To start, You really need to play these titles preferably with your son! This is not the type of choice you want a forum to make unless they are funding this adventure. With that said, Batman to me is an incredible title and tics every box for code, fun, humor, shots, and most importantly depth. For me, I tried Aerosmith and Metallica and Very quickly started to actually dislike the bands after listening to the Same sound track 500 times! I love the music but imagine only owning one CD in your Expense car. Thats how it felt for me. I find the rock themes great to play but Only if you have a deep collection of games. Add to that, kids often grow tired of music much like cleaning their rooms! Good luck with YOUR decision. FYI, Attack from Mars is great but if your looking for a great father son title I would hold out for CGC game #3 personally over Attack.

2 lyman games. B66 is now at a great grade.
However the basic layout on B66 is a letdown for me. on the other side, Met gets a great layout and as you are a Metallica's fan i will go for this one. All the more as Met Pro is great and much cheaper than a B66 premium.

Batman 66 is still unfinished. So, for me that is a pass. It has also been a long time getting the code up to 1.0 (and it still is not there).

Metallica is a tournament favorite. It shoots great and the code is complete and is one of the best.

Attack from Mars also fits well in a tournament and I like the code too.

All three have Lyman doing the coding. AFM is early in his career. Metallica is within the last 10 years. Batman 66 is now.

So, I would not choose Batman 66. It would come down to AFM vs. Metallica. I own an AFMRLE and we love it. It is funny and the light show is great. It is my wife's favorite game right now. The theme is also open to all. Metallica is great but the music is not for everyone. I like Metallica but for my personal collection I included a game that more people would like the theme. I doubt my wife would ever play Metallica.

I think both Metallica and AFM are great options but I bought AFM for myself.

I enjoy the playfield layout on MET much more. I like inline drop targets. FYI the music on any pin gets old and repetitive after awhile, it doesn't matter if it's a music pin or not, the music is always the same.

forget batman, too expensive.... wasn't impressed at all at gameplay compared to the other choices you mentioned. maybe in another year or 2. get metallica pro and take em to disney with the money you saved!

Not even close
Metallica for the Win

Definitely Metallica and the and the pro and the premium are both great, however if you can afford the Premium i would go for a MET Premium. With the Premium you get 2 spinners, the hammer coffin lock, motorized cross behind the drop targets, playfield rails instead of pegs, cooler looking translite, and a much better light show etc....not sure if theres anything else or not?

Also i would get the monsters premium. They have one called a Roadcase but im personally not much of a fan of it. Seems like i heard that they were going to do one more Metallica run so if you want a MET you better act fast i would say. MET is a blast to play and a keeper for life for sure.

Metallica.

How serious are your concerns about the language on MET? The 'family mode' doesn't do much to cover up the language. I've had mine for a week now and put it on family mode and my girls still commented on the language. We don't censor their music and watch 14A movies with them so I'm not quite sure why I turned the family mode on but it just bleeps things out, your kid is gonna know what they are saying. It doesn't tone down the game really... besides a main objective of the game is to electrocute someone, so I wouldn't put too much stock in MET being more family friendly in family mode .

I haven't played Batman 66 but I have played a ton of AFM over the years. AFM is a classic for sure but I'm finding MET has a lot more to do on it. At this point I'd go for MET between them.

I vote get Metallica.

Metallica. And I would bet $100 it will be unanimous.

But don't treat this like a life-long decision. With a small collection, you will get bored with any machine, so expect to sell it at some point.

Given that, you should look for the best deal on one of the machines on your list. Buy it, play it, sell it when you get tired, buy the other one. Rinse and repeat.

I own BM66, MET, and AFMr. For a family friendly theme you can't beat BM66. I love my MET but swearing is an issue with young kids and could turn you off. AFM is a classic, awesome callouts, fun and fast. All three are great Lyman pins and you couldn't go wrong.

If it was me in your position I'd go BM66 in a heartbeat. Theme integration is awesome and is only getting better. Plenty of mods available as well.

If you are a huge fan, i would go with the theme that you love. Batman 66 is a definitely a good pin for the family. Metallica and AFM are also great pins, you really need to take the family somewhere to play all these pin and see which ones they like. The only way to know you like them are to put time on them. Have fun

I have Met Pro and Met Premium which are great machines.

However, in your case, I would go with BM66.

Agree with Roar over so called family mode. Callouts are all the same except with bleeps. I would definitely play MET and see what you think. MET is a blast to play but do with there was a stronger family mode. If I have young kids over that are going to play, I turn the volume way down. I like BM66 as well but only played one a few times a while back. Heard the code has improved quite a bit but not sure it's in the league of MET. Big thing for me is price. You can buy a MET pro and another great game for the price of BM66.

All 3 of these games are fun so you've created a good list to choose from. There is no substitute for playing them yourself before buying.

I currently own an AFMr LE and it's my all-time favorite game and the one I would choose. I love everything about it, particularly the quirky humor. The CGC version is blinged out with all the LEDs and topper.

I've played BM66 on location quite a bit and enjoy the theme and theme integration, as well as Lyman's amazing code. Lots of fun and well suited for a family environment.

I've owned Met Prem in the past and it's a terrific game, although the theme isn't my favorite. If you are a fan of the music and band though it's another great choice.

No comparison!B66 all day!! Lyman is rocking this title hard!!IMHO!!!Met is not for younger players!!

Sums it up perfectly.

yep, strongly agree with this. bm66 is awesome. full disclosure i was making a similar purchase decision between bm66 and aerosmith. i love both pins and both licenses. i did choose aerosmith due to price and haven’t looked back. but whenever i do get a chance to play bm66, i do fantasize “what if” scenarios!

My thoughts Met family mode works for me and it's the favorite game my grandson age 8 plays. I hear no complaints from my son in law that also likes it best.

Toss in twd,imdn bsd ,acdc are prohibited by the powers to be. Good with met through.

Kids are going to hear 10x worse language than the MET callouts at school every day.

metallica. then afm. have both. had an rfm, its gone.

rfm is fun but gets old real quick

Wow. Tough call. I have a tricked out Met Monsters Premium and a BM66 LE. If you prioritize the fast thrill ride that crashing ramps left and right can give you, then go Met. I love ramping. But I'm not yet good enough to go ramp after ramp for long. I do find I play BM66 more often. It may be the most fun pin I've ever played. I love the comprehensible rules and the tv screen and the villains. I mean it's awesome dude. They both are. But for me, I'm defaulting to the very newest pins with LCD screen ONLY these days. Even with color DMD's, the real deal movie action screen is far more alluring and takes a pin to the next level. The tv screen has become the deciding factor for me. In fact, I doubt I'll buy any red dot ever again. I've wanted an AFMR like Carl Spackler wanted Mrs. Crane to bark like a dog, but I doubt I'll pull the trigger now that these newer LCD tv screen pins have come out. If only they had just fitted those remake machines w/ real screens - w/ some great flyin' saucer animations and footage - would've taken that game to the next level!

Yes! RFM and MET will be great with a good family vibe for your son (not sure how old he is?) and MET for anyone.

Have fun flipping!

I agree but Met didn't last long either for me, then again what does.

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“End this thread”? Lol, welcome to Pinside, that’s not how it works. But you made a wise choice. I bought MET when my kid was 14. He’s 19 now and he’d still be heartbroken if I sold it. It’s #1 in our collection.

My son has been begging me to send him this unused Snake callout from Pinball Browser:

“Now I’m getting fucking hungry...hungry for your baaaaallllllsss!”

I’m overdue for redoing a few callouts on MET.