Harley Davidson
Stern, 1999
Space Shuttle
Williams, 1984
TX-Sector
Gottlieb, 1988Which game has your favorite set of pop bumpers?
My Space Shuttle sometimes can get a ball bouncing back and forth between a pop and the side rubber for almost 6 seconds and it's thrilling.
Then, I went out to play some pinball locally this week and fell in love with the set on Stern Harley Davidson 2nd Edition. The way they simulate road bumps after the plunge. Just a cool entry to the playfield.
Before these two games, I hadn't really paid attention to pops.
Quoted from KozMckPinball:Stern Kiss and AP Houdini, because of the sound affects.
Yes! I'd forgotten about Houdini. Those are unique.
Quoted from WeLoveScott:My Space Shuttle sometimes can get a ball bouncing back and forth between a pop and the side rubber for almost 6 seconds and it's thrilling.
The cool part of this is it also allows for the ball to enter the the U-S-A lanes to up your bonus X pretty quickly. I love the countdown when there is a really big bonus.
X-Files has a great booming sound effect on the pops, and adding a subwoofer, took it to the next level. Then when they're lit add in the fireworks on the DMD and additional sounds, I never get tired of them, always fun.
The Shadow, because there aren't any!
Anything with a shot through the pops is good stuff, makes them feel useful. I am not a fan of the three pop cluster at the top of a game -- it feels like leftovers.
When was the last time you shot for super pops other than as a place to safely stick the ball during multiball? Am I doing It wrong?
I can't stand that most pops are clustered away and segmented from the rest of the game in almost every modern game. What's the point? I love when a game has a dangerous pop bumper that's a hazard, and is to be avoided. TZ is one of those games, but it's hard for me to come up with many others off the top of my head, so I'll be watching this closely.
TNA has a single pop, and it's exposed to make things dangerous. Even more interesting is that it's also a target! You actually have to AIM at the pop bumper to destroy a reactor. Very cool.
XM has a cluster that you shoot through, which is satisfying. It is mostly segmented, though one half of a bumper is exposed to the rest of the playfield, but usually doesn't cause much disturbance.
Flash has exposed bumpers, but they're far enough up the playfield that they aren't extremely difficult to recover from.
Quoted from Ronnie1114:Any classic Stern... The bumpers are always there to help you, not to punish you!
Don't be too sure.
Quoted from Deaconblooze:I can't stand that most pops are clustered away and segmented from the rest of the game in almost every modern game. What's the point? I love when a game has a dangerous pop bumper that's a hazard, and is to be avoided. TZ is one of those games, but it's hard for me to come up with many others off the top of my head, so I'll be watching this closely.
TNA has a single pop, and it's exposed to make things dangerous. Even more interesting is that it's also a target! You actually have to AIM at the pop bumper to destroy a reactor. Very cool.
XM has a cluster that you shoot through, which is satisfying. It is mostly segmented, though one half of a bumper is exposed to the rest of the playfield, but usually doesn't cause much disturbance.
Flash has exposed bumpers, but they're far enough up the playfield that they aren't extremely difficult to recover from.
Andromeda's pop can really piss a guy off. It can be countered somewhat by holding the left flipper up, but it will still get you at times.
I loved Andromeda the few times I had a chance to play one. If it were more attainable, I would be all over it.
This may sound odd, but I always felt the Stern Electronics popbumpers had a special 'feel' to them, which I like very much. They feel great and the action is not as meh as they are these days.
I also prefer popbumpers that aren't locked in, so they can add randomness to the game. Some may feel it's not fair if a popbumper is able to send the ball straight into an outlane, but I think it's a great equalizer, adding a bit more luck-factor to the game.
Quoted from unigroove:This may sound odd, but I always felt the Stern Electronics popbumpers had a special 'feel' to them, which I like very much. They feel great and the action is not as meh as they are these days.
I also prefer popbumpers that aren't locked in, so they can add randomness to the game. Some may feel it's not fair if a popbumper is able to send the ball straight into an outlane, but I think it's a great equalizer, adding a bit more luck-factor to the game.
I agree, the classic Stern pop bumpers with their plastic rod/ring have more snap in their action.
And an open pop bumper nest definitely adds more excitement to the game.
I like the violent pops on my Interflip Dragon, but this one was recently unboxed so stronger than most I guess.
I've always been a fan of the pop bumpers on Firepower. Normally a 4-pop set would seem excessive to me, but the ball gets a lot of action, it really involves the lane-change feature as the ball feeding back into the top lanes is highly likely, and it is a nice reprieve from the dangerous lower playfield.
For me, TX-Sector's cluster of 3 clearly wins this one. For one, they're nice and lively. Also, you can actually win something important from a bounce off of them (mega level advance).
However, the single most important reason: the wicked distorted random sound bites that accompany them. They just sound *so* deeply awesome.
And, the icing on the cake: every once in a long while, as one of the random pop bumper sound bites, there's a clear voice that whispers "I'm here!" at you. Which is just too freakin' spooky.
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