Tough call

Both great games

Both excellent games.

Flash Gordon is truly unforgiving. Every missed shot is deadly. There is a nice tutorial with Bowen Kerins on this game.
Main difference is the presence of a two-level PF on Flash Gordon.
As the two early SS games you currently own do not have one, I would suggest Flash Gordon over 8BD.

Both are great Ballys. I prefer EB. I love the layout and ruleset where you build up bonus. The better you do early the better your game will be. Both have inline drops but I like that you have to earn the EB away from the drops in EBD.

FG is tough but the more I play, the better I get at managing the drains (still not that good though).

FG does have the multi level and building bonus multipliers all over the layout.

Both are great. Tough choice but once you mke it, you will be happy either way. You can always add the other later.

Have both love both. I don't think I could part with either. For what's it's worth I play ebd more.

EBD would be my choice. I have owned and sold both, but I only repurchased EBD.

Guests always like EBD, they never liked FG.

What I ended up disliking about FG was both good and bad play could be rewarded or punished. A good game seemed to be often by chance, which I do not enjoy.

EBD is just one of the great titles in pinball that everyone should try owning at least once.

I would give the slight edge to EBD, but you can't go wrong with either. FG is more brutal IMO. Luckily they made a good number of both. Good luck

If your a player that like to be challenged then go with FG.
As most have said it is brutal at times, but when you have that game that you light it up, it's sweet.

owned EBD. loved it. would own FG for the right price. More to do on FG but i think EBD has more appeal in both a large and small collection.
thanks
blake

Medusa - is the best solo-player
EBD - this is the best multiplayer
Flash Gordon - best noise maker

I want a Medusa now that I've had a chance to really play one. I actually like Medusa over EBD. However, FG still wins the day. You should add a poll here, just for giggles.

EBD = drops all day but no spinners. Bonus up is great to go for but you've got that on FG as well. Medusa is a lot harder to find than EBD or FG though.

FG = two levels of playfield with several shots from the upper flipper and lower flippers, three drops locations including inlines for bonus, two spinners and a bi-directional kicker. EBD is a great game, but FG requires a lot more making of shots to really get it going.

Eight ball deluxe, a great fun game

Flash Gordon, you have to nudge the ball when it is on the upper playfield. This game tests your skills

Both are hard to find. Just keep a look out for both titles and buy the first one you find

I agree with this. When I owned FG nobody played it due to short ball times. For the casual player EBD has more appeal. However if you are looking for a game to make you a better player go with FG. I don't think you can go wrong with either game though.

Tough call for sure
Ebd is a great fun easy to learn playing game
Fg is tough deeper and to a average player may not be as fun
For myself I prefer fg to gain skill

Both great - I say ,as long as you are leaning towards FG, go ahead and grab it.

FG is brutal and can bring you tears. Great layout and rewarding to have a good game. Really fun to like rip the spinner. Lots of sounds.

EBD smash drop targets all day and try to light DELUXE in a single game.

Flash Gordon, till the cows come home. EBD is widely overrated in my opinion, it's like comparing the Mona Lisa to a crayon drawing your cousin's child made.

download (10) (resized).jpg

This is probably troll-bait but numbers don't lie. There's a reason 8BD sold as many units as it did and was still in arcades when all others had turned into alpha-numerics and DMDs, and it wasn't because it was overrated.

Think Flash Gordon has the edge for its design. Such a fun game for its time. I do love me some EBD but I think FG wins. Ming-ya!

This "vs" is less about which game is "better" and more about the skill of the player. A novice to average street player I think will enjoy 8BD much more, since it has a more forgiving playfield with more long shots that are easier to react to if you miss. FG is pinball masochism. It will slap you around and laugh at you...literally. With the playfield cut in half and all those barriers and ramps in the way you are having to react to misses in a split second. While advanced players love that challenge, most other players, and certainly casual players will find the game utterly frustrating.

So play the 8BD until you build up a skill set, then try to apply them to FG and see how it will break you!

So either game would be best depending on the circumstances.

IMO!

That's a pretty spot on statement.

I also agree ...but then again...much of your collection is where I want to be in the next couple years

Medusa, EBD, and Flash Gordon are my faves from the Class of '81.

Long-term... would pick EBD but just barely.

I have Flash Gordon, Eight Ball Deluxe, and Medusa. If I got offered good money I'd sell Medusa or EBD. Only way I'd sell Flash Gordon would be to get a better one.

Have both. Neither is going anywhere. I'd recommend that you get both. They are both very different games of the same vintage and while they both have the Bally feel, they are nearly polar opposites as far as a pinball experience is to be had.

Enjoy the journey!

C2S

Can I ask why are you only looking at EBD and Flash Gordon?
Why limit yourself to (1981) Bally single ball? Why not a (Stern, Gottlieb, or Williams?) (multiball?)
-mof

Well said

I have both Flash Gordon (my favorite Bally) and Eight Ball Deluxe (my wife's favorite Bally).

Hope that helps! ;-p

...because "standards" man! Multiball is just a crutch for otherwise lame gameplay!

Seriously though, there is something to be said for a game that only needs one ball to get the job done.

None of my Ballys have multiball. I dunno, I've never once missed it, that's not really the point of these games.

Though, to be fair, I'd still like to try owning a Centaur one of these days.

My Fathom has a 3-ball multiball! Pretty fun, but my single ball Flash Gordon is king of my Bally collection!

Same here, but I also enjoy my vector it has 3 ball

Get em both. Forget about the discussion. There both great.

These are my two favorite early Bally solid states. I own both, and they're both fantastic!

The poster above that said that shotmaking in EBD is more friendly to the novice player is spot on. The rules in EBD are also slightly easier to understand, at least at the most basic level. "It's just like playing 8-ball!"

Bad shots (and even sometimes good ones!) on FG are punished. However, it is so rewarding to pick up the super bonuses, or the bonus collect with the playfield multipler!

You can't go wrong.

Agree if you can get both, do it.

Funny thing is, you do all that work and multi-ball is gone most times almost instantly.... that being said, I still chase it.

"Ahhhh"

Brilliant Solution.
-mof

Eight Ball Deluxe is the most sought-after Bally SS pin ever produced (and for good reason).

cody_chunn nailed it perfectly. Nothing more to say.

If I had a warehouse full of EBD pinball machines and another warehouse full of Flash Gordon pinball machines in equal condition, I could sell the entire warehouse of EBD (and still have people asking if I had any more to sell) long before finally getting rid of the Flash Gordons.

Nothing more to say.

So glad I will have both....so no issue for me

Your biased and "chet" has you under a spell!!

EBD is a great game.
FG is a great game (and a bitch).

You don't need to go any farther than that. Get one of them, and if you don't like it, flip it for the other one.

However I will say that FG takes a bit more time to really feel the love. So if you get it and hate it, give it more time before pushing it out. The game can be a bear, but the rewards are there once you get the game.

Don't get rid of until you get to hammer the lit spinners! And light 5X! And then collect 5X Bonus on the ramp-around to the plunger! And...!...