If you look at the history of the rankings for GOTG they have steadily gone up and will probably continue to do so. I realized I had never rated it so I just did. Honest rating came out to an 8.6. It really is a great game.

It’s a paint-by-numbers Stern, if you like Borg and you like the GOTG movies knock yourself out. As for the Pinside rankings, who cares? I never rated it but I could name 200 machines I’d rather buy or put a buck in.

How did anyone NOT enjoy the GOTG movie????

Maverick is a fun movie that gets decent play on tv. Demo man is the same. Demo man is a cult icon for the 90's so, no you don't like them, but others do. What they don't have going for them is that they weren't new when the rating system was created on here. They were old hat and got rated as such. they never went through being the new hotness that drives so many games for the first few years. Even years later the rankings are still biased as many do not go back and rerank.

Congrats that you like the music, but a bad rendition of a great song is still bad. It was lousy for its time, it is lousy now. Nostalgia goggles might have you pine for it, but it is not a number 1 game because of that. Won't change the rankings on here, because outside of the sounds its an amazing game and there are far worse in the top 20 cough JPOP cough.

I'd argue that's it rated too high. Is Guardians really a better game than EBD, Quicksilver, Star Gazer, Black Knight, Firepower, and a slew of other games that are among the best games ever made? That's why Pinside ratings can't be taken seriously.

Never cared for the movies, I think the LCD screen is atrocious on the game, the art is fine, the layout is a bit boring for my taste but still solid, the code is fine.

It's a fine game, but one I would never seek out to play let alone buy one. It's probably the weakest title since Wrestlemania. It's not bad like Wrestlemania, merely aggressively mediocre. I'd rather have a Beatles than a GOTG (but will buy neither)

Well... I agree to you that while not the best they could have done. I'll take a crappy midi version of Golden Earrings twilight zone any day of the week.
Yes, nowhere near as good as the actual song. But, I actually think if it was the real song I'd get bored with it, after about 3 hours of playing. The midi version while not as good, fits and doesn't grate on me, as I don't mind when it switches to the other music. But, then again... I don't know if I ever really could be bored of listening to Twilight Zone... I have listened to it on repeat for about an hour at time more than one occasion.

When I test sound for projectors or headphones at the schools I work at. I always pick that song to test the sound for.
I figure let the kids and teachers hear a little bit of awesomeness in their day.

And to your point... Yes, music doesn't make or break a pin for me. In fact I think music is less important than theme and artwork. And of course how it shoots is the most important. I've enjoyed many games with crap music... Jokerz for one. And in the wild... Most of the time you can't really notice the music anyway.

MikeS - I think you make a great point.

It's like the Lebron James and Michael Jordan debate of who is the better player. It's hard to come up with a concrete answer because both come from different eras of basketball.

Same goes with pinball. It's hard to compare new technology, toys, etc. to pins of the past.

To go with MikeS point, if we took Guardians of the Galaxy (Premium)-le Pinside rating at face value, it would be in the top 18th percentile compared to all pins. But is it really better than the other 82% of games out there?

To me it is better than 82% of pinball because I don't like EM or most pre DMD SS. I would much rather play GotG than a single game MikeS listed but that just proves your point it's hard to compare eras.

my fav part of early guardians code for like 6 revisions was the mystery award for increase spinner value lol

I actually am a bit different than most of the pinsiders as I love EMs, Solid States, DMDs, and this new era of pinball. I don't love them all equally... Ems even if they are fully in great condition can be a bit floaty and slow... And BRUTAL!!! But, they are fun to play... I haven't played nearly as many in person as I would like. A lot of my playing them is on virtual tables, which just play way to fast... Pinball arcade makes me laugh as they have the same flipper strength for the old school ems ad 90s era dmd...
But, I think each era has really cool and unique things. And it not fair to even judge the late 78 to 81 solid states to the mid 80s. There were so much innovation at the time that the games were climbing onto the backs of each other and that climbing has continued to this day. To where the state of pinball is at.

Firepower is a great game. I enjoy playing it... If I ever get a 30-50 pin collection it will be in it. But, its sounds and music are primitive compared to today's pinball games... Also, the reward for that game was the 3 ball multiball. First solid state with multiball play if I am not mistaken. Now you get multiball in every game nd 3 ball play is quaint. Also the playfield is even more sparse and barren than Stern Star Wars... Sorry... Can't help that joke, and its okay cos they're both Steve Ritchie games, and both really good shooters. Great shooters. In fact Firepower you need to hit your shots in order to progress and get points. This is something modern games don't really believe in too much. As most shots in modern games will reward you with something... Not really true in the old school games.

So is firepower a great game... Yes, more important in the history of pinball than Guardians... Yes, most likely... But, I can see why some people will never want or enjoy playing a game like it.
Same is true for Fireball. One of my personal top 5 em games. Game just has everything and is fun, but can be frustrating to play.

I think each era has its own charm and personality. And that its always fun to play a game from each era and just appreciate it for what it is. I know at the wheeling expo I wasn't expecting to like the SS Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Its generally a cheap pinball game that you can find for around 1k even below sometimes. But, it was fun to shoot.
So I think maybe we just try to judge games from the same era. And to have fun comparing and discussing these games, just like how we have fun actually playing them... And isn't that what pinball is all about. Having fun.

You lost me at GB and DP, all other opinions of yours are now null-and-void for me.

What percentage of Pinsiders (a limited subset of the hobby to begin with) even review/rank games? I think I may have done one or two when I first joined but I never do anymore, partly because of what others have said - it's really hard to rate a GOTG or WOZ against HS, or Xenon or any other game from different eras. The other reason is that I rarely agree with the pinside consensus on games so I just ignore them for the most part.

I really enjoy GOTG, I like MET but don't like the band enough to own the game in my small collection, GOTG gives me a very similar layout but it really doesn't play the same. Mainly because I miss the inline drops on MET and code is really very different but I still think it's a lot of fun and one of my favorite newer Sterns. If it weren't for the the cleland code though my opinion of it would be much different, some of those voice actor clips are pretty poorly done.

I like to rank games on Pinside... But, I do so more for my own benefit than anything else. And I just try to stay consistent with which ones I like to play and look at most. As a pinball machine you're going to be looking at a great deal. My hardbody greets me everyday when I open the door when I get back home from work, and that alone is worth the price I paid. Lord knows its not the gameplay... Which is just average at best two level play. But, the rankings don't really mean anything. I mean even my own list Star Wars Episode 1 is way too high for a game that I really enjoy playing, but only 3-4 times a pinball session. Still I really like that game and think its fun. Just like to move on to other games.
Back to the GOTG thread though... One thing that chuffs me a bit is that not all places update code regularly. So if a game is shipped with partial code, some people might still be playing that code years later even if its updated. So I think both the old reviews can still hold water. But, a review should only be a starting point for a person and always taken with a grain of salt... As I think maybe you can use the reviews to help you decide which pin you should get, but ultimately you should really try to play the pin before you buy it... Easier said than done I know.

Keep rating it low, Pinside. I'd like to pick one up on the cheap soon!

Regardless of ranking, this pin earns really, really well. It checks all the boxes for makings of a great route pin. I like it as well.

Me too. It's the only game in my collection that I can reach the end and actually finish!!

If you can get to Save Xandar you've got skills.

It all depends on shooting. If I'm hitting shots, finishing modes quickly and not having to go back to the scoop to restart the same modes, I've got a chance with EBs on. Bricks are death.

I think if most people who gave up on this game because of crap early code gave it another chance, it would be rated much higher. But that sentence could apply to a lot of machines.

Are y’all playing 5 ball or 3 ball? I think I have a lemon game because I have so many side drains it’s not even funny. I’m going to add a rubber some how to reduce the amount

Sounds like you grade "Sound" largely on recording and playback quality (i.e. the technical elements of the sound package). I would bet that most people are grading on TZ having music and callouts that they enjoy and that fit the theme and gameplay well. Both legit ways of looking at it, but you're going to end up with differing scores.

Falling within the top 70 pinball machines of all time doesn't seem like a low ranking to me. Just because something is new doesn't make it better than something else that's older, people rank games based upon their era all the time and if you've already played Metallica and Aerosmith you're probably not going to be super excited about Guardians.

A couple of other factors are the aforementioned weak release code made the kind of people who write reviews for a pinball machine on an internet forum cool off on it pretty quick. Also many of the reviews are LE owners trying to keep the price of their purchase from plummeting too much and Guardians has maybe the worst Premium/LE package they've ever made.

All fine with me though because they will drive the price down and I can grab one for a reasonable amount and put it on route. Relevant theme, nice flowing layout, plenty of multiballs, colorful art package, pro being the objectively best model, celebrity callouts and pop music all make for an operators dream.

3 balls with replay awarding an EB. Other settings factory. Side drains are a bitch on this. That's why I say shot making is a must. Missed shots will kill you. Nudging is also very important. If the ball even looks like it might head for the lanes, give it a whack to make the ball hit something first.

A game’s rating in the top 100 isn’t reflective of whether it’s good or bad, it’s a measure of whether or not it is more well received than the hundreds of other games already rated. Just because it’s not top 10 doesn’t mean it sucks! There are tons of great games out there, way more than 10..

I don't rate games, or read the ratings for that matter. They seem useful enough for people, I think when I was new to Pinside I pored over them for a bit. Gives you a good sense of what games are popular if you're not familiar with them, maybe you see something you want to try and hunt down on location. But not anything worth getting worked up over.

I only played GOTG once, and that was enough for me. No idea what code version it was. I found the LCD use to be clumsy and awkward feeling, the layout somewhat generic, and the overall feel just kinda ... I dunno, not phoned in, I don't want to sound mean, just nothing really memorable.

The art is nice, but the overall package feels photoshoppy, even though I know it's hand drawn. Just has the overly busy collage look, would have preferred something else. Sounds weren't great, but it was hard to really hear on location.

I'm sure if people say the latest code is better than it is. I doubt it's a bad game. But with all the good ones out there I can't see how it's even in the top 100 at all really aside from being 'new'. I think it will end up like POTC, a fine Stern that's ultimately not super popular or in demand, but has enough fun if you dig it.

Does 7 ball count?

Isnt't the layout exactly like Metallica? People say Metallica has a great layout. I've played it once. Plays like a Stern.

Aurich nailed it. Just nothing new to see here. Same can be said for several other new pins.

I enjoyed GoTG the few times I have played it.

In a lineup with games such as BM66 and Deadpool, GoTG shot miles better (in that missed shots didn't rattle around in weird ways...).

That being said, the layout for GoTG is not nearly as daring as those other games (being different does not necessarily result in a better product, I just have to give credit there).

If GoTG ends up on the bargain end of things, I can see picking one up!

In my opinion GOTG is more like Iron Man with Rocket Kickback being like the War Machine kickback. I guess you could argue that GOTG has a bash toy like Metallica, so it could go either way. But, the layouts on GOTG, IM and Metallica are all VERY similar.

I think it personal taste. I do not like GotG but love Metallica. Same basic layout, yet I do not find the shots as satisfying. I also love the humor in Metallica, although I like GotG theme better. The thing is, do you like it?

If anyone in the Mid-Atlantic wants to sell theirs, let me know!

Butch2099 has one listed I think.

I think it's gone now Just missed him!

So now, are we able to say which game has the better gameplay between GOTG vs MET, as everybody can see they get the same layout?