Wow! Now I have taken a LOT of flak from some of you guys about my choice of EMs and early SS games over the newer games, but here's a lot of you mentioning some damn good EM games for a tournament.
It's true that tournament play should not be limited to games with only a 2-player one 1-player score. Those game should simply be played in sub-groups or an agreed-upon player order for single-player games. We do this often in Seattle.
Royal Flush: Ideal.
Jack In The Box: Very difficult game.
Target Alpha: We've two of these in the area. Harder than it looks!
Surf Champ/Surfer: Is it just me or are there more of these EMs than any other?
Grand Prix: Awesome choice!
Aztec: OK. It's good for introducing DMD players to EM strategies.
Doodle Bug: Games with toys tend to get the DMD players interested. Plus you can't do flipper traps while the Doodle Bug is in effect or drain down the middle or off the edge of the flipper.
Nip-It: Has the Gator toy to snag a ball at the top of the playfield. 4-player.
In fact, we're going to be really evil about this upcoming Seattle Pinball League tournament happening in August at our house (The Madhouse on the Pinside Map) and have all older games for this tournament. Plenty of places you can play the newer games. Right now we're down to eight and none of them are post-1982.
Hollywood - Chicago Coin
Big Game - Stern
Xenon - Bally
Solar Ride - Gottlieb
Freedom - Bally
Close Encounters - Gottlieb (SS)
Barracora - Williams
Monte Carlo - Bally
Big Game seems to be a popular choice. Solar Ride is seeing some serious play too. Barracora is a toughie, but people keep coming back.
I'd like to see Skylab back (nothing but skill shots in that game), Mars Trek, Little Joe, anything by Zaccaria, that sort of thing. Older Gottlieb EMs (MIBS, Aquarius, Flying Carpet, Domino, Fun Land).
I'll post as the event gets closer and more games become available.
Lock stealing? Unfortunately, that's ruled as acceptable if it's a tournament multi-player game.