Put a Pinball Pro kit on it and it totally rocks.

creature from the black lagoon. i love the theme,the art on the translight,cab and play field are fantastic.the game play leaves me bored. afm,awesome game,well worth the hype. cv i agree also. cactus canyon,i find it fun but no where worth what it is selling for imo. mm,great game and a ton of fun.way too pricy for me. tron,its fun and verry pretty. ac/dc,WOW! now that's a game. williams indy,great use of the theme and fun game. same goes for star trek. king pin i liked as well.
af i love the game. tz,it bores me. i love the theme but i must be missing something or i just have not played it enough to flesh out the cool stuff. i really liked pirates,i also really liked mousing around.i played it last year also and i would love to find one. another older game i really enjoyed playing was black piramid. did you get to play spirit? fun game and amazing art package.

Honestly, I think it's difficult to really decide if the hype / no hype train is right after a game or two. For these, I think these are more like your first impressions -- not bad at all to do, but I don't know if it's really possible to decide if you love a game after just a few plays on it.

And... it's really all personal taste. My top games that I own are Viper freaking Night Drivin' and Jurassic Park. I had and sold a TZ and just can't get into it. I own very few of the so called A titles, not from lack of availability or money, but instead due to lack of interest by me. The only more expensive game I would have liked to have added was MM, but I had chances to buy them a few years ago for under $5k (and in one case, under $4k) and I never did because I don't like MM *more* than other, cheaper titles.

I guess I'll toss in some anyway though

- I like Tommy a lot less than I thought that I would. I keep flirting with the idea of selling it, but I don't think I will, at least not just yet.
- I like the Rolling Stones more than just about everyone else online, and I don't get what people don't like about it. And I'm not a Stones fan at all.
- I like Williams Indiana Jones less than Stern Indiana Jones, which goes against a lot of people. The Williams one looks great, but has WAY too many video modes. The Stern one on route is like a magnet to me, and I'll play it seemingly above anything else, even though I generally like the other games more.
- If Viper Night Drivin' has any hype, it's because of me, and I'm the only guy who thinks it lives up to it

CV and AF are the only one on your list that I don't think is worthy of the hype. I've played CV a ton and I just don't see it. I'm not trying to act all, "I could wizard it, easy, chumps!" but it's pretty short. In the last 6 months or so of playing it at league, I haven't discovered anything in the gameplay that makes me look forward to playing it.

AF is still good (def like it better than CV). Gets the same hype as TZ, but TZ blows it out of the water IMO. TZ just has so much interesting stuff going on, where AF can get repetitive even when going for Mansion.

MM suffers from $$$ hype. Good game on its own, but $$$ always becomes a topic of conversation with this one...and I (at least before the pinball bubble) could name 2-3 other games I'd rather own for the same price that were as good or better than MM. AFM use to be one of those 2-3...but someone finally listened and made AFM expensive.

Just out of curiosity, how are you able to formulate comments/observations with such confidence about how deep or shallow the rule sets may be with such little time spread out across so many different machines?

Perhaps I am just slower on the uptake than many when it comes to these machines (certainly possible), but learning the rules for new pins is not exactly easy . . . in fact, I owned my DW for (literally) a decade before I learned all the rules for it and even then I only learned them all from reading them on the internet.

LOL, looks like we were thinking the exact same thing. There are known knows, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. If you are playing so many different pins in the same day . . . you don't know what you don't know about all the machines . . .

I agree,
It's hard to really get a good feel for any one machine when you are in a expo setting. So many external variables to deal with too. (noise, distractions, etc...) Having a level pin is really hard to come by for some strange reason! The music (to me) plays a BIG part in what makes a good machine great. You don't usually get to hear the full range when playing amongst 100's of others. So unfortunately, you kind of have to just rely on the light show and layout during those situations.
At least you had fun!
CAX is coming up pretty soon so I'd definitely recommend going to that as well SMT.
It has the best of both worlds!

afm worthy of all the hype, new color dmd cool, shaker motor a must...totan and cv great games and I think best over all look

CV has got to be one of the biggest "meh" bombs I have ever seen.

I'll second this. A full speaker replacement kit and it does sound really good.

Of course you can SMT! That's what the Pinside "Top 100" is all about!

+1
Since everyone that owns one is freaking out over repro MM's (REALLY?) or repro parts, it explains why MM is overhyped. Glad TRON LE is #1 now.

Look, I'll just say it. MM is a BEAUTIFUL game and very fun, but starting to now approach $15k asking prices...? It was $12k two months ago, and we are looking at prices starting to get to $15k in 2 months flat...? The talk behind the game is outstanding, but not the crazy KIZZAH (cash) it's demanding. I'll buy a TAF, XF, RFM, and BSD and STILL have nearly $5800 to play with....

AFM is another game is GREAT and fun - do not get me wrong. I ADORED this game in 1996, and up to 2009, I wanted one badly. Now I work for WPAFB and make decent money....BUT... Prices starting to creep into the $8k's...? Project AFMs are $6k...? Routed ones are $5900...? 3 years ago this game was $2500....and now PROJECT AFM's are almost double that....? Some people are getting WAY too caught up in the hype....Bottom line on AFM: worth the hype but not the price.

So for all that whining I just did: 2 of 2 were worth the hype.

Except TAF won Pin machine of the year, like 5 times in a row, out-earned TZ by miles, and is still on route earning money today for operators (20 years later).

Best selling pin ever made, for a reason.

TZ - so much fun, so deep, such great replay value, totally lives up to the hype
MM - Another deep game with lots to do, totally lives up to the hype
CV - Fun, artsy, lots to do

Big bang bar - Fun, great concepts, not sure if it's worth the asking price

Cactus canyon - totally don't get, do not understand the hype other than maybe being rare?

No, I love this title too for some stupid reason. Remember playing it at theaters, love the glowing ceramic balls, the car racing theme, the little roadkill guys, plus I'm a sucker for SEGA/data east pins

I own a CV and the game needs to be set up hard or you'll feel like you are kicking its ass. I have the home roms and with the difficulty level I have mine at I feel like I have only scratched the surface. The game is a MB stacker and until you stack 5 or more I don't think someone can can it shallow.

TAF is simply a fun pin and that is what it is all about. It was my first and I hope to have one again.

TZ is a classic but a bore, sorry PL.

AFM is the fun of TAF on speed. My favorite.

TroLE- meh, I don't get it. Played one at Allentown and didn't care for it. Pretty ramps don't make a pin.

SC- under appreciated but easily top 5 IMO. People that call it a flail fest need to practice.

BSD- believe the hype.

MM- worth 15k? If I had the coin for one yes.

SM- fun but repetitive and too many MBs.

CFTBL- meh

I500- fun

........

Prices are getting ridiculous with this title but those prices are for top end machines. I just bought one for way less than that, they can be had still.

Thanks for the nice write-ups.

Considering the time you put into writing your reviews, I'd encourage you to rate each of these machines on Pinside as well.

All recent concerns about the Top 100 ratings aside, I'm sure future pinsiders will appreciate your ratings.

Thanks!

Judging by all the comments I have to belive the bubble will burst for AFM and MM. Otherwise who is buying them? Not us on this site, most of us may not have or are not willing to spend that on MM.

Aside from the clunkers like Popye and other themes to CFTBL looks so inviting but leaves me bored. I am still on the fence with TOM. I like CV more than TOM.

SS is overhyped. All theme, no real depth or difficulty.

Says the guy with SS on his wishlist!

Sometimes a pin should just be plain fun and SS delivers that on all counts. Deserves "hype" IMHO. The sound/voicework, artwork, lighting and 3D-ish interactive BB makes it unique. Plus it's 'effing ELVIRA!
'Spider Multiball' still takes a bit of work to achieve...

My wife is the biggest Stones fan alive. Lol, in 22 years of marriage she would not allow missing even one tour. Having said that. The Stones pin stinks, our opinion, because of the cheap 2 dimensional band member plastics, the silly and also cheap 2-D Mick figure and the boring playfield. We really tried so hard to like this pin so we could buy it. My wife has so many Stones items like lithographs, back stage passes, tour jackets etc. We really wanted to like and buy this pin...NO WAY though

If you seel your Tommy let me know please. After my friend played my Tommy he is bound and determined to find his own. He already has 7 pins but never realized how good the Tommy was till he came over my house

I've never been all that impressed with TAF. It's a good game, but not a great one, IMO. The voicework is repetitive, and the theme doesn't really do much for me. The ruleset isn't really that deep, even by the standards of the era (TZ, WH2O, and STTNG all have deeper and more interesting rulesheets).

Among early SS games, I've never really gotten the hype behind Firepower and Black Knight. Neither game really interests me that much. I know they're of historical importance because Firepower pioneered lane change while BK introduced an upper-level playfield and Magna-Save, but so what? That doesn't actually make them good games. Firepower has multi-ball, and was the first SS game to do so, but the multi-ball doesn't serve any purpose! Why bother? BK just never really clicked for me... there's nothing overtly bad about it, just not enough good to really keep me interested. Both games seem inferior to Eight Ball Deluxe, Haunted House, or even Blackout.

Well, I didn't say I don't want one...

BBB doesn't even come close to the hype

Agreed.

It's easy to get bad impressions of games I think. I thought AFM and MM were dull games until I learned them and played them enough to learn good strategies for them.

I think MM is a little over-hyped. They have similar strategies in stacking multiballs with gates/saucers, but I like the way total annihilation works more than royal madness; can't really lose out like you can on MM with a bad bounce into the madness hole before all the madnesses are lit. And the addition of the martian multiball provides more stackability and lets you save the 3-lock multiballs. Maybe those things make it easier, but it's more fun to play since it gives you more options.

I've had trouble understanding the appeal of TAF, mostly because I haven't played it much. The thing that turns me off of it though is that when I have played it, I feel like I'm working with half a playfield. It just feels really cramped to me, like everything is in the upper right corner, and just doesn't feel fun to play.

I've always liked CV and have played a fair amount of it. It never feels very difficult to wizard and beat, but I'm still figuring out the best way to get really good scores on it. I can have what I feel like is a great game and end with a meh score. The fact that you can almost stack everything with everything else opens up a lot of options.

For me its TZ and TAF...sorry guys.
My friend got me in to pins. I always played them in the bars and had fond memories. He owns both. And of course I read the the very high rankings so I too thought I had to have them. So we started with this great plan to get these two. But then I played them. Bleh. Nothing. Played them a lot at his house and what happened was that I thought pinball was not for me.
Luckily I ran in to an old HS which was my old game and I realized I love Pinball but hate these two games. Overhyped in my book.

Justin Bieber also outsells stadiums and debuts albums at #1 on the Billboard Charts...so I guess Bieber must be the greatest musician ever?

Speaking of overly hyped games, the one above any for me is Star Trek The Next Gen. I guess I hate every aspect of that game except the continuous right orbit / side ramp combo. Which is challenging. I cannot believe it generally ranks as high as it does.

Next is Theatre Of Magic. Granted, it has fast flow and a great toy. But the scoring is greatly biased towards bonus x. So much that no modes a worth playing except the centre ramp one that is stacked with multi-ball progress. And the wizard mode has got to be the poorest of any game that era.

Corvette. I don't see the point. Something wrong with the layout.

Underrated ones. Hmmmm. Almost any Williams title of the 90's is hyped aren't they. I havn't played enough of them (or Sterns) to point at a definitive sleeper, that is as good as the any top 10'er.

For me, the over hyped game is whitewater. For a while it was the "it" game a couple years ago and it's price went up rapidly before big pin price increases became fashionable. I am 'ok' with the game but it just doesn't seem to have very many interesting shots nor seem horribly deep. I never got the "it" factor on that one.

I have had TZ for a year. It definitely gets better with time and number of plays. If you don't like the theme, it's hard to get past. I don't like the Addams Family, for example, and cannot get into the game.

Thats a tough one. If you set it up right its super fast and rampy loopy. I love the water theme.
Like any game you need to be in the mood. I have been in the shadow mood lately which I have never been. So it depends.

I would give WH20 another shot. Maybe one in someone house setup fast and hard.

Not Worth the Hype: CV, TOTAN, and TOM... I'm seeing a connection here (no offense to the fans out there, but honestly, these games are PRETTY and I get VERY bored with them).

Totally Worth the Hype: Spiderman, AFM, and MM. Maybe not worth the $$$, but definitely worth the Hype.

Well put, there is a clear distinction between hype and price and one must not confuse the two.

That said, it is true that one can influence the other.

Felt the way about TOTAN. Played it on location was not impressed. Bought one still wasnot impressed. Cranked the settings way up and LED it out and it grew on me.

MM, AFM, Shadow you can always play and be challenged. TOTAN you have to be in the mood for it and if so its really good. Kind of like songs and movies, you need to be in the mood, that is why I like pinball. My JD will sit forever then one week, same with Space Station then one week I am all Space.

Who?

So now we're comparing Pinball to the pop-music industry?

I heard a lot of talk about Black Hole and recently had an opportunity to play it. I have to say I was impressed. Great game!!!

TAF over hype, sorry.. fun pins... it's the addams family how can you go wrong? the theme makes the pin, thats about it.

CV definitly over... but damn that pin is beautiful and thats why i want one, the position of the dmd is perfect. the price are going to be so crazy i'll probably pass on it don't think it's worth it.

WW... what? spinning disc... really?

and now AC/DC le #1... oh brother.
and transformer le #4... lollllll

the shadow... never understood why?

spider man should be higher.

simpson... higher, great rule sheet.

CFTBL.. meh, does nothing to me... hologram is cool what else?

oh man i could go on and on...

+1 million

Deepest game ever, should be a top 5 pin IMHO.

please don't

The Shadow actually doesn't get hyped THAT much. It's one of the 90's B-titles that seems really "80's" in its physical gameplay design (which for me is a good thing, since I dig that era). The physical design and very basic objectives are challenging as hell, but fair. The sort of game that makes me want to physically play better...if yah know what I mean.

...I will say if the game isn't tweaked, however, it can be too hard (a complaint I hear a lot about this one). Have two buddies that own Shadows. One is set up in that sweet spot where missed shots are dangerous, but skill/finesse will gain you control most of the time. Ball times are still short the majority of the time, but good play seems rewarded. The other you MUST make your shot or it is 99% going to be a side drain. The owner of the latter thought the game was a POS until he played the former's.

Upper loop score is slightly boosheet though.

whaaaa? Round these parts it does.

TSPP. Could not sell this game fast enough, it is an absolute bore. The ball times on this thing are so long and dreadful. How this is fun for anyone is beyond me. F "deep rule sets"' I need a fun factor. TOM had longer legs in the fun department, and thats not saying much.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say based on current prices, almost every 'A' list and most of the upper 'B' list games are over hyped. Definitely no longer justifying the fun/cost ratio. It's easier to list a few pins that aren't overhyped for their value, IMO:

BSD (although beginning to approach it)
TFTC
Most system 11s
TSPP (still obtainable at 3K and the deepest pin available, which I get some don't enjoy)

That's the most important factor for me, also. Deep rule sets are overrated, if you ask me. There's definitely a happy medium as far as that goes.