Quoted from pezpunk:In my dumb old opinion, B/W games have better layouts and more fun and elaborate playfields, but the modern Sterns have better rulesets (eventually, anyway!)
Stern will never build anything as mechanically complicated as STTNG or Rudy on Funhouse (or MM's castle for that matter) and while I'm sure this makes them much more reliable and affordable, it is still a compromise. Not bashing Stern, I love their games and hope to own one someday. But the classics are classics for a reason too.
I agree with your assessment. I would love to see some rule rewrites that could be purchased. Kickstarter/PPS/PROC I don't care how. But imagine the amazing layout and toys of TOM with an updated deep ruleset. Think of RS and JD with an updated ruleset and they would blow away the competition. Hats off to Lyman and Keith for being such amazing coders!