Almost every DMD has selectable modes, well mine do lol

LOTR, not selectable like STTNG, but if you're quick with your flippers you can play the the mode you want.

World Poker Tour

Lots of selectable modes, plenty of multi-balls, and many strategic options for scoring big points!

You will never run out of things to do in the simpsons pinball party. It compliments sttng nicely since the gameplay is so different.

Judge Dredd.

RFM is 100% mode play. (Which personally I think is the biggest flaw with the game. Everything else about it is great).

X-men

STLE, love that game. I really like the modes on the 90's B/W a lot of character but gets monotonous after many games. STTNG has the best modes for me, so many different things. Just got a DM and JM also great. LOTR's has fantastic modes and rules set.

JM & JP are pretty good.....especially for the price.

Apollo 13 (and they are selectable....sort of). The ball in the pops changes the modes but you can lock-in the one you want with the launch handle.

The Hobbit allegedly has 28+ modes, with Keith Johnson doing the code, so it should be very deep.

I have to echo X-Men.
8 Hero modes, 1 of which is a multi ball
8 Villain Modes, 3 of which are multi balls
1 hurry up
2 Wizard modes.
...and Deadpool. You can't leave out Deadpool "You like me up here? All pixelated"

IJ, STTNG and TFTC are some of my favorite mode based games.

Hobbit should have around 30 modes. At $9K or so, it makes the price per mode fairly reasonable.

RBION

acdc

Wow, this has been up for 6 hours and no one has said Twilight Zone yet? I'm shocked...

I'd also have to put in a mention for the much-maligned Road Show... mode selection is constrained but can be very important (affects bonus which can be huge, and you can't play two of the same color in a row, so choose wisely...). And 18 mostly distinct modes, gotta love it.

Ripley perhaps?

Well, the modes aren't selectable in TZ.

Also, if we're restricting it to "great" modes, I would vote against Star Trek (all modes feel the same), and AC/DC (because you really aren't selecting modes to enjoy the tasks within the mode - you're selecting them to fit in with your overall state of the game, ie: how close you are to multiball, what you're trying to do with your song jackpot, where a particular song falls in the discography of the band, etc).

Yes they are. The original poster didn't specify that they be selectable only by using the flippers. On TZ, the pop bumpers select the lit door panel. If you want to start a specific mode, shoot the pop bumpers until it's flashing, then shoot the slot machine. Selectable.

Many games are this way. Very few games allow modes to be selected by the flippers. On TWD, you shoot a drop target to select the type of mode to start, then shoot the rest of the drops to enable the mode, then shoot the shot to start and play the mode. Can you select which modes to play on TWD? Absolutely. Is it easy to do? No.

Indiana Jones, Ripleys, STTNG, LAH

I'm shocked that people haven't said TAF

X-Men, TSPP, LAH

X men

First of all, shooting the slot machine starts you into a random mode. It's shooting the piano that starts the flashing mode.

Second of all, I don't share your view that relying on chance (the number of hits in the pop bumpers) satisfies what I would consider the criteria for making something "selectable". If you wanted to start "Fast Lock" on TZ, you might be able to do it right off the bat, or it could take you 30 shots into the pops before it comes back out with Fast Lock selected. Then you still need to hit the piano shot (which is done only as a combo, or luck) without accidentally going back into the pops (or hitting the slot machine, which will send you into a different, random mode).

However, I think we can agree that there is a distinction to be drawn between knowing which mode you're going to start ahead of time, vs not knowing. Knowing: TAF, TZ, STTNG. Not knowing: NGG (wheel award), WoF, SM.

All of that said, I went back and realized that STTNG works the same way as TZ, so maybe I've got it all wrong. So now I need to ask the OP - what do you mean by "selectable modes"? From your responses so far, it sounds like you just mean "modes".

FYI, the first post emphasizes "selectable". The thread title only mentions "LOTS of modes". The answers you are seeing are heavily influenced by whether people read the first post or just the title.

The white modes on Spidey are selectable via the pops, just like TZ. I've actually done this to show folks the Bonesaw cheat.

Second the LAH vote. TSPP has a ton too, with lots of stacking and timers, but there's so much going on that it doesn't really 'feel' mode-based. And another second for Judge Dredd.

just a quick glance through, but i did not see any mention of Wizard of Oz. while they might now be "shot here to start one of many modes", there are many different modes to start. There is so many different things going on (just like all Keith Johnson programed games) that i have not found myself getting bored with it yet.

That being said, i also LOVE Lord of the Rings, The Simpsons Pinball Party (both Keith games). Another one that i really like is Revenge from Mars. While you really only get to select the first mode, the modes themselves are entertaining.

I think xmen is about the best to satisfy the criteria given. It's of modes with selectable modes. Current code on Xmen is really good and engaging.

A cool mode-select game is WWFRR. And the selection mode is great. Center ramp (easy shot) lights 1 or both mode-start scoops. There are 9 modes, 3 columns of 3 each in the middle of the pf. Basically, you hit main shots to select which mode will start next. Shooting one of the 3 main shots (left ramp, center ramp, right orbit) switches the flashing mode insert to the left, center or right column, or shifts it down that column if already in that column. Then shoot a scoop to start the flashing mode.

Another vote for X-Men

My vote would be ST:TNG

Any post-TAF Data East/Sega game, I guess. Like Batman Forever.

LotR has great modes and they are "selectable" by using the flippers. More selectable at least than when triggered by the slings or jets.

The Shadow also has great modes which are selectable by using the ramps & diverters, so they're pretty easy to really select.

TZ has LOTS of modes, but they're not really selectable (in a controlled way), and they're not really great.

I'd never really though of it that way, but I guess individually, they aren't that great. What is great about them is how different they are from each other, and how starting a mode makes new scoring opportunities available, but doesn't prevent you from continuing to start other modes. More than any other game I can think, I'm so often cursing myself when I lose the ball: "Argh! I had so much going on!"

JM has modes galore.

That's my standard callout when playing my MB set to very hard...

TZ ist nice, but the modes just don't feel very much fun on their own. Not even close to the ones on TS, STTNG or LotR that really draw you into the theme and gameplay.

How do you control the pops to stop on the specific mode you want to select?

You are confusing "selecting a specific mode" with "starting a specific mode."

Pop Bumpers determining the next available mode. Random, not selectable.

X-Men and LOTR

One of the main reasons I bought them.

If you are going for just quantity of modes, newer is morer. For example, Stern Star Trek has 18 main modes that are selectable, 6 level 1 away team modes that can be activated, and that doesn't count the mini wizard modes, the 3 Vengeance modes and multiball. I'm sure I'm missing something.

Stargate - tons of modes more than one wizard mode.

You keep shooting the pops until the mode you want to start is lit.

No, I'm not. Strategically it makes no sense to select modes by shooting the pops on TZ. It would take too long. But on other games with less modes to select, it can make sense. If I only have one shot left to start Stewie multiball on FGY and I want to stack it with a mode, I'll make sure Good old Boys or Ipecac are ready before I start anything. There's no advantage to stacking any of the other three modes with Stewie multiball and you definitely want to stack Stewie multiball with at least one other mode. With only five modes available and two being good to stack with Stewie MB, it doesn't take me many shots to select the mode I want.

Remember that we're talking about location or home games here. Not tournament games. With easier settings, you can be a lot pickier and go a lot deeper. Just because it takes more than one shot to 'select' which mode you want doesn't mean it isn't selectable.

Not the pops necessarily, but there are other ways of "selecting" modes. Let's say you were about to start multiball on TZ, and you notice that the "Lite Gumball" door panel is currently lit. You decide that you want to bring Town Square Madness into the multiball, so you shoot the piano to collect Lite Gumball, and then shoot the left ramp-right ramp-piano combo to start Town Square Madness before starting multiball. Does that count as "selecting a mode"? Seems like it deserves at least partial credit. If the only way to start modes was the Slot Machine, that would be a different story.

Nascar

LOTR all the way!!

No. That's called "adjusting your strategy to the given state of the game".

I was going to say RS until I noticed the selectable aspect. RS's amounts of modes is insane, I've never completed all of them in one game, or got to the third/super wizard mode.

Really the only machine where I actually seriously care about choosing the mode I start is LOTR, as each mode timed with other things, or going for something else, is very important for working your way to Valinor.

For example, I always try to get the Ents with no MB, and while I'm trying to jack up souls to start ROTK (usually for the second time). TTT seems good stacked with anything really, but you can't see the mode's shots when stacked with TTT, so I generally stack Find the Warq with TTT, as I know I have to hit all shots after the left ramp.