it's horrendous right now

My family have mostly ignored my pinball hobby, but because of the theme they’ve put more time on this machine than the rest of them combined. Bottom line is they enjoy it, but they don’t really have much of a baseline to compare it to. They were surprised and disappointed about a few voices, but I don’t think they enjoy it any less because of it.
I’ve learned a lot from the experience of owning a new machine. I’ve had trouble getting into most of the newer sterns and I wasn’t sure why until now.
#1. I had been playing games when they first come out with initial code and didn’t know the games were improved and didn’t go back and try them again.
#2. Most of the shots don’t feel attached to the action the shot is supposed to represent. The best way for me to explain this is by comparison. Why is medieval madness regarded as one of the greatest machines of all time? The sound, play field, and dmd animations all tie the shot together. The orbit plays a jousting call out and animation. This is comparable to T2’s motorcycle on its semi-orbit. The orbit doesn’t feel like anything on GOTG. The drawbridge and moat shots make sense. The catapult makes sense. Saving the damsel makes sense. Guardians of the galaxy as of this post, the only shot that feels connected with the sounds and video is Groot. Addam’s Family is another great example of making shots feel relevant to the sounds and animations. I love Baywatch, but couldn’t put my finger on what is missing. A couple shots feel connected, but most don’t. Most newer sterns have felt more like baywatch than medieval madness. I think the trick is going to be tieing the shots in with call outs without slowing the game down. I think that’s the dividing line between most pinball fans; speed and story. I think understanding this should allow designers to cater to both.

It would be cool if somebody would measure the shot openings of MET and GOTG to see what differences there are between the two.

Just from playing I’d say:

Left ramp is wider than MET
Right ramp is narrower than MET
Orb shot is wider than the snake
Rocket is narrower than war machine
Orbits probably pretty comparable.

see post #129 this thread re: comparisons of GOTG to other machines... GOTG plays and feels different

I'd say the orb shot is quite a bit harder than the snake from MET , also much more risk of a drain doing the orb shot. My experience is the ramps and orbits are easier on MET also. GOTG has steeper ramps. Sometimes you won't complete the ramp shot and it will roll back at you if the ball doesn't have sufficient speed - which I actually like.

Whole different game. Smooth shooter and fun to play.

I concur. Just to echo what others have said after quite a few plays:

Orb shot on GOTG is tougher than the snake shot on MET - I can hammer that snake shot all day long with low risk on MET, but the orb shot is dangerous from the left and a tight squeeze from the right on GOTG.

GOTG Left ramp seems easier (wider opening), right seems much harder than MET (steeper, narrower opening).

Groot feels the same as sparky.

Scoop feels the same.

Yondu feels the same.

Orbits feel the same.

Rocket seems much tighter than War Machine.

Rules wise, there's absolutely no comparison between MET and GOTG. Which I'm very thankful for.

anyone have a Premium? Thoughts on it thus far?

agree with shot stuff so far;except my take is that the GOTG mystery scoop (mode select/upgrade/eb/etc) is much easier than the CIU/EB/mystery on metallica.

the orb shot is dramatically more dangerous than the snake.
the rocket is dramatically more dangerous, and harder than the graveyard.

put a lot of time in on my GOTG yesterday, the speed and fast drains make it feel much more like iron man than it does metallica, regardless of layout.
code is nowhere close to done, and stern knows it and is working on it. right now it is absolutely start a mode and start groot mb. orb/rocket risk-rewards are nowhere near where they need to be to entice player to attempt them.

Any word on Cliffy protectors for the scoop?

might be possible to purchase a LE/Premium from Stern until Cliffy makes one, or a similar scoop off any other stern and modify it until one is available.

Do LE prem models come with a protected scoop? strange that the pro does now.

Also reading the rules sheet it's a shame that there is no light ball plunge to the left ramp sill shot. Seems like a fun shot and I love lots of skill shot options.

I am also hoping for more from the mode shots. Lots of them seem similar Quill's quest and Sanctuary for example seems similar, shoot 10 shots (no variations). Would like to see move roving shots and integration into the theme you are playing. For example for Yaka Arrow this needs more association the the Yondo shot. hit the roving shot to light the yondo shot, hit yondo shot. repeat to complete the mode, something like this at least makes it feel different.

Also what does the large team target do? anything?

I am sure there will be changes and updates to the modes as code evolves. But seeing more shot variations in the modes overall would be nice.

No protector on this Pro..

I played it a lot at Florida Free play. I picked it up yesterday, I love it. When a game is new, it can be hard to judge long term. I have a good selection of games, mostly Bally/Williams and 7 Stern. I have Iron Man and Metallica. I like it a lot more then Iron Man, that game just never grabbed me. Metallica is a great game to play, but I don't care for their music much, so I like GOTG much more then MET.

It is a fast game to me that flows well. LOVE the colors and art work. I am a causal player, so I am fine with the current code, .72. I got Star Wars when it came out and just updated the code on Star Wars, what a difference in that game. I love Guardians and to me it is just going to get better as updated code comes up, but I enjoying playing it now.

Multiball is easy to get. Love playing multiball, but I would be fine if it was harder to get.

I do miss the spinners.

You should use pinball browser and change the music on your Metallica. My Met Prem plays all Rush songs

When the description of the Rocket figurine on the LE says coil assisted gun... take it that means the gun moves?

I believe the raccoon moves when the gun fires.

Thanks for the feedback, I will need to look into this.

Got the new code, having a tournament next weekend and thinking about including gotg since we need as many machines as we can.

Til now, the code seem to have bugs/issues with ball lick, suddenly it awards multiball on ball lick 1 and other times it wont start multiball on lock 3.

Anyone else experience some bugs which is tournsment breaking stuff?

Good review! Glad you are enjoying your new game, I am sure that one is going to make its way to my collection soon.

Starting the modding process.

- shaker
- Comet sunlight 2md frosted in GI
- Laseriffic fluorescent protectors
- Laseriffic flipper toppers
- led color in backboard
- led accents to trough, stand up target, and Groot mouth
- Titan comp shiny balls and silicone flippers

Much more to do...

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Your Groot mouth lighting looks great!

That looks sweet Zach. How are you liking the game so far?

Just got done playing it for a couple of hours. Man I really like it. I noticed tonight that after completing a mode it goes to a second portion of the mode, i.e. Sancuary II where you complete required shots a number of times. Nice challenge and is presented as another portion of the mode. The scoop shot to start modes is tearing my ass up. Orb shot and rocket shots are very fun. The rocket shot is the meanest kickback I’ve faced.

Glad to hear you are liking it, is this going to be a long term keeper for you? There is a Pro model in Cincinnati, I am going to make my way down there in a couple of weeks and drop a few quarters in it.....I can’t wait! I hope to add this game to my collection soon as well.

Do not forget super ramps mode as that's Lonnie trademark, but no super spinners mode on the pro.

My Pro game arrived on Friday, and i was having the exact same issue as Arcade in post #168. Drop target would trap a ball and no amount of ball searches would free it.The game would kick anther ball into the shooter lane after about 4 ball searches and the ball count really confused the game. I opened the coin door to see it the release coil was firing and it was, so i was thinking this has to be a mechanical issue. I removed the target assembly from the game and manually pushed the drop target trip bracket. I found that if the bracket was shifted to the right away from the spring side- the target would not trip. I removed the right pivot bracket and placed a small washer on the pivot shaft.

This cured my issue completely.

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Anyone else having intermittent left flipper spongy ness?

Appears either code based or possible node board related. NOthin mechanical from inspection.
We haveexperienced similar symptoms onother spike games but I thin KISS is the last one whereit has persisted after code updates.

Thanks for posting this. Mine arrives tomorrow and is going straight into the location. I'll keep this fix in mind.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/500-55L7-01 Seems in stock

Do you guys think the game is better with or without the speech right now?

People seemed more satisfied before .72 dropped. Am I better off sticking with .66 until Cleland comes through with the real speech?

I dont think so. It's too quiet without it.

I like v0.72 better.

.72 is an improvement for sure.

Kiss still has it. Intermittent but there.

I've heard complaints about this on my SW pro's right flipper but I never saw it myself. It's running the latest code. 2 different guys said the same thing to me about it, but both times I checked it there are no mechanical issues and it was flipping fine....

If you are placing the game on location, I would definitely suggest installing .72 version. On my game running .66, the drop target would not stay down long enough for the ball to clear the target, so the ball would occasionally get stuck behind the target. Needed a reboot to release the ball. With .72 version, drop target stays down long enough for the ball to roll out of the orb area.

We have been doing some troubleshooting and signs are pointing to a likely node board issue. More work to do, but I personally think it is a combination of code and node board symptoms.

I'm considering purchasing a Pro version of this game. I would love to hear what owners think of the sound effects and call outs... I played it in a bar that was too loud to hear but I'm pretty sure I heard lots of "Cherry Bomb." Does it get old fast? Anyone in the know if they will add more tracks, etc?

current sounds and call outs are the worst in pinball. They are so bad I am assuming they have to get better and are just place holders right now.

They are far from the worst in pinball. The only thing that bothers me is lack of directional callouts telling you what to shoot for. Music is great. For those that say they hear it too much just means they aren’t the best at hitting the scoop to start another mode (myself included). Not sure if they will add tunes later but they may change the way they are presented.

Just picked up a pro first thing i had todo was shorten the drop target spring to stop the airballs

Got some good time on my GOTG and I am really enjoying it so far. It really does have an awesome layout which is most important to me. I do not think the code is as bad as people say. BM66 with Joker turning around 100 times-that was bad, this game with music and clips is not that bad. It is a tough game, I had a 25 minute game and progression was not easy. The rocket kick back is intense. I would bet that it is the fastest in all of pinball. It makes War Machine look like slow motion. I can't even see the ball sometimes until after it rejects off flipper, lightning fast. This game is destined for greatness, it is like Iron Man and Metallica had a baby and I love the art and superhero theme. I have high hopes with this one and I think the polished code coming up will make it shine.

Already modding

This is the first pin I've every purchased brand new and it was pretty hard to pull the trigger. I'm a relative noob when it comes to pinball and I've only owned one other machine (TSPP). I have kids and a wife and the new Marvel movies are one of the few things all of us enjoy together so this seemed like the perfect time to jump in head first. I saw the photos and knew it would have enough on the play field to keep everyone interested.

We played a little bit of the launch code and then quickly updated to .72 where I really noticed the call-outs and how much they add to the experience. The kids and wife enjoy playing it but seem to struggle a bit with really quick drains. They're used to that having played TSPP so it wasn't a big deal. Especially because of the amount of audio/video coming out of the machine at all times.

I'm about as happy as I could have imagined I'd be and I'm glad I bought it. Reading through the other thread had me a little worried but I had to remind myself that I'm a novice player and am trying to buy a game that appeals to my family. The pin is fast, loud, bright, and fun.

The next step is to figure out what protective mods need to be installed and where to find them.

Congratulations on your new pin! Do not worry about the negativity on the other thread, most of that negativity is from people that have no intention of buying a new machine. I am sure that you and your family will get plenty of pleasure from your new machine!