Quoted from accidental:

Seems to me like it is a good combination of his previous games. The layout is sort of a combo of FH and a mirrored TZ. There is the controlled feed to mini-flipper with a cross PF shot to a sinkhole like Addams. The left shooter lane and dummy heads from FH. The artwork style, theme and non-traditional layout features like Earthshaker.
I like twitch features like bridge out shots which are very similar to the spiral shots in TZ (inlanes light a shot you must make immediately). I also really like the collectible aspect to the souvenirs.
Pat himself said he designed the game to be accessible for new players, which is something that adds tangible value for me — the most joy I get from pinball is when sharing it with others. Shooting straight up the middle at Ted is an easy understandable way to get to multiball, and the lock shot isn't too hard. It's like DW in that way — tough game but easy to understand for newbies who have a good chance at experiencing success and the trill of getting to multiball.

Quoted from accidental:

Have you watched the Williams promo video for Road Show? It's worth watching. It explains why decisions like the linear progression were made.

Quoted from accidental:

Every pinball has an objective defined by the state of the industry at the time. It wasn't conceived to be enjoyed by us at home. That's not to say that it shouldn't be evaluated in this way, but it is important to realise that it's not a 'bad game'. It is instead perhaps 'not ideal for home ownership' in the eyes of some people.

Quoted from accidental:

I think Pat nailed his brief with Road Show. In reaction to the insanely complex and intimidating TZ, RS was intended to be a family-friendly approachable theme that could be understood by anyone. A PF toy that is easy to understand and interact with — just shoot up the middle. Rules that are easy to understand and don't stack to confuse people. The linear progression is intended to increase the chance for people to buy-in to the game. It's supposed to be impossible to reach the end and see all the modes without a buy-in.
All this with enough depth to keep the good players interested. It has the most depth you could ask for without implementing mode stacking.
Nobody complained that Ghouls and Ghosts or Contra were linear and found themselves playing the first level 100% of the time and the final level 1% of the time.

Quoted from akm:

If one thing's for sure though, the game is a serious test of endurance when attempting to make it through every city on the map (which I've yet to do).