Almost all of them are super fast and without ramps. Any classic stern or some of the 1979-1981 bally's will fit the bill nicely.

hollywood heat. it is super fun, 1 ramp though. reminds me of the 80s whenever i see it and play it

I think system 7 (or late 6) is the first place to look, they seem to have the most complex code and polish. Especially anything space themed, the sound will be better as it's easier to synthesize.

Sterns can also be quite good, but I feel like the rules are simpler than system 7s

Skateball is a very fast game with no ramps. All the coils have plenty of power. And when those drop targets reset, you feel it. Sound package on this one is very appealing and does not include those annoying beeps many early SS games have. Art package is second to none.

It is not as technically advanced as TNA, but for it's time, it was state of the art as any and seems more advanced than some of what came later.

That being said, when TNA gets here, it is going right next to Skateball.

The end all and be all is Stern Electronics Meteor!

Stars!

Although Quicksilver may take the cake.

Classic Bally are great...Those Sterns make some fast ones though for sure.

You'll be very happy if you open your mind to 70s SS...plus it's a gateway to EMs.

It's one of those games that once you try it, most likely you will want to buy it. I liked what I saw of it from the get go, but wasn't sold on it completely until I actually played it.

Being I don't care much for long drawn out "story" games where you have to repeatedly hit the ramps over and over again to progress thru the game, it is a total breath of fresh air and I instantly knew i was going to own one, one way or another. If any modern game has that one more game appeal, this one does.

Scott knocked it out of the park with this one, and basically took pinball 20 years into the future from where it left off so long ago.

Yeah, Stars is an all time classic, and very affordable if you can find one. I just finished doing a little work on my lamp board, because when I push play in the middle of the night, it has to work! Chimes instead of electronic sounds is a big plus on this one.

If you don't mind some ramps and an upper play field, Flash Gordon is an early SS masterpiece with a real neat layout that is very challenging and fun to shoot.

But Stars plays nothing like a TNA. I love the game though and Quicksilver, which is my number 1 most wanted game. Meteor plays fast and is similar to TNA. Great spinner, good upper playfield action, and one pop.

Gotcha...never played TNA...he asked for fast 80s games without ramps so just throwing them out there. Obviously Flash Gordon would be my #1 but i guess it has ramps.

Meteor, Quicksilver, and Andromeda!

Seawitch

Ohhhh she's a little bitch that one.

Definitely check out Eight Ball Deluxe if you enjoy the "easy to learn, difficult to master" style 80's SS games. I also highly recommend Nine Ball (a classic Stern game), which may be my favorite game in my collection. Someone also mentioned Seawitch above, I'll second that as well (sitting pretty next to my Nine Ball )...and Flash Gordon, Meteor, Medusa, Centaur, Fathom, Flight 2000, Skateball, Stars, Quicksilver, and there's many more. I've played plenty of post-90's pinball and enjoy many of them. But for my budget and my taste for relentlessly brutal (but fun!) games, the late 70's/early 80's are a gold mine. These games were built really well, and when tuned up and dialed in just right--there's nothing like them, imo. That's what has me so damn excited that TNA is in production! The classic style, but with all the advantages of new technologies.

As far as sounds/music in a lot of those games, they can be hit or miss. Hard to say what my favorite is, but probably Seawitch. The sound of the waves crashing will *never* get old for me. I sometimes turn it on and start a game, and just let it do it's thing. Haha
That said, there's a lot of games with annoying/grating sounds. It's pretty subjective, i suppose!

You won't find many games that actually do. But Stars has one pop bumper, same as TNA.

As far as speed is concerned though, the key with Stars is to follow the guide in the instructions when installing the rubbers. It calls for it to use much smaller than normal, then stretched to the max. Do that and it is a very fast and snappy game.

If you don't mind upper playfields, Flash Gordon is one of the greatest ball busters of all time.

Meteor is awesome but some people think it's a little too one-trick. The trick being the spinner is actually perfectly balanced with screwing yourself over or the game screwing you over. You want the most points out of spinner by having almost all the Meteor drops down...but shit like the inlane and target next to the spinner spot a letter and bam, your spinner value is gone. But hey, you got a bonus X and hey those other 9 drops are actually worth something...it's a great one.

I thought TNA felt a lot like Firepower. Similar shots, TNA has more in the upper playfield and the multiball is much easier to achieve. But both are fast with good flow.

Star Gazer, Seawitch, Quicksilver, Meteor, Skateball, Frontier, Fathom, Warlok, etc.....

Sorcerer is the best comparison I can think of . It has a ramp but the ramp is for locking balls. close dangerous shots like TNA . an upper area with it's own flipper that is on the same level as the main playfield . Locked balls can be stolen by other players and multiball is a playfield multiplier like TNA .

I would say it feels the most like Meteor, star light, andromeda, frontier, a little EBD and Fathom.

The speed is more like a well tuned meteor. THe multiball is more like a classic two ball on andromeda or star light.
Some alien star also wrappen in there.

Almost every other early stern is better than meteor, but meteor should be the easiest to find.

Valcano is god awful. They're fun to tap around for a minute...def wouldn't want to own one.

I presume you mean Solid States from 1979-1985 -- pre system 11 (1986).

TNA feels *nothing* like an early solid state game.
Perhaps it feels *something* like a system 11.
The very high speed of the ball, ultimately makes it feel like a modern to me.

TNA has: (skipping all non-playfield aspects)
1. very strong modern flippers (early SS games often have flipper strengths that "just" make their shots")
2. no drop target banks (uncommon to have them missing in '79-'85 classics.)
3. a scoop -- a very fast scoop. This wasn't invented until Cyclone? -- a system 11.
4. a very neat modern ball lock system of inline targets.
5. a repeatable orbit shot -- this came with High Speed -- a system 11.
6. most important -- it has *very* interesting rules that compensate for a lack of an interesting shot map with a balance of long and short shots. In stark contrast -- classic SS's rely on a fun shot map, while having very simple rules.
7. creative modern multiplayer rules to make it more fun to work together to achieve goals or to compete as teams.

Instead think of TNA as a flat modern game.
-mof

Pinball-Pat Before you go hunting for early solid states you might want to figure out what you love most about TNA, and share that with us -- from there we can help guide games that are actually similar to it. I'm not sure you're going to come up with much. It's a very unique modern. I hope they continue to make more pins like it -- rather than falling back on fan/ramp layouts...

But trying to "replicate an early classic SS game" is no easy task, and has not yet been attempted yet.

-mof

For me TNA is best played multiplayer

I am completely hooked on the Classic Sterns. But I only have a Quicksilver to compare to TNA:

Similar to TNA:
+ Speed (fast)
+ Excellent freaking sound for ripping a lit spinner (very addictive)
+ Upper Lanes
+ Easy to clean and wax (no ramps)

Different than TNA:
+ Bonus countdown, one of the best in pinball.
+ Sweepable drop targets (2 banks).
- No Multiball / ball lock
+ Pop bumper garden with yellow targets surrounding the pops (instead of the TNA slingshot reactor)
- No subwoofer, shaker motor or cool soundtrack.

IMG_20171204_211251613 (resized).jpg

Here is a good tutorial. The machine in the video is completely blown out but it still plays OK

I suggest looking at Classic Sterns...here is a primer:

Cheap, Pretty and Fast: A Look at Classic Stern Pinballs
http://gameroomblog.com/reviews/cheap-pretty-and-fast-a-look-at-classic-stern-pinballs

Flash Gordon, Electra and Viking are fun and fast.

And furthermore...

Sound packages are the main reason I enjoy early solid states the most:

1. no music
2. sounds that almost tell you what you are doing in the game (try doing that with a modern, other than the word "JACKPOTTT!")
3. I almost play early SS to "make sound" if you will...

Definitely watch movies on youtube (WITH NO VIDEO) and LISTEN to early games, and let that guide you. For me, the cut off point is 1978. Those are horrible sounds to my ears (Paragon, etc...)

I like 1979-forward for sounds. If sounds are important to you, then let your ears be your guide.
-mof

Um, yeah your missing out on some really nice games. But don't take my opinion since I'm a little bit of a classic fan. Don't mind the dust on the games. This picture was taken when I just pulled them out of storage.

12485895_1101967986500497_995613172492636892_o (resized).jpg

mof is right, no surprise there, but I'd listen to the advice about playing a Flash Gordon first, probably the closest you'll find really.

Though after getting used to TNA my Flash Gordon doesn't feel as fast and mean anymore ...

Arcademojo I have to say I’m jealous of that carpet and paneling. I’d love a throwback looking room like that

I though TNA was fun the first time I played it, but wasn't really blown away by it. Each time I go to the pincade I play it some more and each time it sinks its hooks in me. I went and played for about an hour last week and played TNA majority of the time. I threw in a few games of TWD to mix it up but found myself really only wanting to play TNA.

It truly is the whole package. The lighting is great, music is great, game is great, and the machine is well built. Spooky and Scott did a bang up job and it continues to get even better with each code update. I'm a broken damn record in the TNA forum constantly talking about purchasing one and one day damnit I will!

That's the original carpet from the little old lady I bought the house from. Must be from the late 70's.
My wife wanted it gone and to paint over the paneling but I kinda liked the look with my classic pins so keeping it until we get my gameroom built.

Quicksilver and Dragon First - two amazing classic Sterns.

I'm gonna throw a vote in for Firepower. Like TNA, a freshly waxed and properly tuned Firepower has cripplingly fast drains off the dangerous--yet necessary--standups, a multiball that lasts 10 seconds, smooth shots, and a ball save kickback that gives you just enough rope to hang yourself with.

Destroy Centaurrrrr.....

No doubt! I finally found one at CAX last year which was tuned in properly and it gave me a good kick in the ass. Real good times.

Get a Centaur

Man I've never played meteor but I thought your next sentence was gonna be that the spinner would take away points. Wouldn't that be some cool coding for TNA. Hitting the spinner at the wrong time actually deletes points. Are there any games that do this? We always talk about lighting and rippin' the spinner. What if this was a bad thing if you didn't complete the order first.

It's always hard to compare games, but to me the reactor area on TNA functions a bit like a split playfield. It makes the other shots faster. The beauty of TNA though, is that it takes what was great about those 80s games and combines them with modern features. I think the Danesi Lock is one of the best new features in years. Combining in lane drop targets (already one of my favorite features) with the ability to lock multiple balls is fantastic.

GAMATRON

Don’t forget Gamatron , 1986 Pinstar

Much better than flight 2k...

Add a sound system to it and TNA is a contender

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gamatron-scratch-build

"TNA" reminds of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim movies for some reason.

If orbits are your favorite part of TNA check out High Speed. Another great game with sweet spinners, top lanes, stand ups, drops, and a saucer that plays fast is Blackout. So many good games from the 80's.

Did anyone mention Williams Flash? Can be sat up to be a really good game.