West Chicago, IL
Let me just say, only 150 are being made and once they are nabbed up, well $15k by next xmas....
Lets get to the game.
Cabinet - Rating -A
First off the cabinet build is solid. I mean sold wood, not that pressed board crap or plywood. She has a solid feel to her when your hands wrap around and grip by her buttons. Yep, Everything you would expect from a Stern, and a Little Jersey jack splashed in. Quality build, solid, attention to detail, no over spray, very clean lines. Art work is cool, nice vinyl decals professional applied no air bubbles, or grainy texture to the application, corner and edges trimmed nicely. Lets just say the carpet matches the curtains on this beauty. Some one knew how to finish a cabinet and apply decals. I remember when my momma use to rub baby lotion on my bottom , hhmmm was that sweet. Finally the trim, the best part, Looks like Ben and Charley used a black and grey vein powder coat, that adds texture to the armor, not tacky but classy. What's great is you don't see are any finger prints or micro scratches at all and should last the life of the game. Winner winner chicken dinner.
Speakers-Rating - B+, A- some where around there!
Speakers are from Flipper Fidelity and Micheal has put together a package that sounds awesome. Is that an amp in my pants, sure is, the game has an amp, which you can adjust the treble, volume, and its all about the Bass. AAAnd Wait, is there a shaker in the game. Nope that just Pupo's sub woofer rattling the game like a shaker. The speaker shakes the game like a shaker motor, not all the time, just at certain modes. Note Glass does not Rattle either!!!!! Doesn't make sense I tell ya!!! You have to play with the settings to get the sound just write, too loud you get distortion. You need to play withe her buttons to get her dialed in just right.
Back Glass- Rating - B
Well some like it some don't. I even heard of one guy making his own glass. WHY!!!! Just make an new game then while yer at it. Anyways, the Glass, I dig the two hot chicks on the glass, ye both are hot and wouldn't mind meeting either of them in a bar in Benton Wisc. Chuck next time I'm up there lets all get together. Both hot chicks are well placed in the game and have funny call outs. So yes I like the glass, because of the two hot chicks and they are a major part of the game. The glass is thicker than a stern or Jersey jack glass and heavy. I don't see that cracking anytime soon. I like the black ghost figures in the back ground especially the cow with nipples. Some of the quotes on the headstones are cool. Could the glass be better maybe, but I like it as is. The lead strip lighting in the back is cool, better than the florescent tube. I would like to see more programming for the back box led kit, but I understand this game has a budget.
CPU - Just one board - Awesommmme - Rating A+
Charley showed me the CPU and wow, easy to update, easy to swap out Tips(Drivers) if they blow and if a chip goes bad, well pop it out and put in another. CPU is easy to work on and update. Plus you can buy a spare board and have it as a back up, if your game goes down. You can swap it in 4 min and your back up and running.
Playfield Rating B+
Charley and Ben use a secret sauce when laying down the playfield. Yep, a quality playfield with a thick clear coat(Your Balls will glide smoothly on the playfield). Inserts are nicely done, they didn't over power the playfield, but it is easy to figure out what to do. Also the game helps direct you on what to shoot for with call outs and flashing Leds. Spooky puts all white Leds in the inserts, which I changed and color matched with Pinball life's fucking ablaze LEDs(Where did he get the idea for that name, hmmm) and yes they make her inserts perk right up. I like the art work, the haunted buildings in the background with the moon in the back ground the ghost patrol gang and cool battle Demon character right in the middle of the field, which brings it all together. Artwork does not over power the playfield, nicely done, not over crowded. I would have like to have seen some hidden art work things on the playfield. Plastic set is well made, but could use a little more color, maybe some greens, purples and yellows added to match the playfield, still very well done. I like all the Ghosts on the back panel. I would like to see a 3d printed versions of the ghosts made to mod the game out. Maybe someone can do this as a mod and light each ghost up!!!!! The Hellavator is a super cool toy and you can control the hellavator going up and down with the target switch to the left of the ramp. Going up, going down, going up, going down, wait I wanted it down, no up. Shitt. Yes, sometimes you just want to curse at the f -ing Hellavator, because when it is going up your balls hits the switch and then it goes back down(Right when you don't want it to), soooo you have to hit the switch again and turn on the Hellavator so it goes back up and you can lock your balls. I like the Theater ramp and it is well positioned with great flow, but you have to turn down the power of your flipper coils to 7 or your ball takes flight every time. I also like the swinging door to the Hospital/Prison gate and the three bank target in front of the Ghost minion. This game has five major toys on this game. Hellavator , Hospital door or is it the F-ing Prison Gate, Minion target bank, interactive Ghost minion and Magnet. Playfield is well laid out, has great flow around the right outer orbit, middle orbit to pop bumpers and right orbit to theater ramp. On top of that you have the Hellavator ramp back to the right inlane. Oh what you have the bash toy concept with the Ghost minion and the Hospital/Prison gate. The only thing missing is a spinner!!!! That's a bummer. Oh well would have been nice!
Game Play/Rules - Rating - B
There are six ghost(modes) you must battle(Old Prison, Landmark Hotel, Haunted Bar, War Fort, Historic theater and Abandoned Hospital) and to do so you have to hit a series shots to start each mode, then you have to hit a series of targets or shots or targets and doors to get to the boss ghost, then go for the kill shot. Once you kill the Boss ghost, you go into Ghost patrol dance mode where a multiball starts and the dance music turns on and the lights go off and on and the side leds in the cabinet flash on and off. Its like a party going on in your pants!!!! Hard to stay focused, while being stimulated then more flashing lights then everything goes dark then the lights go back on. Very hard to keep your eyes on your balls while shooting for the jack pots. As for the game settings, I would like to see more options on settings for certain modes, easy, hard, difficult settings. I know this would mean more programming. Some modes have memory and , I think, but could be wrong some don't. If you get old Prison mode and you battle the guard, If your ball drains, you can then shoot the left orbit and start that mode again, without have to shoot the left orbit 4 times. Some modes, it you don't complete the mode you have to start that mode sequence over again to get to the Boss. Don't get me wrong, each mode is different, which I do like, so maybe I'm batty!
Cast of Characters - Rating - A++++
Bar Hooker Ghost- sleezy trampy bar whore with big Ghost boobs, who's kinda sexy.
War General Ghost - Whip snapping, Dictating war monger, who sends his troops to do his dirty work.
Doctor Ghost- smooth talking, cool cigarette smoking Doc who isn't afraid to tell you to pull your pants down. I did and it was kinda weird playing pinball that way.
Theater Director Ghost -one of my favorite ghost and modes, Lets just saying I never new a pinball machine can teach me acting lessons.
Prison Guard Ghost- His opening line is Hilarious and is he wear a bikini with a cop hat?
Hotel Clerk Ghost- This mode is is cool, that's all I have to say.
Mechanisms - Overall Rating-
Flipper mech- A - Very strong flipper mechs, same as Bally, Williams. When I got the game the flipper setting was 9, I dialed my strength back to 7 to prevent air balls.
Slings -Rating- A+ - very powerful, needed to turn down the "power" to slow the game down. very touchy and responsive, not anything like Austin powers slings. Fastest sling in the west!
Popbumpers - Rating - C+ -Two snaps and a twist, hated it. Well not really, they are the Data East all in one pop bumper mechs, they make a lot of noise and are not as responsive as Bally mechs. They are easy to change and service and I unrderstand why Spooky put them in. Man if bally pop bumper mechs were in this game, Wow would be the word.
Hellavator - Rating -A++. Way to innovate, coolest mech on the planet , no wait, the pinball planet. Has any pinball manufacturer done this. Hellllla No! yea yea, trap door on Theatre of magic, wrong, that's not a Hellavator.
Hospital/Prison door - Rating A -Can I say I love bashing my balls on this prison gate. There sore but man is it fun.
Let Vuk- Rating -C- Hear comes the breaks. screeetch, What happened. Man look like some one just bent some metal. By the way, I have had no problems with my left vuk, but by looking at it, I feel its going to break. Only time will tell. Steve Ritchie and Gomez would be ashamed. Shit I just might take my vuk kick out from Star trek or lord of the rings and put it in this game so my balls can shoot out of the hole and glide up onto the right between the habitrail rails.
Left kick out - rating B- Great hole to put your balls in. Sometimes your balls fly out fast and then times they come out slow. I think that is a programming bug. A lot of inconsistency with how your balls are handled with this mech. It is reliable and does tell you when your balls are about to explode out the hole with the aid of a flasher. I have this coil dialed down all the way and at times is still to powerful. Hers a little tip, as the Ball come out of the left out hole, I always hold my right flipper bat up, to catch and cradle my balls so they don't go down the hole.
Overall rating - If I had to rate this game, I would give it a solid B+ for game design, flow, difficulty level of game play, fun and easy to understand rule set, great cast of characters, fun factor, five interactive toys and and lot of dirty humor. This is not you average Boutique game. This game can hold a torch to many late Bally, Williams and Stern games. Lets' just say your balls will get a lot of bang for the buck at a price of $5995.00. Well done Spooky pinball, it looks like you made the big leagues as a pinball manufacturer!
Here is a Tutorial of the game!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLdKF6S-Vsgcr1W7yCYn0mVkTM2ERxG3lC&v=X12aX8PtCC4
If your looking to buy a America's Most Haunted go here: http://www.spookypinball.com/
Maple Ridge, BC
