Don’t listen to the NIBNEWBS and their propaganda about “code” and what’s “good for the home”. They’re full of shit. The beauty of pinball is that it’s always different. You can play the same game a thousand times and always learn something new, achieve something unique and satisfying, and have fun over and over on the same machine. The 90’s games are generally masterpieces of gameplay, design and rules. None of them are “shallow” unless you’re playing an early DE like BTTF.

If you can score any 90’s game for $3k, go for it...it’ll bring you endless fun. If it ever gets “too easy”, you can always change posts & settings to up the challenge.

Accept that you’ll have to learn. It’s part of the hobby. There are so many guides online, anyone can learn how to fix games. I know nothing about electronics - but I can follow directions. I went from knowing nothing to repairing/restoring/shopping out tons of games. It’s a satisfying part of the hobby.

DE games used to be great bang for the buck, because collectors wanted nothing to do with them - you could always find them for about $1000 or less. Not sure what the good DE games are going for these days, but if their price is similar to a B/W game, go for the B/W. DE games just don’t “feel” as good, and the sound quality is pretty poor. If you’re going to have 1 game, that solid snappy B/W feel will is one of the aspects that will keep you coming back.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is THE BEST horror game, IMO...and it’s one of those addicting “usually kicks your ass” games you keep hitting start for....and when you have that satisfying game with the 3 multiballs stacked & Gary Oldman is yelling THIRTY MEEEEELLION!!! - it’s amazing. It might be more pricey these days, tho.

Sega Frankenstein might be a good cheaper alternative...but it’s gonna have that Sega/DE feel to it. Cool game tho.