THEME: I love Houdini. As an amateur magician and magic historian, I thought they did the theme justice. If any game is a "world under glass" Houdini is right there with the stage mech, pop-bumper lock and chains, the milk can catapult, a magic shop, magnetic magic hands, incorporating Houdini's silent movies and metamorphosis chest. Add in his famous illusions, escapes, exposing fake-Mediums and I think Houdini (the machine) has captured the many dimensions of the man.

TOYS: Give AP credit for some trying some new things (or at least improving on old ideas). The catapult into the chest goes way beyond what anyone else has done in terms of pitching a ball into another mech. The API Theater bash toy/mech is not the most exciting mech ever created but it ties into the theme well and is more interesting than many recent Stern mechs. The use of magnets under Houdini's hands is absolutely brilliant.

MUSIC: The music by video game veteran Matt Kern is fantastic. Absolutely A+++. Composition and production quality is top notch. Here is a refresher

https://soundcloud.com/matt_kern/houdini-1-1?in=matt_kern/sets/music-2018

CALLOUTS: are OK. The primary voice actor did a great job and used the only recording of Houdini to mimic his vocal style. The narrator does a good job as well. The other callouts are not great but not terrible.

ANIMATIONS: First the bad... shitty, lame graphics that looked horribly dated. Fonts are terrible. The good... through these rather lame animations, Houdini does a great job of making the modes seem like you are doing something. They tie the shots to executing the illusion or the working through an escape... and that part is very well done. I'm hoping API gets the message on just how poor the finished animations are instead of being defense about it.

GEOMETRY: It certainly isn't the most wide open game but there are hard, tight shots on almost every game worth owning. I love the layout.

ART: Stunning, absolutely stunning. The detail on the backglass and playfield is amazing. I love the Houdini eyes.

LIGHTSHOW: Excellent and getting better with each release. I also think Houdini has one of the best modes in pinball... The Man From Beyond. Freaking crazy mode in a dark room.

BEST use of a small LCD screen on any playfield in my opinion... tells you how much time you have left, what to shoot for and provides mode selection without having to take your eyes off the playfield.