but a really fun layout. I think it has a lot of potential to be a fantastic game. Right now the code is really lacking but, trust in Lyman! I'm not a fan of the current MB rules. Its difficult to understand what you are supposed to be doing and what shots you need to hit. The well walker MB progress display is terrible atm since you have to guess how many shots are left. The well MB points are pathetic and switch hit jackpots are garbage.

I was lucky enough to be able to buy a Mars Trek and I'm glad that I did! Mine seems like a time capsule and to me represents what EM's might have played like NIB. Its insanely fast and insanely difficult. The flippers have so much power and the ball is almost always out of control. Its a drain monster and punishes you for any mistake or no mistake at all.

The main strategy is to hit the left orbit shot to advance bonus and hope it also falls into the top saucer for more bonus. You then want to get the E and K in the word Mars Trek from the inlanes or the EK targets when lit at the center touch targets to light double bonus. Once your bonus is maxed out the spinners become lit for 1k a spin. My spinner is DIALED and trips through the horseshoe are well worth it but, its also fairly risky. Another interesting aspect of the game is the collect bonus saucer. You can avoid the saucer most of the time but, if you miss a spinner shot and accidentally collect bonus while double bonus is lit, you only receive normal bonus value. Its an interesting risk reward option but, lets face it, as soon as you launch the ball you need to start praying that you even get to flip at it! The only downside to this game is the right flipper. Its almost of no use since the targets you are able to shoot with it are only good for specials but, you can use it to direct balls away from the outlane so it does have its uses. This is a rare game and because Sonic used an advanced 3M clear coat on their playfields if you find one it will probably still be in great condition! If you don't like EM's and get a chance to play Mars Trek don't pass it up. You might change your mind after a few games!

This is like so many other games of this era. Light the spinner, rip the spinner and multiply bonus. I had never seen or heard of this game until I was able to play one recently at the PAPA facility in Pittsburgh. I thought it was fun and would be interested in learning more about software settings. The dealer and player hand change was controlled by the targets and the pop bumpers. After a spinner hit the values would change and if you werent winning a hand you could send it back up through the spinner. It would be nice if you were forced to hit the advance hand targets instead but, still a fun rip the spinner game. I'd buy one but, I don't think its a long term keeper.

I think I have owned Congo for a year or so now. It's a fun game, but the honeymoon seems to be over. I really, really enjoyed it when I first got it, but now I tend to turn on a different game instead of Congo. One thing that hurts the game is the fact that there is almost no reason to shoot the right ramp, ever. I have all of my games setup with extra balls turned off which seems to be the only reason to shoot the right ramp. The only other reason to shoot it is for jackpots, but shooting the left ramp is easier, less risky and if you already have a ball on the left flipper very controllable. So you end up with a quarter of the playfield almost never used. The pops on my Congo are insanely active and evil! So I tend to avoid Amy and the mineshaft mode because they both kick balls out into the pops. So you end up with three major shots and two for locks. Sounds like I'm dogging on the game pretty hard by now, but the game is still a lot of fun and very different from other machines.

UPDATE 8/21

Its been a while since this game has come out and almost a year since any code updates. Although the layout of the playfield is fast and flowing, the rules are terribly boring after multiple plays. The warp ramp needs something of interest BADLY. There is a strategy based on the warp ramp but, its such a fun and challenging shot that a player should be awarded much more than an extra ball or add a ball. The modes are shoot the flashing shots then shoot other flashing shots which has been done and beaten to death. If given the choice between MET and ST currently I'd pick MET everytime!

STLE is a great flow game by the king of flow himself. Its fun, has some great strategic choices, it flows of course, has decent rules and some cool toys. I like the added features of the LE, but I think the pro is a no brainer unless you absolutely have to have all the added bling. Is entering the "disco pinball dimension" during Klingon MB worth an extra 3k? Uhhh no.... Still a great game that I recommend highly!

You never go full Yagov

TZ is great but it's one of the greats that you either love or hate. It's got a really crowded layout which is a bit of a turn off for me. It does have some really satisfying difficult shots but its missing the flow factor a lot of other games have. I don't think I'll ever own one but its a cool game.

I dunno what else to say about MM. Its fun, everyone wants one, even non pinheads remember this one and at the moment they cost as much as a used car. The only thing I don't like about MM is the right ramp, its to steep to make on most MM I've played from a cradle.

I remember playing this game for the first time and thinking it was a horrible game, but over time as I became a better player I found it to be an incredible game with a solid ruleset. It has a similar feel to BSD in the since that you have to setup game features in order to pull off big scores, specifically the multiplier and MB shots.

Personally I think the game has amazing flow. Shooting the W-H-O shots for sonic booms is incredibly satisfying and can be worth a ton of points(Multiplier!). I can't think of another game that flows as well as Dr. Who that includes an upper flipper shot except maybe STTNG and the famed Picard maneuver. Just shooting the H shot and hitting a ton of loops is incredible fun and satisfying by itself.

The lock mechanism and MB is an ingenious feature and an innovative design. Lock the balls and the entire mechanism raises to reveal a bank of round targets. Shoot the targets and complete the grid shown below the target bank, similar to pinbot, and it raises again! Very cool.

Lastly each Dr. corresponds with a different playfield feature. This part of the game has a lot of potential but some of the doctors are essentially useless. If the game is setup for tournament play, you might say even fewer doctors have their use since extra balls are turned off.

This game is overlooked and dismissed quite often I think. The game must be working well and the side ramp shot be consistent and smooth in order to really get a fell for the game. If you wrote this game off previously like I did give it another shot. Play it until you like it because I'm sure you will!

T2 is a classic but its a one trick pony when it comes to scoring. When anyone asks me how to play T2 I say, "shoot the skull and then shoot the skull". Its to bad that this is the only way to play this game and many of the other scoring features are totally ignored. Start MB, pull it off and you get a shot at the super jackpot for 50m. The super is pure excitement for me. Trying to control and trap the remaining balls while taking a shot at the target bank is so much fun and feels great when you pull it off, especially when you pull off more than one. If a home rom with more balanced scoring was available I think this would be an amazing game. Forcing the player to make different shots in order to unlock the skull would be great. Adding a combo system like Demo man to enable locks would be awesome. For fun and practice I like to shoot the chaseloop, loop pass to the right flipper, shoot the left ramp then shoot another chase loop and repeat. If you have a large collection I think T2 is a great addition but you will most likely get bored of it a small collection.

UPDATE 8/21

OK so the rules have improved tremendously since my first incredibly negative experience with WOZ and now that I have a better understanding of the game, I'm starting to respect it more and more even if I do dislike many of the aspects of the game. The rules are very complicated and in a recent PAPA broadcast the programmer Keith Johnson hinted that you would need to put in a lot of play time to understand the game fully. The display is hinting at the main objectives of the game but, there seems to be so much more it doesn't allude to. This is great for someone who owns the game because you unearth deeper and deeper levels of the game. For casual players or those playing in tournaments it can be frustrating. After one of my friends qualifying games in A division, which was extremely impressive and the second highest score of the weekend, Keith Johnson asked him if he knew the orbit was lit for a 50x jackpot. Of course my friend had no idea and Im not sure how he would have with so much information being thrown at him and the fact that its very difficult to get any sort of pertinent information from the screen especially during multiball. I think this is my biggest gripe with WOZ at this point and sort of the same reason I ended up selling my TSPP. There's just so much going on and so much to do that it becomes extremely difficult to inform the player of everything thats going on and things to shoot at on the playfield. It becomes even more difficult because as a designer what information is more important to a player? How many games have you played where the game is telling you to do one thing but, from a strategic stand point that objective either doesn't make sense or is to risky so you ignore it. I still don't enjoy the music and theme of the game but, I will say this game deserves the praise that it receives.


UPDATE The WOZ debacle continues at Pinballz. The great WOZ returned to the floor with a new upgraded light "board" not board(s) and a disabled crystal ball. So you can't see into the future just yet, but I'm pretty sure I didn't need a crystal ball to predict that more failures were just around the corner.

So this time we were able to play WOZ for maybe three days before a different light board went completely dark. Another issue, which I'm sure doesn't help the light board itself, is that lights will be permanently on until some one notices and power cycles the game. Since, LED lights consume less power and create less heat than normal bulbs its probably not a huge issue in general, but the light boards are defective from the factory so it probably doesn't help either. So currently, the game remains on the floor and turned off. I'm not sure why its turned off because I've played it without most of the yellow brick road inserts, lion and wizard scoop lights and found it to be playable. It's just JJP's way of teaching you to read the LCD display.



UPDATE Pinballz arcade in Austin Tx recently purchased a WOZLE. Finally a chance to really get to understand the games rules and hopefully pass judgement on this machine once and for all or so I thought.

The game was on the floor for about two days before strange issues started popping up. I was only able to play it six or so times on one afternoon before it disappeared from the game floor. On one occasion, I had put my tokens in ($1.25) and the LCD was totally blank as well as the game lights. Somehow pushing start still allowed me to play but, I thought the machine had gone dead. Apparently the next day people started experiencing random resets, blue screens of death, weird game malfunctions, insert lights going out *5v lamp board dead* until they were forced to haul it into the workshop. I spoke to the tech and he said now whenever the crystal ball displays a video the game crashes.

A lot of people in the forums were claiming that JJP was adhering to a new, higher standard of quality in their game. Unfortunately, it seems the exact opposite is true. Even for those that have not experienced a catastrophic failure like pinballz has, many are familiar with the lamp board failures. The hardware shipped with woz is defective. The boards will fail and from what I understand the boards are wired in serial. If the first board in a chain of boards dies, all of the inserts remaining in the chain also stop lighting. The good part is that JJP covers board failure under warranty and sends out replacements which are an updated design solving the issue for that board "permanently" The bad news is that they will not replace all of the boards even though they are defective and will absolutely fail sometime in the future.

I think JJP has a lot of potential but they've made some critical decision making errors along the way. I can't imagine the company is well off financially at this point after investing time and money into R&D, manufacturing, facilities only to have to suck up the cost of replacing a few thousand lamp boards. WOZ does appeal to many and I really hope that the Hobbit is an astonishing gams. Otherwise we may see JJP close its doors like so many pinball makers in the past.






UPDATE from HAAG show. Someone that I respect, especially when it comes to pinball, told me after I play the new code version I will be impressed by WOZ. Well much to my surprise someone brought their WOZ to the last HAAG show. I'm not sure what version it was but, it did have some improvements when compared to the earlier version of the game I had played at TPF. Unfortunately, I discovered a new more glaring issue. THE LED'S IN THE INSERTS ARE INSANELY BRIGHT!!!

Hanks LED flipper fingers are nothing compared to the amount of light coming out of the insert lights. The first time I played WOZ at TPF, the ambient light of the convention area or maybe the code version made this issue less obvious. At HAAG however, most of the game floor was dimly lit which can be a problem for people who have modded their games with LED's or a brand new game called WOZ. WOZ is a perfect example of why there are a group of people that do not like LED's. I had eye strain before I had played two games with a friend. The GI is barely there but, the inserts are as bright as the sun and there are a LOT of inserts on the playfield. At one point during some part of the game, all of the inserts started pulsing in yellow and I screamed, "TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO TO MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!." Of course I was joking with my friend but, they've gone overboard.

I will have to play WOZ yet again before I can truly say I've experienced it in all of its glory. So far WOZ hasn't shown me anything that I've enjoyed and now on top of everything I think I might need to get my eyes examined.




I played this game in TPF tournament which was a mistake in the first place and the game didn't have finished code. My biggest problem is the ridiculous placement of the character rollover switches which at the time you need to hit in order to get locks for MB. The scarecrow shot at least lines up with the ramp shot. The Lion shot and tinman shots are in weird places that end up sending the ball in random places after you shoot them. The upper playfield seemed ok and the house loop was kinda cool. Looks great but the theme kills it for me. I dont want to hear the stupid wizard of oz theme repeated in different variations throughout the game. The LCD is segmented into 4 different areas during MB. I found this to be confusing because I started going after the wrong goals during MB because I was focusing on the wrong 1/4 of the display. In its current state, there is no way this game belongs on the top 100.

The backglass is the highlight of this game. Every time I see it with a friend I have to ask when are we going to hit the gym and do some laser curls. My biggest complaint about the FS playfield is the location of the spinners. Its freaking hard to get a good shot at those spinners because they are so far to the left and right on the playfield. Collect future spa letters for bonus and crank the inline drops. Decent game but nothing special

LOTR is a great game with a great theme! Lots of great features and toys. The artwork on the PF could be better. There's a lot of photo shopped imagery going on but it doesn't bother me much. Its got a nice deep set of rules but its not insanely complicated or hard to learn. Its a perfect balance of accessible rules for the new player and deep rules for the more advanced player. I would love to have a LOTR someday!

CFTBL is really not appealing to me at all. Its a terrible mess of a design with ramps and lighting that litter the playfield and obscure almost every playfield feature from nearly any angle. I think the drive in movie theater theme is well done as well as the music and sound package. The Art package might be fantastic if you could see any of it without disassembling the game but it does have one of the coolest toys, the creature himself. The only problem is that most creatures have literally seen their day in the sun and are faded or broken in some way. The creature hologram is also expensive to replace and difficult to find. IMO this game is loved only by those who really appreciate the theme and nostalgia of the 50s drive-in and happy days. If you are looking for a fun game with rules other than go for MB, look elsewhere.

Play this game once and you will likely walk away feeling like you don't see what all the hype is about. If the game is not setup or playing well it can be a total dog. Although many of the modes are fun, the wizard mode is seriously lacking. I think that in the long term or in a small collection there are other better games but, for the money this is one of the best games you can buy.

The modes are selectable and although some of them are not worth completing, they are all fun. The two modes that stand out to me are Pursuit and Bad Impersonator. To me this is what pin2000 should have been, but without the complexity and cost of p2k. The animations on the DMD correspond to shots on the playfield. In Pursuit you are chasing a suspect vehicle and trying to shoot missiles down the left or right lanes of the freeway in order to blow him up. You need to shoot the right or left ramp in conjunction with the car on the freeway to complete the mode. The modes also have a sense of humor which I really appreciate. In the sniper mode a hurry up is started once the shot is made which locks in a point value. Shooting the sniper tower again before the second hurry up timer expires cashes the value in again. While the sniper is falling from the tower, which in itself is comical animation, he says things like, "Its a long way down!!!" and "I can see my house from here!"

Another thing that's awesome about the game is the shot layout. There are a ton of things to shoot from every flipper but what really impressed me was the upper right flipper. From this one mini flipper you can backhand the sniper tower, shoot the mini ramp that feeds the upper left flipper, shoot inner loops and shoot the jackpot shot from the tip of the flipper.

The art package, especially for people that were into the comic books, is superb! Characters are displayed across the center of the playfield in vibrant colors. All plastics are well designed, especially the cooling towers in the captive ball area, and are based from the comic book artwork. The cab decals are some of the best you'll see on any machine with the sides showing Judge Dredd riding into a hail storm of bullets and the front, his hands hanging from the handle bars of his lawmaster motorcycle.

The often overlooked Super Game is an excellent addition! Each ball starts with one of 4 random multiball modes which last until the you are down to one ball. During the mode if you knock down all of the drop targets a ball save starts and the game kicks all six balls into play.

There are some aspects of the game which although minor can be seen as cons. The lighting of the inserts is excellent, but the GI is lacking. Like most other widebody games, in low light, the GI is spaced to far apart to provide ample lighting in the center of the game. The games main musical theme is somewhat grating and reminiscent of 80's hair metal which somehow fits the game. The music during multiball however does not fit the theme and almost seems like it should belong to a different game entirely. These things are minor annoyances to an otherwise great game.

Judge Dredd is challenging but not overly difficult. The modes and multiballs will keep you busy for quite a while and currently prices are still reasonable. Go out and play one today, you wont regret it! Oh and 25 years for not liking Judge Dredd!

UPDATE 8/21

This game might be inexpensive as far as prices go but, its definiately missing the X factor. JD has so many things going for it. The playfield layout is really great but, the game rules could be improved I think. Out of all my games this one sits and collects dust. After having it for quite a while I feel like its time to let JD go and bring in something new. For those of you who are considering the Demo man vs Judge Dredd purchase I can say without a doubt that Demo man is the better game. I can however see JD being a great game if and when someone creates a new ruleset for it using free WPC or similar software. Guess I'll have to do 25 years for not liking Judge Dredd.

I want to love this game but I just can't get into it. It looks fantastic, has a great playfield, great sound, I loved the series, but I absolutely despise the slings and the outlanes which ruin this game. I like difficult games but STTNG feels like it was designed to drain balls unfairly. The slingshot design in this game is so ridiculous it ruins the game. The top of the sling is huge and has rubber on it so that any ball that gets stuck in that area is almost guaranteed to roll off into the outlane which is situated much lower than the top of the slingshot. The left outlane is metal and shaped like HSII so any ball headed there is worse off than the right outlane. To make matters worse, the kickback isn't lit at the beginning of a game and lighting it puts the ball in danger. The price that this game commands combined with the slings makes STTNG a game I have no desire to own, ever.

This game rocks. So many shots and features crammed into this game. I love the phurba diverters on the ramps, the sanctum lock is a cool effect, the battlefield is amazing when working correctly and the loop shot gets blindingly fast after a couple go rounds. The game is not easy but not insanely punishing. The modes themselves arent especially interesting but they are still fun as well as the video mode. The final battle wiz mode is achievable but difficult to beat. The only draw back is the backglass art but alternate translites are available. This is a fantastic game that I would love to own ASAP pls!

I got to play Centaur at PAPA 15 for the first time and I really enjoyed it. I think some people are turned off by the artwork on the playfield being black and white but I think thats part of the charm of the game. I think its unusual and has a really weird biker/mutant/post apocalyptic theme that works for me. I didn't get into the game to much so I don't know what the rules are exactly but it has a ton of features especially when you compare it to other games of the era. Its got drop targets, captive ball, a magnet that freezes the ball at the start of multiball and some posts in the outlanes that make it possible to bump the ball back into the inlane through a one way gate. Very cool game!

"Let the game talk for itself!!!" apparently is the slogan Gottlieb came up with. I think if the game could talk it would say, "What on earth were they thinking." There are worse Gottlieb tables than this and thats about the only thing this table has going for it.

Typical Gottlieb junk from the 90s. I played this at PAPA 15 and thought I was in for a treat but I was wrong. I played it once and was completely bored. Absolutely no reason to play this game twice.

Blackout is a pretty good game but doesn't offer a lot in terms on strategy and lacking multiball doesn't help either. Get the spinner lit and go for orbits from the right flipper or either spinner on the right side of the game from the left. Still a fun game but I wouldn't buy one unless it was cheap.

I was playing some MB today and during my game I noticed someone left a credit on Sopranos, fugettaboutit! Lucky for me no one came to claim it cha ching!

I think the Sopranos is actually a pretty good game with a so so theme. The show was ok, I never paid much attention to it so I'm not a huge fan, but I think a lot of the modes and game features tie directly into the show. Its got some pretty decent flow and a ton to shoot for. Collect all the green lights to start a mode. Hit the lit shots to finish the mode etc. Its got the bing stripper pole thing which is a nice touch and the safe in the middle you can bash on for points. The voice call outs in the game are pretty good and feature the actors from the show. I felt like saying, "wus a matta you!" after every drain towards the end.

The downside of the game is the usual boring digitized photoshoped images on the playfield and overall its just not that pretty of a game. Another thing that would get on my nerves is hearing the Suprano's theme music at the beginning of each game and then the elevator music version of the theme for the rest of your game.

I can see this game being one of those future best bang for the buck picks but I don't believe they made a lot of these. Its not an especially hard game which makes it a good choice for new owners but its not exactly family friendly especially with the vulgar settings turned on. Its a pretty good game and has a great layout but its missing the X factor for sure.

Jack bot was a game I had avoided for the longest time based on people's opinions that I had read on forums like this one. Pin bot rules, Jack bot is a crap rehash of Pin bot, blah blah blah. It turns out that Jack bot is a really good game and in most respects is better than Pin Bot in my opinion. Jack bot has the same playfield layout as Pin bot so how could it possibly be better? Simple, Jack bot takes Pin Bot and adds more rules, modes, multiballs and all the stuff you like about mid 90s W/B pinball. They also add an element of chance and risk which is a ton of fun! Risking a huge casino run for more points is what its all about! The only thing that they really screwed up on Jackbot is the horrible music. What the hell were they thinking when they decided to add that jazzy saxophone lick to the already not so great theme?!?! Its a very challenging game and a great game to play multiplayer because of the risk reward factor. It does lack the nostalgia and X factor that pinbot has but its a game I would seriously consider owning.

BOP is the definition of a one trick pony. Is there other things to shoot for besides the left ramp? I suppose but there really isn't any reason to. The music and sound is great especially the voice of the bride, pinbot and that insane operatic music that starts during the last conversion/multiball. Lots of good light hearted humor and all your guy friends can say "huh huh I put my balls on her face." I love to play it on location but its not something I would want to take home because I would end up getting tired of it pretty quickly. In a large collection this will definitely be a crowd pleaser and attract inexperienced players as well as bring back memories for those that may have played it in the past. Its a great game just not a keeper for me.

I played this a few times at the local arcade and can't say that I really enjoyed it. Then I joined a pinball league and this game was selected which forced me to practice on it and learn more about it. I was surprised by the depth and features that Tommy offers and found the game play enjoyable especially the multiball. What I didn't like about it was the sound and music package. I'm not familiar with Tommy the album except for the hits played on the radio but I found the callouts and the voice used for the songs to be really annoying and grating after a short time. It has the lower quality DE music and sound which doesn't help anything either. Anyways a great game if you can handle the music,sound and unappealing artwork.

I really enjoyed playing AC/DC at Texas Pinball Fest. Is it the most amazing game 10/10? no but its a good game. The lighting and sound are easily the all time best hands down. Everything on the playfield is really clearly lit and bright but not overly bright. It just seems to shine! The sound is really great as well. Its fairly obvious that they have improved the quality of the speakers in these. I guess if you don't like AC/DC's music its a deal breaker and the artwork on the playfield is mediocre at best. The gameplay is fast and fun and with plenty of variation and things to do, you won't be disappointed. I would not recommend dishing out 7k or whatever these go for but give it a try, its a lot of fun!

Monster bash is a really awesome game! Easy to learn, challenging, great music, good sense of humor, great art work and great flow. I personally like it better than Medieval Madness and its a real "bargain" in comparison lol.

BK2000 is another game that I love to play but would never want to own. I love the artwork on the entire game. The music is awesome with a big dose of humor, gimmie your money! The problem with the game for me is there is almost no reason to use the left flipper. The way I end up playing the game goes something like, try to make loops on the upper playfield, get war letters, live catch the feed from upper playfield and shoot back to the upper playfield. If the ball happens to end up on the left flipper I will either take the double knight challenge if lit or get back up to the upper playfield with the lightning wheel shot. Going after the knight targets is dangerous and getting lower playfield loops isnt much better. Hopefully you get a chance to play bk2000 before you buy it because I think if you give it enough time you'll find the play to be to repetitive in the long run.

My local arcade got one of these just a few days ago and I had seen it on CL a few times so I was excited to try it out. Two other friends played first so I got a chance to see their reaction to the game, which was bad. I stepped up and noticed this motorized gate that changes the angle out of the shooter lane and thought that was pretty cool but by the second ball I had the timing down and was able to make the skill shot easily. Not knowing what to do, I shot at flashing things and found the locks. Starting multiball was easy and never got more difficult to achieve so I stuck to that plan. Occasionally I would shoot spin on the left side of the game and activate the roulette wheel, the games main feature. I thought it was a cool gimmick at first but it takes forever and always seemed to land on the same stupid gem! The game went on longer than it needed to and I wound up with a 2nd place high score. I got four free credits for my efforts and left them all on the machine. I came back an hour later and to my surprise all four of them were still there. I think no one noticed because people, looking to spend their tokens, see Millionaire and just keep walking. I've seen this listed for under 800 dollars on CL several times and in my opinion you should probably just save your money.

MMMMM there's nothing better than the beautiful curves of a womans body. Especially when those curves are HUGE BI's, DEFINED QUADS, BODACIOUS PECS and BULGING TRAPS!!! This pin has the hottest ladies in all of pinball!!! I know roids are frowned upon in some circles but these ladies need them to become HULKING SEXUAL BEASTS READY TO RIP A MAN APART AND DEVOUR HIS INSIDES!!! I know, I know, there are some side effects to deal with in the pursuit of perfection, but once you look past the unusual hair growth, deepening voice and enlarged Adam's apple there's a sensitive flower beneath... Oh this pinball machine is a real POS though. I mean the gameplay and music are horrible. If it wasn't for the ladies I would probably give it a negative rating, I mean seriously, its that bad... Is it possible to give a pin a negative rating?......

Just look at those hot babes though!!!!......... 10/10

I got The Getaway through a trade and I didn't really know if I wanted to keep the game or not. I had played it once on location and thought it was fast and difficult but didn't really give it much of a chance. I was so wrong because its an awesome game! The Getaway has some great flow and very little stop and go to break up the action. Getting into a rhythm with the upper loop, hitting repeated right orbit shots or getting combos from the left orbit into upper loop with the upper flipper are some really fun flowing shots. The supercharger is a really cool toy but I wish there were more reasons to shoot it. I dont avoid shooting it, but you dont get much out of shooting it either and a bad shot can kick out unpredictably and even cause drains. The most fun is getting multiball jackpots and supers. Its challenging, fast, has some pretty unforgiving outlanes and although its not an incredibly deep game, its fun. Go out and play one and don't hesitate if you ever have a chance to own one!

Phantom is a great game that I would never own. It looks great. It sounds great and has some of the best and most humorous call outs in any game (Exx traaa Balllllllll) lol. It has a neat toy/ramp in the Organ. The rules aren't particularly deep and the scoring isnt very balanced but its on par with other titles of the same era. So why wouldn't I want to own one? its just to easy. Its basically tied with BOP as being one of the easiest games I've ever played. The Organ shot is as wide as the grand canyon and can be made easily from either flipper. The feed from balls coming out of the lock is right to the left flipper setting you up for incredibly easy Organ shot. Its a fun game and my non pinhead friends love this game, I love this game, but unless you have a large collection you will get bored.

I got to play AC/DC LE one time on my way out of Texas Pinball Festival and I'll say that I ended the festival on a high note! Obviously I didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing and the game didn't go out of its way to help me out. Apparently each song has particular playfield shots and features that get bonus scoring for completing or repeating. I have a feeling that in competition someone will have a strategy based around one song in particular that is most efficient and that'll be the only song anyone hears coming from an AC/DC machine ever again. So the rules might not be the greatest, or maybe they're great I dunno really, but the lightning and sound are the best I've seen and heard in any pinball machine. The artwork on the playfield is pretty decent but not especially great. Good flow and the under playfield is tough, the shot to hit loops is on the extreme tip of the flippers. I thought it was fantastic game but the price tag, wow.

GNR has a lot of cool stuff but if you pay any attention to PAPA videos its quite easy to beat on location. Its got great artwork and sound if you love GNR then I think you will really enjoy this pin. Starting Multiball is very very easy on this game and in combination with selecting super pops at the beginning of each ball makes for some relatively easy high scores, so in that respect its kind of is a one trick pony but theres still a bunch of modes and a wizard mode. I haven't got an incredible score 2.6bill but I don't think I have played a game and not gotten a replay. I was not concentrating on modes so there is definitely more than one way to play thing widebody beast. I really enjoy this pin though!

I played the hell out of pin-bot today not because I wanted to but because I kept getting replays and match games like crazy. Its fun for a few games but it gets kind of boring after the 10th game. I wouldn't advise buying one unless you had a few other games to compliment pin-bot and on the default settings the scoring is kind of garbage. Quite a few system 11 games have a progressive jackpot value that is carried over from game to game and pin-bot is no exception. I'm sure there are settings to fix this but it makes for some unbalanced scoring. I had a so so first game but the solar value was up to 3.5mil when I came a long and milked it which is kind of ridiculous. The visor is a cool feature but the game just doesn't do it for me.

What an awesome game! This is one of my favorite machines from any era. Its just amazing especially for the era. The ruleset of this game is so far above its contemporaries, its in a class of its own! The ball lock at the top adds so much to this game imo. Basically it creates a sequence of objectives that you need to complete in order to maximize your scoring, which adds strategy and risk.

My ideal strategy currently is to complete the right bank and lock the ball in the top. Then complete the left and right banks as many times as possible to get the bonus as high as possible. Once you have the the super bonus x maxed out it will not reset like regular bonus x after a drain so it wont be necessary to complete the right bank anymore. Assuming I still have a ball locked in the top, I like to get the right bank primed but leaving the last two targets up in case I drain as an insurance policy so I can open that upper lock and get the ball back up there.

At this point hopefully I've got 25x bonus and phase two begins, rip the spinner! Basically when the ball is in the top lanes you want to make sure you light the bonus collect at least once before you drain so the next time you shoot that top lock hopefully you have maxed out your bonus score and get a huge 25x collect. If the bonus collect is already lit get as many extra ball advances as you can while you are building bonus. Rinse and repeat.

So of course you will drain eventually and that will screw up your happy top lock situation but completing that left bank for bonus x also lights the top left saucer for a lock. There is no reason to shoot this lock when you have a ball locked at the top and in fact you want to avoid this lock as much as possible. However building bonus requires the ball to go to the top lanes and every time its up there an unlucky pop bumper hit can ruin your top lock and put you into 3 ball multiball. If you have your right bank primed down to 2 and one of these balls knocks the targets down during multiball you are screwed because the completion won't open the top lock again. It can only be opened in single ball play so now you have to get the entire bank completed before you can lock up the top again. So its actually better in some cases to drain the other two balls if multiball starts. In a situation where you've got the right bank primed but the left lock saucer is lit, you might actually want to collect that for 2 ball multiball so you won't run into a situation where your happy top lock situation can be later ruined.

When you are playing against other players the strategy that comes into play is how far do you want to take this bonus x advance thing before you start building up bonus score and going for collects. Its so much more than shoot targets for score or start multiball and hope it lasts a long time and racks up good points like so many other games of this era.

Chess and Checkers might be played on the same board but thats where similarities end. If you can think of another 80s Williams that involves as much strategy as Barracora let me know! 10/10

Adams family, the best selling pinball machine of all time! I dont understand how someone can dislike this game. The skill shot is fun. The combo shot soooo fun! All of the modes are entertaining. There are some challenging shots on this table. The whole damn thing is JUST FUN! I dont think this is worth the amount of money that most of these bring but I enjoy playing TAF more than MM which tends to bring in double the amount. I would highly recommend anyone to buy or play this game. ITS FUN!

Genie is a pretty good game but sooooooo sloooooowwww. Its like watching a train wreck in slow motion when your ball is going stdm. You can see it coming from a mile away, you just cant do anything about it. Its the steamroller scene in austin powers basically. Its got a lot of usually fun features, drop targets, seperate/mini playfield, multiple flippers but its lacking it the excitement department. The ball just sort of meanders slowly around the playfield, scoring random points, being boring, yawning, inducing sleep. I would probably buy one for the awesome retro value or use it as a sleep aid. I rub the lamp, a genie pops out and tells me I have three wishes. Wish one, I want to go to sleep early, granted.

This is a hard game to get into. It punishes you for making mistakes, particularly the castle lock targets. The rules aren't deep. Its not especially innovative. Its not packed with features and there really isn't a lot to draw you in, but give it a chance and you'll find an incredible pin. The main appeal for me is that this game rewards you with high scores if you can pull of the main objective of the game, stacking multiballs. Once you get a few multiballs going at the same time and start collecting huge jackpots and scoring you'll soon be hooked. Strangely all of my non-pinhead friends love this game, even though its kicks their @#$. I had played this game probably 10 times before I reviewed it the first time. I gave it another shot and I'm glad I did! Give it a shot!

Ive played whitewater several times but I spent some quality time with whitewater today and I think its just awesome. The insanity falls and whirlpool shots at the top of the game are just insanely rewarding and fun to hit. Getting the whirlpool multiball and managing a ball at the lower flippers while still hitting whirlpool shots at the top of the table is just incredibly fun and rewarding. The insanity falls return ramp is easily the best plastic ramp in pinball history. Advancing rafts is fun! Getting that extra ball shot is a bitch and a half! Its fairly easy to hit the locks and keep the ball going up top to get the upper ramp shots but man this game is insanely fun. I want one! I will have one! Its a must play game and if you dont enjoy this game you dont enjoy pinball period...

Well I got rid of TSPP and its a good game but not for me. Everyone loves to boast about how the Simpsons has so many different features and how its very deep. I guess you can't really dispute that but I found that to be its greatest downfall.

I think Bowen's tutorial sheds some light on the nature of TSPP's gameplay in his tutorial. While playing multiball he says, "I'm not really actively trying to shoot any particular mode, its just kind of happening." Sure you could play the game with the goal of starting pretzel multiball, scratchy's revenge, springfield mysterspot but why would you? If your game lasts long enough things just kind of happen.

I also felt like theres nothing in the game to go after as far as scoring goes. There's no real big payoff for doing the more difficult tasks in the game. Modes like Alien Invasion don't award any points at all unless you complete all the levels.

In the end I found that the only thing I did in the game was shoot the garage and start TV modes. I just got bored of it after a while. Eventually, I found that when I went into my game room I would almost never start a game of TSPP. I will still play TSPP on location but I don't plan on owning another one in the future.

If I was asked to describe this game in one word I would say Godzilla is Abysmal. This game is easily the worst pinball machine I have played.

The playfield is uninspired. Theres one shot in particular on the left where you might expect an orbit to be but instead of returning the ball to the right side of the playfield, or something interesting at least, it drops into to the shooter lane... Ive never seen this and it seems like laziness on the part of the designers more than anything.

Then there's the big Godzilla "Toy" in the center of the playfield that sits over some targets I wouldn't care about hitting. I thought hey, JP has a cool toy with a dinosaur and this is kinda dinosaurish, maybe it does something cool. You get to Godzilla by shooting the right ramp and then nothing, it just sorta falls out of his mouth. Bluuughhhargh, or whatever sound a Godzilla makes when its just lying there motionless and coughs up a hairball.

To make matters worse there's this horrible, HORRRRIBLE, music going on in the background that makes you want to stick a screwdriver in your ears. This is the first pin I wanted to just walk away from but someone else might have ended up playing another game next to this one and killed themselves or someone else after being driven insane by the sewage coming from Godzilla's speakers. I decided to finish my game instead. The one redeeming quality of Godzilla is that it ends and luckly the local arcade is really stingy when it comes to match replays. Whatever destructive, laser beam shooting, human devouring, Japanese city destroying rampage Godzilla has performed in the movies is nothing in comparison to the twisted abomination that is Godzilla Pinball.

This is an awesome pin! At first I thought the theme, the two Rudy heads with construction helmets and campy southern accents, was a turn off. It all seemed a little to G rated or something. Once I got into it I couldn't help smiling at the funny animations, quotes and corny music. This game seemed a little on the easy side, and thats a lot coming from myself. I got a replay on my second game and a high score on my third game(ever). Easy or not it still doesn't take away from the fun of RS. There are a lot of fun shots to make a couple multiball modes, I saw two I think, and the rules are easy to learn and fun. This is the kind of game that guests would flock to when they come over to your game room because of its straight forward rules, fun game play, and interactive toys. I think there are other games I would rather own but it would be hard to pass up a RS for a good price!

I havent had a chance to play more than a dozen games on it so maybe its to early to pass judgement. I thought it was pretty solid but not a whole lot going on. This is the pro not the LE I played and so its missing some features and toys. Its not as empty seeming as Tron so I can honestly say I enjoyed it a lot more than Tron but why play this when you can turn the corner and play some spiderman for the same price ;) Its a good game it just didnt seem told my attention like other better stern pins.

This is probably my favorite late system 11 game in terms of game play. This game is infuriating! This is probably why its a great game. Basically all you have to do is pick up the passengers, gorbie, drac, pinbot, maralyn or lola and santa and hit the airport ramps for jackpots. Sounds easy enough except for the wickedness that ensues while trying to pickup passengers. There are plenty of opportunities for drains especially if you try to hit the maralyn or pinbot drop targets. You can try to pick up Gorbie and drac then lock a ball and attempt the skill shot to pick up addition passengers but a drain is just around the corner if you miss shots. I guess this is why the game is so fun. Its brutal and fun? Art work on the playfield is a little ehh but the cabinet and backglass are really cool. The topper is great too! Go play this game if you get a chance.

I got to play this game last week for the first time and I really enjoyed it. I like the show, actually one of my childhood friends called his mom the crypt keeper because of her laugh... Anyhoo... The ramp cackling can be a little annoying but not enough to truly put me off this game. The pin does feel a little cheap. When you are nudging a bally/williams etc you have to put some gusto into it because they are heavy and well put together. I started nudging this DE and felt like maybe I should take it easy. It just feels lighter and cheaper including the plastic lock down. The ball launcher door handle thing is very cool and the DMD animations are *a scream* ugh... I like the random one where you pick doors for extra points and if you pick the wrong one theres a guy being hung. The guillotine skill shot animation is funny as well. I thought the game let me know what I needed to do in order to complete shots very well and I love games that do this. Some games you start playing and your like ok wtf do I do and why do I have to read the rule card to find out but this isnt one of them. Sort of like JP were you shoot the scoop to start a mode. Look up at the DMD and then start shooting for whatever that thing is. This is one I am looking for to add to my collection! Go try it out. I think this is one of those that attracts a select audience because some people will be immediately put off by the theme.

This is a magic game! I rate it almost a perfect 10 and hope to have it one day but the prices on these keep going up and up so probably wont happen any time soon. The one on location nearest to me is in perfect cosmetic condition and but they aligned the flippers low so its harder to cradle and they want a buck a game wtf. They also have a price tag of 10k on it lol.

We had Thanksgiving this year at my friends parents and they own this table. I wasn't optimistic about playing this table but was pleasantly surprised and it turned into a competition for the highest score before the night was over (I won 283,350 lol).

There are 10 drop targets at the top of the playfield 5 drop targets mid playfield which are the main ways to score. Hitting all 10 of the top targets lights extraball through a lane on the right. Hitting all 5 of the midfield targets lights an extra ball through through a lane on the left. I think hitting both sets lights special and each bank increases bonus by a certain amount. Keeping the balls out of the out lanes is fairly easy and slap saves and nudges are fairly easy to pull off as well so ball times can be surprisingly long. The shot to hit the far right target from the top drop target bank was the most fun and challenging shot of the game but once you drop all 15, at least on this machine, they dont reset which leaves you with only two options which kinda sucks imo. Theres a bulls-eye target for 1k on the lower pop bumper which can result in quick drains or you can try to get it back into the top lit lanes for 5k i believe but its not really worth it. Scoring is limited to 6 digits and I was able to roll it quite often. Its kinda fun rolling the score especially when the bonus for your last ball barely rolls it over.

The artwork on the table and the back glass is strange to say the least. Solar city sounds kind of sci fi and maybe they were going for kind of a flash gordan thing? Part of me thinks its a sci fi theme but everyone is shooting bows and arrows? WTH is going on here?

Its got the classic doorbell three tone sound. At first the sound coil were turned off for some reasons and the owner turned them back on after we had played for an hour or so. I didnt really care either way but I suppose it made the game a little more enjoyable... maybe.

I guess I cant say I would recommend this table to anyone but im not an EM fan by any means. I thought it was a fun game to play at this family get together but would never want one in my collection. I think its perfect for guests that arent interested in newer pins though because its slower and easier to play and understand. Overall its not a horrible pin :)

Just played Spiderman for the first time today and man is it good! I actually just finished playing AFM before I started playing some and I thought it was just as good and just as fun. It comes with a center post to help you with those pesky center drains when trying to hit sandman and his force fields. I did notice some of the crap artwork on the slighshot plastics but who cares its a ton of fun. Id buy one in a heartbeat if I had the cash ;)

Cons: This one is a big one for some people but the DMD is the worst part of this pin. I think the animations are cool, movie clips etc but the red DMD looks muddy and its hard to see at times.

I got logged out typing out the long version so heres the short version

Pros:
Theme (Elvira)
Music (doesnt get old)
Sound FX (funny quotes)
Layout (Simple straight forward and fun)


Cons:
Multiball jackpots are essentially the only way to score and can get old
There are other ways to score but it comes down to shooting the ramps repeatedly(still fun)

I still love the game but if your a pinball pro I can see how you will get bored. If you can shoot the ramps with robotic precision you'll get bored. If you suck like me youll have a lot of fun :)