(Topic ID: 240266)

Change my mind: Ghostbusters LE has the worst design of the modern era

By Dr_Gonzo

4 years ago


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  • 145 posts
  • 80 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by JodyG
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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“Change my mind: Ghostbusters LE has the worst design of the modern era”

  • Hate it 113 votes
    53%
  • Love it 99 votes
    47%

(212 votes)

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There are 145 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 3.
#51 4 years ago

Flawed? Yes. Fun as hell? Yes!!

#52 4 years ago
Quoted from TRAMD:

I turned off the Scoleri Brothers because hitting them frequently led to the ball bouncing back OVER the flippers or outlane rails and about 20% of the time a direct and hard hit didn't even drop them. It is way better with them gone.

Preach! Also prevents storage facility multiball from totally wrecking loopin' supers. Disabled 'em on my pro, so much more enjoyable. That said, I still eventually sold it due to the other frustrations mentioned in this thread.

#53 4 years ago
Quoted from seenev:

I think it's a great game with some major flaws. I think it's a good game to have at home but never pay a dollar to play it on location.

ball 1. SDTM
ball 2. Attempted trap ball rolls up over the inlane and out the outlane
ball 3. The ghost popper on the right shoots it straight down the middle

#54 4 years ago
Quoted from Rondogg:

ball 2. Attempted trap ball rolls up over the inlane and out the outlane

Wow, I've never seen this happen. I have a Diner in the same location and at events that happens to somebody almost every match.

I don't know exactly why (flipper angle, larger gap, ghosts) but this game is the easiest to post pass on of anything I've ever tried it on. Any time I show a beginner how to post pass I bring it up when they are playing GB. On mine you can do it without thinking about it. Not sure if that is the case for all of them, but I hope it is because it's a great teaching opportunity.

#55 4 years ago
Quoted from TRAMD:

I have the pro (never played the premium) and the right ramp sucks on it too. I turned off the Scoleri Brothers because hitting them frequently led to the ball bouncing back OVER the flippers or outlane rails and about 20% of the time a direct and hard hit didn't even drop them. It is way better with them gone. I also got the mod with a center post and outlane blockers. All of this has made it a great game IMO.

The key is to practice not hitting them dead center. I make sure I try to graze them, and that keeps me out of trouble.

#56 4 years ago
Quoted from pinmister:

Ghostbusters can be brutal on location if not set up properly and it can be frustrating for some people.
-Right ramp is easy to hit-no problem
-Magna Slings are best innovation in the last ten years of pinball. Yes they are unpredictable-they are supposed to be random and keep you on your toes. I love the magna slings!
-Scoleri pop-ups are perfectly placed and give the player a true risk vs reward shot
-Wider flipper gap because that is Trudeau's signature and it is on all of his games. Makes the game difficult and unique-you have to adjust your flipper control techniques for wider gap.
-While I do agree that the code needs a final polish, I also have never gotten even close to the wizard mode on this game. It reminds me of the people that complain about unfinished wizard mode code on Wheel of Fortune. I will never get to wizard mode on WOF(and I seriously doubt that anyone would be able to anyway), so it really does not bother me with incomplete code-moot point.
Ghostbusters is a masterpiece and one of the best games made in the last ten years. I am sorry it kicked you in the nuts and you gave up. May try a dialed in one in a home environment, and it also helps to have awesome music and sounds from Cleland's remix.

I second that

#57 4 years ago

Have you tried Blunderturds?

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#58 4 years ago
Quoted from iloveplywood:

To be fair, the OP set a pretty low bar here. We just have to convince him it's not the worst in the modern era (anybody want to start throwing other games under the bus?).

Avengers

#59 4 years ago

no post passing on the premium...the magna slings make it almost impossible.Which adds another level of difficult

#60 4 years ago
Quoted from JodyG:

The key is to practice not hitting them dead center. I make sure I try to graze them, and that keeps me out of trouble.

The key is to have fun and I have more of that with the Scoleri Brothers turned off.

#61 4 years ago

I'd have to say I like GB more than Houdini. That game does nothing for me. The couple gimmicks of Houdini wore off very fast and it just feels like a clunky, dull game. GB is not much better, but the theme is of course its saving grace.

#62 4 years ago

Sounds like the pro is the way to go. I have considered this game but only the premium. After reading this post I will look at the pro as an option

#63 4 years ago
Quoted from beefzap:

Sounds like the pro is the way to go. I have considered this game but only the premium. After reading this post I will look at the pro as an option

In fact, I often wondered why you saw so many premiums for sale and not too many pro machines. Maybe now I know why?

#64 4 years ago
Quoted from beefzap:

Sounds like the pro is the way to go. I have considered this game but only the premium. After reading this post I will look at the pro as an option

Don’t do it. Pro is a no go. Right ramp is a joke

Post passing is there. Magna slings, Slimer mech, subway, hologram etc make premium a NO BRAINER over pro

#65 4 years ago
Quoted from Dr_Gonzo:

My sense of humor when I'm having a good game and get magna drained is zero

When the ghosts are angry, they want to drain your ball. It was intended that way (when they’re lit).

Scoring isn’t unbalanced. Each player has equal ability to exploit “unbalanced” traits.

After almost 3 years (and between 2 machines over 2000 plays), this title still excites me despite a broken final wizard mode, and various bugs in this “finished” code. Dwight is an idiot for claiming this game is finished. I’ll never own another one of his titles.

I’ll just leave this here as a token of my satisfaction with GB

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#66 4 years ago
Quoted from iloveplywood:

To be fair, the OP set a pretty low bar here. We just have to convince him it's not the worst in the modern era (anybody want to start throwing other games under the bus?).

Aerosmith. I hate. Aerosmith.

Dominos, thunderbirds, Jetsons just to name a few.

#67 4 years ago
Quoted from TRAMD:

I have the pro (never played the premium) and the right ramp sucks on it too

It’s really not that difficult of a shot on the PRO. Premium, however, it’s rather brutal. You’ve gotta hit it square or you’ll risk a drain.

#68 4 years ago

Welcome to 2016, Dr. Gonzo.

I almost got run out of here with torches and pitchforks for declaring that this is the worst game ever made in the history of the known universe.

Speaking of torches, I'll pass my torch of being the "GB sucks" guy to you...ENJOY! Wonder if you'll get as many boots 'n bans as I did...lol.

#69 4 years ago

GB makes Avengers seem like a glowing tour de force of pinball.

#70 4 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

Welcome to 2016, Dr. Gonzo.
I almost got run out of here with torches and pitchforks for declaring that this is the worst game ever made in the history of the known universe.
Speaking of torches, I'll pass my torch of being the "GB sucks" guy to you...ENJOY! Wonder if you'll get as many boots 'n bans as I did...lol.

In all fairness, you were a hero at injecting that opinion into every.single.thread. and..... Even after reading them, I still bought and love my LE

#71 4 years ago
Quoted from yzfguy:

In all fairness, you were a hero at injecting that opinion into every.single.thread. and..... Even after reading them, I still bought and love my LE

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#72 4 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

[quoted image]

LOL! Love it.

#73 4 years ago

I have a pro machine and love it. It's definitely challenging and some games are infuriating, but that's what keeps me into it. If it was super easy, it would get old. The challenge keeps me going, and I can't bring myself to add a center post mod to eliminate the flipper gap issues (to a certain degree). I have played a premium GB that is perfectly maintained and was perfectly leveled, and it just wasn't as fun. I found all of the ramps stupidly difficult to hit at times. The ball would roll all the way up, get to the top, and come down. I don't mind that once in a while, but when I'm timing the ball and hitting the ramp consistently and not being rewarded, it's lame. I've never had that issue with any other pin. It was frustrating enough that I refuse to trade my pro to a premium or LE. I may eventually get a LE just to have one as Ghostbusters is my favorite thing, but that's not a certainty. Don't get me wrong, I still think the premium machine is amazing and I'm sure the LE is comparable, but it's definitely understandable reading the comments here.

#74 4 years ago
Quoted from PinDoctor82:

I have a pro machine and love it. It's definitely challenging and some games are infuriating, but that's what keeps me into it. If it was super easy, it would get old. The challenge keeps me going, and I can't bring myself to add a center post mod to eliminate the flipper gap issues (to a certain degree). I have played a premium GB that is perfectly maintained and was perfectly leveled, and it just wasn't as fun. I found all of the ramps stupidly difficult to hit at times. The ball would roll all the way up, get to the top, and come down. I don't mind that once in a while, but when I'm timing the ball and hitting the ramp consistently and not being rewarded, it's lame. I've never had that issue with any other pin. It was frustrating enough that I refuse to trade my pro to a premium or LE. I may eventually get a LE just to have one as Ghostbusters is my favorite thing, but that's not a certainty. Don't get me wrong, I still think the premium machine is amazing and I'm sure the LE is comparable, but it's definitely understandable reading the comments here.

You're welcome to put some time on mine, the only ramp that he's an occasional rollback is the right one.

#75 4 years ago

Was wondering when you were going to chime in!

Ive had both the pro and Prem. Loved the pro so much in the beginning I upgraded to a Prem. Big mistake. The geometry is way off and air balls Galore! Hated it. Glad its gone.

And your reviews are pretty accurate. (Even on other pins like Munsters)

Quoted from Rarehero:

Welcome to 2016, Dr. Gonzo.
I almost got run out of here with torches and pitchforks for declaring that this is the worst game ever made in the history of the known universe.
Speaking of torches, I'll pass my torch of being the "GB sucks" guy to you...ENJOY! Wonder if you'll get as many boots 'n bans as I did...lol.

#76 4 years ago

Hate it! Can’t believe they made such a horrible pin. Anyone looking to unload a premium...let me know. I know any price is good enough to get rid of this turd.

#77 4 years ago

The arguments are so stupid its beyond belief. Yet we see all kinds of "fake pinball news" these days.

Go buy a Family Guy or some other horrible pin.

#78 4 years ago

Striker Extreme is plenty worse than Ghost Busters.

#79 4 years ago
Quoted from fish1975tx:

Striker Extreme is plenty worse than Ghost Busters.

And The HOBBIT is a f ing joke by comparison

#80 4 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

Welcome to 2016, Dr. Gonzo.
I almost got run out of here with torches and pitchforks for declaring that this is the worst game ever made in the history of the known universe.
Speaking of torches, I'll pass my torch of being the "GB sucks" guy to you...ENJOY! Wonder if you'll get as many boots 'n bans as I did...lol.

Ha, just getting caught up. I took a 3 or 4 year break from pinside so I suppose I've missed a lot. I remember you from years ago, even back on KLOV if I'm not mistaken. Unfortunate I missed joining your GB despise. From the comments here maybe I would like the pro better, I haven't had a chance to play it.

#81 4 years ago

Ghostbusters is gawd awful. One of Stern's worst, and the absolute worst waste of a deadly license.

It does win over Avengers though. That game should have every copy thrown off Todd Tuckey's roof.

#82 4 years ago

GB is awesome and final code is coming. The most toys of any machine by far!! Great Artwork etc. Cool shots and slings. The game takes practice and once you get it down it’s a blast!!

#83 4 years ago
Quoted from PinLen83:

When the ghosts are angry, they want to drain your ball. It was intended that way (when they’re lit).
Scoring isn’t unbalanced. Each player has equal ability to exploit “unbalanced” traits.
After almost 3 years (and between 2 machines over 2000 plays), this title still excites me despite a broken final wizard mode, and various bugs in this “finished” code. Dwight is an idiot for claiming this game is finished. I’ll never own another one of his titles.
I’ll just leave this here as a token of my satisfaction with GB[quoted image]

Holy moley! Nice flippin score dude! Impressive!

#84 4 years ago
Quoted from kklank:

Holy moley! Nice flippin score dude! Impressive!

As longs as it's not on a bs 5 ball setup. Lol.

#85 4 years ago
Quoted from calprog:

and final code is coming.

Highly doubtful at this juncture.

#86 4 years ago
Quoted from oldskool1969:

Have you tried Blunderturds?[quoted image]

Apparently it's one step away from perfection and anyone who says otherwise is just jealous.

#87 4 years ago
Quoted from kklank:

As longs as it's not on a bs 5 ball setup. Lol.

No way...3 ball, factory settings. I was able to pull off 19.8B on extra difficult with no mode continuation/timeout allowed, no mode restart.

#88 4 years ago

Ghostbusters is a great game. Just because it's hard doesn't make it a bad design. #PlayBetter.

#89 4 years ago

I have a GBLE, and am interested in WONKA- do I sell GBLE or sell my Spider-Man 2007 version...

GBLE will get me £7500 or SM £4K towards WONKA which is £9500 over here...

Tough choice!

#90 4 years ago

Wide gap flippers are the most idiotic thing I've seen in pinball....ok, apart from the Banana flipper.

But what kills GB for me is the confusing gameplay. I've watched the films, I know the story, but what the hell is going on in the game?

Not a fan of the layout or gameplay but the audio design in fantastic.

Hopefully, we'll get another Ghostbusters in a few decades (as is the tradition in pinball these days) and they'll do it properly next time.

#91 4 years ago

Why have others change your mind? If you hate it, sell it and move on.

#92 4 years ago
Quoted from PinLen83:

Scoring isn’t unbalanced. Each player has equal ability to exploit “unbalanced” traits.

Unbalanced scoring to me means one player can get 500m and another player can get 5b in a similar game doing the same modes, mb, etc. The difference is not necessarily skill but exploiting unbalanced scoring opportunities. Agreed that anyone can learn how to do that and be rewarded with same points. I just don't like games like that where points don't mean much and don't necessarily reflect skill. One example of that is SW where you can get 5% of your score for just plunging the ball. If you have a large score, it can inflate your points with no effort. Anyone can do it but takes the fun out of high scores imo. Another example is the 1 billion shot in BOP. You may have an incredible game and never get that billion shot. Means nothing compared to those that got that one shot.

#93 4 years ago
Quoted from Deez:

Ghostbusters is a great game. Just because it's hard doesn't make it a bad design. #PlayBetter.

It’s literally the worst design. Playing better doesn’t stop the manga-slings from dropping the ball STDM, airballs launching the ball STDM, saucers shooting the ball STDM, balls rolling back on poorly designed ramps, balls hopping the inlane to outlane, balls rattling through the orbit and flinging STDM.

One can’t play better on a game that’s unplayable.

-4
#94 4 years ago
Quoted from Dr_Gonzo:

Ha, just getting caught up. I took a 3 or 4 year break from pinside so I suppose I've missed a lot. I remember you from years ago, even back on KLOV if I'm not mistaken. Unfortunate I missed joining your GB despise. From the comments here maybe I would like the pro better, I haven't had a chance to play it.

Oh that was a long time ago. Is KLOV even active anymore? I haven’t been over there in quite some time. But yeah, you missed the spacial anomaly in the space-time continuoum that happened in 2016 with the release of Goatf****rs. The game was so vile, our very reality was split in two. Goatf****fs is obviously a horrible game in every possible respect, right? We became flooded with doppelgängers from some kind of opposite dimension where shitty games are good, and good games are bad. So, as you can plainly see, this rabbit cult of Goatf****ng enthusiasts is from that other dimension....the worst game ever somehow is absolutely excellent to them. It’s bizarre. Now that you know the truth, welcome to the battle against the Shitty Game Cultists!!!! TO WAAAAAAARRRR!!!!!!

#95 4 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

Oh that was a long time ago. Is KLOV even active anymore? I haven’t been over there in quite some time. But yeah, you missed the spacial anomaly in the space-time continuoum that happened in 2016 with the release of Goatf****rs. The game was so vile, our very reality was split in two. Goatf****fs is obviously a horrible game in every possible respect, right? We became flooded with doppelgängers from some kind of opposite dimension where shitty games are good, and good games are bad. So, as you can plainly see, this rabbit cult of Goatf****ng enthusiasts is from that other dimension....the worst game ever somehow is absolutely excellent to them. It’s bizarre. Now that you know the truth, welcome to the battle against the Shitty Game Cultists!!!! TO WAAAAAAARRRR!!!!!!

funny satire!

#96 4 years ago

Most criticisms of this game are pretty valid. Game CAN be fun if it's setup perfectly (almost NEVER is on location). Art package is still probably my favorite of any modern pin though, so there is that!

Flipper gap still sucks.. and I know this is common with JT games, but for some reason it just hurts more on GB.

#97 4 years ago
Quoted from valgalder:

Flipper gap still sucks.. and I know this is common with JT games, but for some reason it just hurts more on GB.

There are two problems with the gap.

1. It’s wider than Pedojohn’s normal gap. A friend from Stern told me this was a mistake, but was caught too late to change. (There goes the great design theory)

2. Design elements like gaps don’t exist in a vacuum. It has to take into account the rest of the design & the game’s rules. Most of Pedojohn’s earlier games had simple rules and easier layouts...like Congo, for example. Even with the gap, Congo’s not that hard to keep a game going - and even you aren’t good at it, the rules are very simple (collect the diamonds, pretty much). So a a bigger gap on a pin like that is fine. With Goatf****rs’ other punishing design elements & linear multi-mode ruleset, the extra wide gap is just purely poorly planned design. On top of that - once Dwight knew how the game played, he should have designed the rules to work better with a brutal gameplay design. He didn’t, and unfortunately that made the game worse.

#98 4 years ago

And modes are boring as hell with unimaginative use of theme and playfield

#99 4 years ago

I'm aware of the carrot flipper mod, but I'm wondering how much a slightly longer flipper would alter the shot geometry. Another reason for the brutality is the angle of the slingshots. They are steeper than usual, which leads so some for power drains in the out lanes.

#100 4 years ago
Quoted from CrazyLevi:

On the plus side it has a dumb video mode that can give a player 75 million in three skills shots.
Which is about 3X what you'll get during the dumb main multiball.
Besides the terrible layout and dumb pop up drop targets that block every important shot in the game and can't timed out, the code is a hot mess. Loopin' Supers would be fun, except it always happens during multiball or some other distracting mode and you can't focus on loopin'. The multiball sucks with no clear objective other than flail mindlessly and collect your 25 million points (It's ALWAYS 25 million points). A couple of the modes are ok but god forbid your Scoleris pop up as you may as well just drain and save yourself the trouble.
Man that game sucks. And I know you guys want your code update (because you mention it every 10 minutes) but adding what is sure to be another dumb wizard mode into the mix isn't going to fix this game. Given how distasteful finishing up Truedau's "masterpiece" must seem to anybody who works at Stern, you guys should probably just stop asking as nobody is going to put any real heart and soul into polishing up a horrible person's legacy. I'm sure nobody over there wants to work on it which is why it's been so long.

Holy S*** when you said Truedau was a horrible person i googled to see why you would say that .
Is it true what they say about him? If so what a POS , to think I almost bought a Congo with a Signed Truedau translite..

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