Got to play a few hours of the new code, and I also got to enjoy some of the added content.
First... I have yet to hit either the skill shot or the back door shot. Don't know how... So I give up trying really... Any pointers would be great. But, for the plunge I've hit it so many different ways. I'm thinking my machine must have something a bit off about it.
Now on to my feelings about the changes:
They also changed how playfield validation starts. So I can no longer do my sneaky soft plunge strategy to pick off the drop target lock safely... Bit of a bummer, but I understand why it was fixed. Just means got to find another exploit.
There are a good bit of new callouts peppered in and those are good. I was able to play 2 player against my father and hear some of those.. .Nothing great for the 2 player callouts, but nice that they are there.
Its great to finally be able to complete the manster. I think overall its probably about a middle level to lower high level difficulty to complete. Mainly because of the shear amount of shots you need to complete the mode.
The mode that really feels the most like they shortened it was Teenagers from Outer Space. Otherwise they all seemed mostly about the same amount of shots to complete.
I did notice a glitch in teenagers that I think will get fixed during the next update. Once the lobster monster is triggered. You no longer have to hit and register the right orbit switch to validate the shot. Now you just need to hit the spinner and it then primes the final shot of the mode. This makes teenagers super easy and by far the easiest mode to complete in the game. So I'm not certain if that will remain or if they will fix... But, I like that you just need the spinner... Makes it easier. and I'm all for that.
I finally got to Santa Claus vs the martians. Really like the singing intro video by Elvira. Thought it was a nice change of pace and a good one. And I only got to the mode 3 times so far and two of the times I drained out basically right away. But, I did complete it one of the times. And I really enjoyed the completion video. So far I think Santa Claus might be the most unique modes of the game.. .So far...
And lastly I have to walk back my comments on being bummed out that you can't stack multiballs anymore.
While you can't get the super huge points from all the balls on the playfield and the 4x and all the stuff going on that could be stacked... I think this change makes the game more fun. You have more control and it isn't as much of just lucky bounces. You really get the feel for how different the MBs are now and so for shear fun factor it makes the game so much better. And again it can help you reach house party quicker if you space out your MBs across the modes.
And I also of course like the extra ball with the deadheads... Provided the deadhead vuk doesn't just drain your ball for you.. .Which it does about 1/5 of the time for me. I think they need a ball saver for when it launches. I shouldn't get penalized for making that shot only for it to get launched directly into the left outlane.
That's it for now... I do have some comments about the modes in general that I'd love to talk and discuss strategies with you all about. But, I'll save those for another post. Fun, fun, game.