I was finally able to pick up a pro about a month ago. I knew I liked the game, but wasn't sure how it would stack up to some of my other favorite games. I figured it would be a solid game, but probably not sneak into my all time favorites. I was wrong. I swear the more I play it, the better it gets. Most games I fall in love with stay about the same, or lose a bit of luster after awhile. I don't think I have ever had one that I have fallen even more in love with after getting it home.
Sure, both the playfield and rules are strongly derivative of other machines, but they have been tweaked and polished beautifully and work together very, very well. It really is the best of Borg and the best of Lonnie combined to make a machine that is all its own. Add an amazing art package, great video assets, and an amazing theme, and this game is awesome. The audio package was decidedly "ok", but modding in the Cleland package puts it completely over the top. Just epic work there, and really ties it all together with a nice big bow.
It took a little tweaking to get my magnet to really throw the ball around to my liking, but that is all I had to do (and even that wasn't terrible out of the box). Definitely the least tweaking I have ever had to do to a machine, so far at least.
Had a fun game last night where the magnet tossed the ball right into Rocket, who blasted it off my right flipper, out of control, and out the outlane. I couldn't even be mad because it was so awesome. I love the chaos a well integrated magnet can bring...so much fun. Reminds me of some of the crazy stuff I've seen Magneto do on my X-Men.
It's still a bit early...and I might still be honeymooning...but this could actually be my favorite game of all time. Even though I bought it, I wasn't quite expecting to ever say that. It's that good.