Both are nice. Both are widebodys. Both are fast but DM is faster. Both have a ton of ramp shots.

I give the edge (and that's why I bought it) to JD.

Ton's of modes! Fantastic Art! One of the best translites ever IMHO. Four flippers, great sound, and entertaining call outs and animations. Quite possibly the coolest ball lock in pinball (with the deadworld mod installed).

It can be brutal though..........but keeps you coming back for more punishment.

DM is still on my want list but there are a couple others I think I want first......JM, Congo, EATPM.

I have owned both and find the flow on DM much smoother which is why I want one back in my collection. It would be a tough choice as I find there is more to do and shoot for on JD and I love the artwork, music, dots and call outs on it very much. It has wire form on top of wire form on top of wire forms, big ramps, neat captive balls and everything but the kitchen sink if you ask me.

In a perfect world I would always have space for a DM, JD and JM which are some of the best bang for buck pins I have ever owned and would not hesitate to own again for the right price and if I have the space for them. With the new rules and code someone on here wrote for DM makes me want one back even more

Does the JD you are looking at have the eagle topper and deadworld mod installed? Also price so we can help you make a better decision or opinion as well.

Can't speak for DM - but JD is an under-rated game. Great art/programing and the game play is really unique. No two games feel the same.

They are about equal...except the art on JD is better, so it just edges DM out.

Gotta go with JD on this one. Even though DM is a better flowing game, I love everything else more on JD.

Had both. I prefer the layout and modes of Judge by a wide margin.

JD. It is extremely difficult and keeps you playing game after game. I do not see myself tiring of this game anytime soon. But I must admit, I have not played DM.

Road Show.

JD better art, probably a better theme, but has much shorter ball times vs DM. I think DM has better flow.

Someone else described them as both being "fast", and I would have to disagree with that. If you want fast, you do not want a wide body, and these two are no different.

Don't know much aboot DM but yeah I wouldn't call JD "Fast."

Nice flow on DM. I mostly love it for the combo possibilities.

JD feels awkward. Not into the PF layout.

DM is a combo extravaganza!

I recently went through the same decision and went with DM. I really like the flow and the combos.

I have played a lot of both games and I like both games, but I voted with my wallet. JD by a large margin. Both have great flow and have ok at best themes. JD stands out though because it has so much more depth than DM. There are a million things going on in JD and DM is really just shoot left ramp, then shoot right ramp and choose lock freeze to start multiball over and over.

I picked up JD about three weeks ago, hella fun and it woops my ass every time. Super Game is also great if you are feeling flipper happy.

Agreed. I have RS, JD, and DM in my basement right now, and while I love all three RS is in a class of its own.

If between JD and DM I'll give the edge to JD. DM has better flow and multiball, but the retina scan and car crash totally dominate the left side of the playfield. This gives JD the edge in shot selection. In DM you can almost ignore the modes and focus only on multiball. DM is faster, and if you love combos you will find them here. It is a very good game that falls a little short of being great.

JD is deeper. However, it is not that much more difficult to get to the Ultimate Challenge in JD than it is to get to Demo Time in DM. JD's modes are pretty diverse and really reward you for making the designated shots. Picking and completing the right modes and using the double bonus by hitting the 3 captive balls twice is the key to putting up a monster score in JD. JD's flow is harder to find, but when you do it feels really nice. When you don't it is a beast with a mile wide gap between the flippers. The multiball in JD is kind of a mess since there are so many balls on a slightly busy playfield, but you can sometimes find a rhythm. There is a method to playing the upper right mini flipper. When you flub those shots up there it is usually killer. Can't go wrong with either game though. If you can get both I think they are a nice compliment to each other.

I have both. Jd is harder. Dm flows better and I think its fast. The artwork is better on jd, but dm growes on you as 90's campy fun. Both have excellent music - jd with the hard rock, and dm with the classical score. Both have poor wizards modes and I like dm multiballs better. Jd has some very funny modes and is full of dark humor

For the price they go for buy both

Have owned both JD and DM. DM is still here, and JD is long gone. For flow and satisfying ramp shots, DM wins hands down. The crane is a cool feature/toy, and with JD the only toy that rivals the crane needs a mod to work the way the game was designed. Not too mention the cool trigger handles DM has as well.

Yes, JD has better artwork by a mile but DM is a much better game. One of Nordman's best!

I just bought JD so I feel like I have to vote for JD

They occupy an almost exact same spot for me...

DM has flow like crazy, great sound, but the rules suck. Having said that, I can play it and forget about the rules and just enjoy the shots, something I can't do with just about anything else.

JD has a decent amount of flow, although less of it. If you don't set it up right, it can be easy. Set it up difficult though, and it is an awesome game.

Depending on when I'm asked, I might pick a different game. I got these both at about the same time, and neither will leave any time soon. Today, I'll give the nudge to JD for the better ruleset.

Oh, and I don't know how Road Show got brought into this, but I *hate* that game. I wish I liked it - my son LOVES construction equipment, so the theme would be perfect - but I dislike everything about that one.

I'm totally bias since RS is my #1, but I think it is a way undervalued machine. I can't understand how TZ is valued at twice the value of RS.

The major knocks against RS are the theme and the linear gameplay. I'm no fan of country music, but I think the theme in RS is actually pulled off quite nicely, and the modes work in perfect with it. As far as being too linear I think that it gives you a good feeling of progress when you start to see the western cities pop up more and more often as you get better at the game. If you can find one you should at least give it a look. The gameplay is great and it keeps me coming back. RS seems to be one that takes a while to grow on people, but once they get into it they are hooked. Actually it took me a minute to get into JD as well, but I'm glad I held out. RS is more expensive and seems to be creeping up in price, but I can find more in it than most games that sell for twice as much.

It's called a thread jack. I jack threads, it's what i do.

I apologize for that. I thought i would open that bag of worms because i thought it is was a good alternative if one was looking for a wide body in that same general price range. It also has a non conventional playfield layout and is quite fun. I hate country music but love that game. I question why i ever give good reviews/recommendations on games i like because it makes it slightly harder for me to find one.

If he wants an on topic answer, JD wins by a landslide for me.

Edit: It's *dredd* not *dread*. I only mention that if you are doing a search, not to be a dic*.

and more importantly... Why do these two games always get compared to each other? Is it the erroneous Sylvester Stallone factor? I guess that weighed into me thread-jacking as those two games have as much in common as the third (more highly rated) game i mentioned.

Just looked at your whishlist and if you are looking for challenge get BSD. I paid 1500 for my BSD and I bought my JD for the same. BSD is brutally hard compared to JD and I've only played my JD once at the guys house before I took it home. The only thing that seemed kinda unfair was if you didn't hit the ball with the mini flipper after a left orbit/loop it had a tendency to fly straight into the left outlane. Otherwise it didn't seem to drainy and the ball times were pretty decent. I haven't had a chance to dial my JD in though, it might not be steep enough.

Similar price, similar age, both widebodies, and both Stallone!

In the world of flow, JD has more than most other games. I haven't played DM much but if it's got more flow than JD, holy moly that's a lot of flow.

I think JD is a better theme, and it's a very hard game - it plays like a Steve Ritchie design.

I will dispute that claim...its one of the easier games I have with standard settings and pitch. I get to the wiz mode fairly frequently either through the modes or the smaller one through the multiball. I do love the multiball on that game though, especially because there is ONE jackpot shot that needs collected and re-lit multiple times. I do not care for the light every shot for jackpot multiballs that seem to be on every new game these days.

I don't know about your game but mine is not that easy. Maybe you have your flippers perfect or even overpowered, but on my game (which is probably more average) it takes a really solid shot to make it up the left and right ramps - anything that isn't dead on with enough momentum can come back and drain.

Hmmm, I haven't noticed any problems with hitting the left or right ramps...and if it does come back from the ramps it certainly doesn't drain. I find the left orbit really tough to hit and if you don't flip with the mini-flipper after that orbit it will likely drain though.

Yeah, DM is definitely not a hard pin. I was to the wizard mode within a week of owning it. Got Demolition Jackpot and all that good stuff. I don't have any problems making it up either ramp.

Incorrect, JD has absolutely nothing to do with Stallone or his campy movie. This one is all about the comic.

Yeah yeah...true, but that drawing on the backglass looks amazingly like Stallone.

I have all 3...JD, DM and JM. Even though I just got DM (and I like it very much), if you have to go with only one then it has to be JD. I must admit though the 3 of them together is an awesome trifecta of pinball! The 3 of them should be a lot more expensive if you ask me, so it's great that they're very affordable still. IMO, JM is incredible and probably better than JD and DM.......Good luck either way, it's a win win.

ohh..I forgot to add JD is a maintenance nightmare..the optos, crane and the gearbox...pfft.

I own both, they are my 2 favorite super games.
I don't care for IJ, TZ is ok & PSTP is a toilet of a machine to me.

Judge Dredd is like a bad ass baja buggy ride of a game.
Demolition Man is like a bad ass motorcycle ride of a game.

I enjoy both rides, they're both on route and I won't be getting ride of them haha.

I've had ZERO major mechanical problems with either game.

RS has always been more expensive than the other two. A few years ago, RS was one of the weird games that kept getting cheaper and cheaper while everything else kept staying basically the same. Now, it seems to have regained the price it was before it was getting cheaper and is still probably $500-$700 more than JD and DM.

I'm glad that you like it, but for me RS is one of those games that just goes on forever. I thought I'd love it because it does have an unconventional playfield, and I don't mind the linear gameplay, but yeech, not for me. Everyone's tastes are different though (see me: loving VND), so if you like it, awesome!

As for why these two always get compared, it's because they have consistently fallen in about the same price range for the past 15 or so years now, they are both widebodies, and they came out at a similar time. One difference though that I find interesting, at least "back in the day", JD earned nothing on route while DM earned really solidly. I think it has to do with the gimmick of the handles. In fact, I still know of a couple DMs on route in the area, while JDs are almost never out there. I think it is a testament to how good JD is (at least in a home environment) that it commands the same as DM does.

Having just sold a JD and almost buying a DM, I'm totally understanding of your dilemma. I don't think you can go wrong with either title. Dredd indeed does seem to have everything but the kitchen sink, and Demo Man is a combo monster.

My best recommendation to you is to try and play both and see which one trips your trigger.

Good luck!

Later,
EV

I own a DM and have done for about 6 months. It is has a very simple set of rules and once you get the flow of the ramps is quite easy to rack up some huge scores simply by taking multiballs whenever you have the chance of a Claw award.
I am about to swap it for NF for a 3 month period purely because although it becomes a little samey (I only currently have space for 1 machine) played over and over I don't think i coulkd bear to lose it forever as it is just so much fun.
As for JD I recall playing it when it was first out on site and cannot recall being that overly impressed with it, however everyone I have contacted to try and swap my DM for their JD on a temporary basis have stuck with their JD. So maybe that says something?

$500-700 is the same "general" price range to me, Dan. I will grudgingly agree with your price comparison and just flat out state RS is that much better that it is rightfully worth the extra investment.

I've actually played my JD now and its awesome. The upper left flipper has a loop shot, ramp shot and the 3 bank. The upper right flipper has a loop, ramp, sniper tower and you can even hit the jackpot shot from that thing! Pursuit is one of the best modes I've played in any game. Its awesome you wont be disappointed!

I would have to say JD the game is absolutely amazing. It has so much to shoot for and the artwork and sound on it are hard to compete with. I purchased one over a year ago and it will never leave my collection.

Hmm, seriously?

I've owned them both and consider DM a far superior game.

If it had a better theme I don't see why DM wouldn't be a top 10 pin.

i cant believe JD is ahead in the poll, maybe because of a better theme, but DM is my fav by far!

i actually like the DM theme.../runs and hides