Gran Prix is really popular & a lot of fun to play.

Find a game where you like the theme and art. Pick something you like and run with it. Stick with any of the major manufactures and you'll do great.

williams stardust.... love all the pop bumpers and when tuned right can play really fast

and a em fireball. classic game with some wild twists

We see this question a lot.

It's really not as simple as "SPEND $10 K on MM and you'll be HAPPY!!!"

For an EM, buy something in nice shape that works, is close, and is a fair price.

You'll spend $400-1000.

If you like it, keep it. If not, great, sell it and get something else.

It's a different ballgame. THere's really nothing to chase here. Even the "holy grails" like Fireball are kind of oddball games that might not do it for you. Buy an EM on theme and a playfield layout that looks interesting to you.

I would combine
- one EM with short flippers / no inlanes (Fireball would be my favorite with multiball, return gate, skill shot. An alternative would be one with an animated backglass).
- one with regular flippers, inlanes and - if possible - drop targets and/or vari-target or roto-target. (plenty of choices... Spirit of 76, Vulcan, Eldorado/Target Alpha, Centigrade 37, Surf Champ/Surfer, rarer: Joker Poker).

el dorado as a wedgehead - or royal flush as a 4 player - nice target games - put a power ball in them to speed them up and you have lots of fun

thanks ed

Joker Poker EM is rare and, as the game is good, expensive. The early SS Joker Poker is cool too, easier to find (9000 vs 800) and cheaper - and if remember correctly, with better rules (?).

Sorry, no best 2 EM's. No such thing.

Too many good titles in both Single Player and Multiplayers. Thai's why once you get into EM's you can never stop collecting them then your original plan of having 1 or 2 turns into an ever expanding herd.

Play as many as you can and just get a feel for what YOU like and what YOU deem as fun, as everyone has different tastes.

Happy hunting!

Ken

Some of my favorite EMs-

Common:
Williams Argosy
Williams Swinger/Funfest
Williams Little Chief
Gottlieb Abracadabra
Gottlieb Aquarius
Gottlieb Spirit of 76
Bally Night Rider
Gottlieb Pop A Card/Drop a Card
Gottlieb Pin Up/Kingpin
Sonic Mars Trek
Sonic Prospector

(honestly it's hard to go wrong with any gottlieb that isn't called Magnatron/Duotron or Bronco/Mustang)

rarer:
Bally Fireball
Gottlieb Dimension (incredible 20 DTs and great action all over the playfield)
Astro

Still, like I said your favorite EM is one you may have not even heard of. They are easier to hunt.

Old Chicago, Night Rider, Fan-Tas-Tic, Ding Dong, Space Mission, Expressway, Circus (woodrail)
But like Levi said, you won't know it until you play it.

Get to a show and play a few
There are EMs with long flippers, and EMs with short flippers
I prefer the longer flippers

As others have posted, at the prices that EMs attract, it is hard to go wrong
Buy a game, if you don't like it you will be able to sell it at the same price

Centigrade 37 ......'nuff said!
Prospector is great also...

prospector 1.jpg

Centigrade_37_BG_2.jpg

If you like drop targets get some info on Target Alpha from Gottlieb, as someone else mentioned. It is a very good looking game, they are usually in primo shape, and it is a tough game to beat. My favorite is Jack in the Box because it is a good drop target game, but the layout is unusual and you might not like it.

Thanks! If you like Drop Targets (like I do) ...you can't go wrong with Target Alpha or Solar City...

There is another cool game as well called Cinema!

Make me a deal on that Funhouse, so you have room for EM's!!!

I am on the hunt for 2 as well, some I like are:

C37
Royal Flush
Volley
El Dorado
2001
Joker Poker
Fast Draw

I have a TA but it's not my favorite at all. Once you drop all 20 drops down, not much else to do but wait to drain to collect your bonus. I prefer Fast Draw/Quick Draw for the resettable center drop target that's worth 5,000 points.

I prefer the mid-70s GTB multiplayers by Ed Krynski, but every EM manufacturer had some great titles. I'm NOT embarrassed to say that I own a Williams Super Star. I set the SS on AAB and it's a blast with the DC pops and slings.

you need to go play some before we can give you any type of decent recommendations... machines that i absolutely love (my royal guard, for example) are much hated by my bestie...

someone else noted this earlier... the em world is far different from the dmd world... there is a lot more variety, and there are very few "agreed upon best" games...

nope... game play is just as important, regardless of which vintage of machine you are looking at... i think what the poster was saying is that "forget what you are thinking when it comes to gameplay on an em vs. a dmd"...

a "good em" will consistently let you almost beat it... but rarely actually beat it... that is part of "gameplay" on an em... if you are thinking "modes"/"deep rulesets"/etc., you need to let go of those when thinking about gameplay on an em...

fwiw, "joker poker" is a grail machine... you will need a large budget for one of those...

All good, just bugging about the Funhouse again Leave it to me in your will please..

Here is a larger list I made of games I like/want:

CENTIGRADE 37
EL DORADO / GOLD STRIKE / TARGET ALPHA / SOLAR CITY
SURF cHAMP / sURFER
DIMENSION
ATLANTIS/LAWMAN/SHERIFF
CAPTAIN CARD / HIGH HAND
FREEFALL
BIG BRAVE / BIG INDIAN
FAST DRAw / QUICK DRAW
ABRA CA DABRA
ROYAL FLUSH / CARD WHIZ
VOLLEY
TEAM ONE
FIRE QUEEN / VULCAN
JOKER POKER
GEMINI

Try to go to a Pinball museum or show that features a lot of em's..Nothing

beats playing in person.

image-54.jpg

It's like what two super models should i pick?
WHAT!!! i can only have 2.
i always tell people try to get to a show a play some to see what you like gottlieb, Williams bally all play a little different. 2" or 3" flippers make a world of difference in game play, single player with a deeper rule set or a multiplayer less depth but more people can play at once.
OH! THE HUMANITY

Some good suggestions here. I prefer games with drop targets and/or spinners, and some cool lanes/shots. The 70's WMS EM games also tend to be livelier, and were my faves back in the day. A great resource for checking out tons of EM games and seeing which ones look cool is the Pinball Compendium EM era (yellow/gold cove) or PC 1970-1981 (my favorite volume). Pretty much every playfield is pictured in these volumes.

Yeah, but Target Alpha has only 15 drop targets, not 20. BTW, for the OP, these games have the exact same playfield but differ slightly in # of players and rules: Gold Strike, El Dorado, Target Alpha, Solar City, Canada Dry, El Dorado: City of Gold (SS).... I have Gold Strike, the AAB version, which is a fun 'sudden death' game to get the last target and light the WOW to survive. The playfield is pretty brutal.

You are right...it just feels like 20. Other than the far left two and far right two they are very easy to drop.

Bally Fireball may be #1 but what would be #2 ?

Target Pool is my all time favorite!

Target Pool is all about nudging!

target pool sits next to my 2001
target city

i juiced the upper kicker coils a bit to help the nudging effect.

I don't think I'm going this year. Will be the first time I've missed it. Got some family stuff happenin

It's an amazing show, you should def go