Obviously, you can debate this all day long, but I think AMH could be one of if not the best game ever made.
It has the best layout of any pinball game I've played. When you design these games, millimeters of flipper gap, or posts being exact right place make a big difference. What AMH nails better than any other game I've played is that it's one of the hardest, but also one of the most fair games I've played. If you miss your shot, sure, you can drain, but hitting the ghost targets to send the ball out of control is recoverable 99% of the time if you nudge it just right. I love that kind of stuff.
I set the tilt fairly tight, but if you're not willing to nudge the game perfectly, your not going to do nearly as well. At times, I find myself nudging as much as flipping, any game that pushes your skill to the limit, without being unfair, is going straight to the top of my list.
While the layout isn't groundbreaking, the design and how the layout is implemented is amazing.
I have to mention though, this game needs to be dialed in. It's critical, if your game isn't dialed in, if your ball guides aren't in the perfect position to return the ball where they should, if your pop bumper switches aren't gapped correctly, if your pitch is off, if you don't fix the ball hang ups, if you don't adjust the ball guide so the ball hits the jump ramp perfectly etc, it's a whole other game and not in a good way.
The modes are awesome. Even modes that have you going back to the drop targets in front of the ghost have modified rules for add-a-balls or locking balls behind them etc. All the modes are extremely great, they are all relevant, fun to play, and very fair. The best part about the modes are the levels of progression. Sometimes you have to lock a ball before you move onto freeing it to be rewarded with multiball. Sometimes you have to hit targets, then hit the ghost, and sometimes you just have to alternate shots to be awarded with a multiball.
Multi balls are plentiful and seriously rewarding. Again, lots of progression and strategy, do you want to play the main multiball or use it to safely hit the ghost to advance toward wizard mode? Several modes have mulitballs after them, one in particular has you hitting risky targets to raise the jackpot before collecting it. Some are more straightforward, just hit one shot, but the music and the speed make it incredibly fun.
The rules also make you spread the play field which I love. No shot can be ignored, and every shot needs to be hit multiple times. I'm not a tournament player, so I can't speak toward scoring imbalances, but in terms of getting to wizard mode, you need to use the entire play field.
I like the humor in the game a lot, the theme is very well integrated. Of course the game isn't perfect. The scoop doesn't eject to the right flipper on my game, I've tried and tried to adjust that. The play filed art is not my favorite, neither is the translite. I don't think either are terrible, but next to the caliber of game I think this is, it's not as strong.
If you own this game and you aren't having fun with it, take a couple hours and dial it in. The game is no fun when balls come down from the lanes, and then down the right orbit just to fall straight down the middle. Or when the ball comes out of the pops just to fall straight down the middle, or when you just get one or two pop hits then out etc.
This game is just plain fun. I had a guy over that never wants to play pinball but is usually down to check out my latest game. We played AMH for 2 hours straight, something he has never done. We just couldn't stop. Finally we had to.
Los Angeles, CA
Winnipeg, MB
