LoTR!
I feel like it's got a lot of problems. Barad Dur always sounds like somethings broken, Palantir... a standup target THERE? TZ had been around for a decade, and they went ahead and repeated that known-problem target placement, only they made the target 3x as large, so it gets whacked 3x as many times. Should have been a captive ball. The saucer that only registers weak shots is almost impossible to hit on games with well maintained flippers (so it works on location) - should have a back on it. The ring periodically blows fuses in normal operation, and often fails without any apparent reason, and the center ramp for the ring shot is near impossible to make with poorly maintained flippers. The playfield layout is generally uninspiring. I think it's carried almost entirely by aesthetics (it looks and sounds wonderful).

TOM i'm also not impressed with - it's not a bad machine, but I feel like it's B-list, not A-list.

Northvibe: RBION is not generally considered A-list, afaik. I'd put it as a strong B-list, fun table. Feels Lawlor-y, IMO, if you don't like the feel of TZ, you probably won't like RBION.

Yeah - but some of the Pat Lawlor games he made with Stern don't play like a Lawlor game. NASCAR for example... and I hear CSI isn't very good either (and if it's not good, it's not playing like a Lawlor design!) - so I was trying to point out that not only did he design it, but you can tell that he designed it by playing it.

Breakthrough!

More fun to start it right before PBM/fastlock vs normal multiball - only time i'd willingly start PBM with no balls in the lock lane (i usually try to hold off until i've got both balls locked, so PBM will clear them out, and hence multiball will autolaunch new balls for two easy shots at the jackpot), since usually in normal multiball, at least one ball is in the lock lane, so fewer balls triggering The Spiral. And yeah, trying to get to LiTZ is not appropriate strategy. All my best games are from going for multiballs, and stacking it with modes when convenient to do so.