Because it launched with 50% complete code.. its awesome now. But when you launch a game 50% code complete everyone is going to rate it in the moment. Same with Batman66

Ur not missing anything, first of all never use the pinside ratings as even a very loose guide as to what u will enjoy personally. Secondly its gets hate becuase this is pinside and thats the way it goes, games get buried around here before anyone even owns them. Tron gets almost nothing but love so when I first starting collecting I figured it must be something special and I bought one, didn't care for it all. If Guardians didn't have what I consider to be some of the worst voice overs and call outs in pinball I would probably have given the pin a shot in my collection, gameplay is fun and its a solid layout.

Ya the top 100 is whack!!? IMO I think GOTG should def be in the top 20 hands down!!

I'm not a huge fan of the game but it's alright and I see why people like it.the biggest problem for me is I can't stand the music in the game to the point that if you can hear the volume I'll just play something else.I know some people think the music makes this pin it's just not my genre.

GOTG is my best game i love the game play voice overs and call outs
it puts a smile on my face every time every time i play it. fun fun fun

And that's my point I hate the music and since im not a fan of the movies the call outs dont engage me and you love it.I ordered a Munsters and I won't get sick of the theme song and call outs but the next guy will get sick of it real quick.

I totally agree with you. Guardians is my first pin purchase and it’s just a fun machine with clelands mod and I love the callouts and the music. It’s easy to get to multi-ball for a non expert player but there is a enough depth to keep me challenged (which isn’t hard at this point).

I thought the exact same thing when I played the other new sterns with higher rankings than guardians.

It is fun, but the artwork is going to be dated very quickly as well as the theme. Its a fun movie, but 10 years from now it will be like Maverick or Demo man, a product of its time. Music is good imo, but all in all its not a stand out game.

Top 100 itself is kinda a joke. Newest games are always top 20 and take years to fall down to a realistic spot. Lot of flavor of the month involved. For example when TSPP and LOTR were still in production it was a toss up which was the better game. LOTR is now 5 and simpsons is 20.

TOM and totan are still top 20 despite having garbage code even for their time.

Another problem is that certain ratings get ignored. TZ is number 4. One of its big weaknesses is sound quality. Even for its time, it was crap. Alvin G had cd quality in 92, TZ failed to even get DCS in its release (which is still not amazeballs). Yet sound rating is 8+? Bull its rated 4 because its a good game with good rules (for its time, dated now) that has nostalgia going for it. Same goes for Adams. Best selling of the 90's, but if we took 20 games from the top 50 and rewrote history so they all got released in the same year no one would rave about adams.

TOP 100 is pinside's dick waving contest at its finest.

In my short time here I've learned that this is pretty spot on.

Disagree with you here. Demo Man and Maverick movies never had their time. They sucked from Day 1. Good movies (and themes), on the other hand, stand the test of time. Iron Man movie and pin are still solid gold 10 years later. Same with LOTR 15 years later. Guardians too soon to tell, but so far so good. Maverick felt like a made-for-tv movie.

Bingo. This situation has appeared with many games, BM66 and XMen are the best examples. Shipping a game with basically demonstration code and leaving it that way for any extended period of time really bums out those most excited about a game.

You only get one crack at a first time owner preorder person, disappointing them with code and have them selling a game quickly makes it hard for a game to recover even when it becomes an amazing game like BM66 and XMen have.

I know I am incredibly biased, but Maverick was a fun movie and a fun pinball machine. It was a fantastic movie when it came out, it was campy and fun in all of the best of ways. The music was great and it had fantastic actors.

GOTG is the same way, it is campy and fun, the movie and the pin, great actors and fantastic music. I don't know about the ranking system, but I love playing both of them

I enjoyed the time I have spent on it on location. I may own one at some point.

Honestly, I go my own way on some titles and my wallet is in better shape for it. I have a penchant for rooting for underdogs and taking the time to see the merits in people, ideas and products that either quickly get labled or unfairly pigeon holed as inferior. It has led me to some of my favorite games including Meteor (before it was as popular), Elektra, Hobbit etc. I'd suggest shelving the idea that some titles be written off because of a mob mentality that is often fickle and quick to change.

Don't get me wrong. I love some of the popular titles, and own them, but I'd never write something off due to a few very loud naysayers or biased voting.

Well...
I'm going to disagree with you on TZ... The quality might be crap, but Golden Earrings Twilight Zone song is a top 10 all time favorite song of mine. And the midi version of it is pretty good and is a blast to listen to while playing the game. In some regards I think the midi version of the songs fit pinball better.
My beef is when I'm playing an AC DC the ball drains right when you get to the good part of the song and then the song starts over again, and I think Aerosmith was the same way. I like how Maiden remembers where you left off. Works better that way...
But, yeah I can't trash or hate TZ cos they made an great choice for the song. But, then again most pinball games have good music. Last Action Hero(movie soundtrack kicked ass) had AC DC Big Gun. Leathal Weapon 3 and High Speed II had ZZ Top... Ohhhh and Mary Shelly Frankenstein had the Edger Winter classic Frankenstein... Wonder if there are more I'm missing. But, I mean such great music choices.

My local arcade is running a GotG with that 50% code. I wouldn't say i hate the game, but i would definitely give it a 4 or 5 out of 10 with the early code. It's fun to flip for a little bit, but the only way to score the big points is to shoot groot the entire game. The other shots are fairly challenging, but offer very little reward in comparison. I'll have to see if they can update it so i can play it as it's meant to be.

I like the layout and think it flows good, not a fan of movies but enjoyed to play

Neat trick on the Top 100 is that you can generate a custom Top 100 based on different criteria. For example you can make a list based only on rating from the last 6 months. This is great for new games that sucked when released but improved over time. But it does disadvantage older games.

In this case, GOTG comes in at 13th place or 10th if you take out the duplicate games.

Only flaw in my argument is that Last Action Hero comes in at 14th!!! WTF?!!!?

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I manage a fleet of Heavy equipment and trucks. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration has a complex but fair way of grading DOT records. Activities in the last six months get multiplied by 3, six to twelve months get multiplied by 2, 12 months to two years multiplied by one, after two years they are multiplied by zero to clean the record.

A system like this would greatly increase the representation of current code and if people were passionate they could update titles and weigh their past reviews by current standards.

Is a ranking in the top 100 really a low ranking?

I love the game. My family and friends love the game. It has truly beautiful artwork and an enjoyable, proven layout. I have owned it since the initial code and have watched it progress. The most recent code of the last 6 months or so is just as enjoyable or more enjoyable than many of the games ranked higher than it on the top 100.

I tried not to take it personal when this machine took such a beating at launch. But it was hard not to when many comments insinuated or directly said that only a fool would buy this game. That's not a great feeling. Many very, very low initial ratings may have been justified by the initial code, but i feel some of those ratings may have driven by a displeasure with the manufacturer itself. For some, pinball seems to be very polarizing as to which manufacturers they support or completely dislike. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I happen to love all pinball and support any manufacturer that makes a great game.

Many of these initial, very low ratings were never updated by the reviewers. In an ideal world, maybe reviews should be tied to a specific code and those reviews are removed (or carry less weight) when that code is updated or completely overhauled, in the case of Guardians.

As current, Guardians realistically should easily be ranked somewhere between 20-30. Just my opinion. We'll see if it gets that high. I will say though it's going to get harder as more and more new, good games are introduced.

The issue with guardians is there is the code isn't good. It's very generic. If you haven't played the game basically you play a mode where you hit the lit shots but there is no tie in to the movie clip on the screen. So if you don't complete it, the movie clip plays over it and over. It gets really repetitive quick. It's just really half baked. It's sad because the groot toy is awesome and the layout shoots really well. The code for me was an absolute loser.

It's all subjective. Enough said. Everyone has a right to their own opinion.

Even though I don't like guardians Matt I feel like you have not played it in a while the new code updates on it have really improved the game. When it first came out the code was absolute shit but it has improved.

I just got rid of SW because I picked up GOTG. It has become the favorite for everyone that comes over - especially more so with Cleland's sound mod.

If you're a fan of the movies, this game will just make you want to rewatch them. Even if you're just a little bit into the MCU, Guardians still sticks out mostly because of the soundtrack. If you hate comic books and you're not a fan of any of the songs, then you're a just terrible person and we all wonder why you like pinball.

I'm just one step up from a novice player. I really enjoy the game - there are no "impossible" shots, the modes have enough variety in objectives, and progressing is actually achievable for non-Wizards. The big bonus for me is that it's satisfying for new players, regardless if they're fans of the movie or not.

Two things that I think really get novice players into it:

1. Being able to start off in a multiball is fun for anyone.
2. Groot MB always makes people smile.

That being said, I wish the ramps were a little more forgiving... and good lord, those Stern outlanes are savages.

That isn't quite right. If you don't finish the house music starts playing. You have to shoot the scoop to restart the mode. If you complete the mode, the scene extends and your go to whatever mode 2. Those 2nd scenes can repeat a little. But in general the scenes are your timers when in a mode.

I never realized you could do this. Its fun to play around with and see how the rankings change based on the time frames selected.

There are so many variables in play that muddy the rankings. There are a lot of people that rate games with very minimal play on them. That really puts deeply coded games at a disadvantage against games that are more "approachable". Personally, I try to stick with rating games I have owned, but I'm not saying everyone needs to do that. Its just really helps to give a meaningful review when you can experience the games full sound/light show in a quite room and get deeper into the code. Then you have people that rates some games, and at some point just stopped rating any more. I see a lot of that here. They haven't even rated games they currently own, just sort of lost faith or see value in ratings. I believe that puts new games at a disadvantage. Then of course you have the people that just rate games to inflate the values of their personal collections, so they really zero objectivity to their ratings.

I like this idea.

1 - u made the mistake that the rankings have any credibility...
2 - the game gets knocked for being too much like other recent games
3 - the game had a pretty rough launch with weak code to make it stand out
4 - it really doesn’t stand out from the crowd...

Pinside rankings are full of noise and largely pointless because it’s not curated nor protected from bias/inconsistent reviewers and is easily skewed due to the inconsistent coverage.

People don't care about this if they choose not to, example every other stern:

X-Men = Tron
BM66 = Dark Knight
SW = ACDC
Aerosmith = Kiss = Harley Davidson

This list could go on forever and I decided I don't care if the games don't feel the same and are fun to play.

Many people seem to post their review on a pin immediately after playing it, and that would include playing pins on early code. If I’ve already posted my rating I will often go back and revise my review based on playing with updated code, more time flipping the pin, etc. many of my reviews have moved up quite a bit upon a re-review of the pin. My $0.02.

X-men plays nothing like tron even tho the geometry has similarities... that’s why no hates on tron for it
Batman very much gets hated on for tdk and relies on its code and platform differences to differentiate
Sw and acdc? That is seriously thin... and the rules are nothing alike. Acdc has very unquie rules and why it stands out
Aerosmith very much gets knocked on for having basically the same play structure as kiss..

What your counter misses is that the comment isn’t just about geometry... but gameplay too. Guardians does not stand out from the pack...a and in addition not only was similar in layout to another game... but a game that has been sterns #1 or #2 seller and produced game in the last 10 years.

I was in early on GOTGLE, paid up without playing it-

When I got it- the code... what a load of shit! TBH it put me right off the game- no songs, no actor voices.. let a real sour taste.
I’m only just beginning to play it- downloaded recent code a while back and Cleland but left it sitting there.

The other day I played a few games and it’s a blast. Had a good game. It was going to be the first up on the block to make way for Munsters but I think I’ll keep it.

I agree with this. I’d like to hear some of your ideas to improve the rankings.

I’ve long felt that if someone hasn’t logged in to Pinside in over a year (meaning they are not part of the current community) their rankings should be suspended till they log in again. This would sweep out many of the BS rankings from people that opened an account just to manipulate the rankings and many of the people who ranked a game five years ago and never came back and played newer games.

I have other ideas to improve the top 100. Have it be a direct this game vs that game comparison that is randomly generated and then based on some kind of metric to rank the games. Dunno, I agree the rankings can be improved but I’m not sure how best to accomplish it.

You ignore my last sentence that if they don't feel the same I don't care. Also, I think Guardians stands out from the pack, that's how subjective opinions work.

Also, Star Wars shares over half its geometry with ACDC. My point was pinball has a limited amount of geometry that feels good to shoot. If that means game geometry looks the same sometimes but feels different when you play it i'm ok with that.
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You only get one chance to make a first impression. It's really hard to create any excitement around a game when so many have come out since. GOTG was my dream theme but I couldn't justify buying it when it came out and now there are too many other shiny things competing for my attention.

I'm sure there are ways around rankings that try to inflate things, but I don't know that the effort is worth it. You see people all the time that own a game like Popeye and rank it a solid 10/10. We are know it's not a perfect 10 game. But, unless the system was official/professional reviewers only, you have to take the TOP list for what it is.

I had the latest code on mine. I just got rid of it last month for a LOTR. I'm not saying the game is no fun at all. There are just other games way better for the same price.

It's not a question of if there is a better game for you at the same price. It's a matter of the rank as Big Bang Bar is ranked significantly higher and it costs significantly more.

I love ACDC but I don't own it anymore because I was ready to play a different game even if it isn't quite as good.

That’s your prerogative ... but don’t counter with “people” doing something as a generalization and then act like your minority opinion validates it.

It’s worth reading the rating comments to find out why a game gets love or hate from players. Many games are let down by poor initial code. Some reviewer comments will compare old and new code. Also some games were released with “issues” that can also be overcome. For examples, the weak flippers on many SEGA games can be addressed with a change in coils.
I also like to check the 4 different rating categories. A game may score highly for sound and artwork but poorly on game play or vice versa. The Shadow is a classic example. Top 10 for game play, but poor sound and artwork scores drag it down to about 30 overall.

One of the biggest problems with the top 100 list is that every new game that comes out all of the owners immediately go and give it a really high ranking especially if they end up not liking it that way everyone that didn't buy one yet will want it and they can sell at a higher price to recoup more of their money. Even those people that stick it out to see if the code comes around and makes it a good game since they own it they want to see it have a super high ranking. I say if you want to fix the top 100 ranking don't allow any new pin to be ranked for at least 3 years after it's been out.

I think the low ranking is justified though. I think using actual movie clips is a miss by Stern. It eliminates their ability to create some custom story line when you don't complete the mode. This leads to boring repetitive movie clips since there is only one path and that path is the movie clip. With DMDs they had more liberty as they could create custom dots and be more creative with the story line. GOTG just isn't a top 20 game. Never will be. The other games on the list, MET, GB, DP, SW, ST, are all significantly better machines due to more immersive code. That's why it's ranked like it is. It's an average game at best.

I think you're right for the most part. To me its hit and miss how the they apply actual video footage into the games. And since I'm not a huge fan of the movies, I actually don't look forward to the modes.
Also, I think sometimes... Sometimes... You lose the quirkiness and sense of humor that is found in the old dmd games. I can't say that no live action clip footage ever works, as I do enjoy lots of pins with it. I'll just say I think the majority of the time its best to do that.

I agree with you that the majority of pinside opinion is pointless.

I have a nib for sale if anyone on fence reading this wants one. See my nib GotG le market place listing.

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Because we all already played Iron Man and Metallica (GotG is both of these games all over again).

And Austin Powers, this is really the fourth time Borg utilized a very similar layout. The code distinguishes the games well, but the layout makes the shots feel too similar.

The code is what distinguishes every game. I don't think Munsters looks different than any other fan layout but I'm still excited to play it. Munsters looks like ACDC but with a magnet instead of a bell and a scoop instead of standups. Borg has just switched to a different similar layout but it will debut on the top 100 in the top 10.

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Its about time you get rid of GotG and get a different game to play! I hear Munsters is getting all the plays in everyone’s collection. Make it happen. Can’t keep shooting a treeman forever.