Quoted from Scuba_Steve:I gotta say this is one of my favorite pins of all time. Surprisingly I'm enjoying this more than my Tron during the first few weeks of ownership.
Tron was made just months after IM by the same team. It has a great vibe, but even after playing it the past month, Tron strikes me as one of those where wizard mode is achievable simply by simply keeping the ball in play. In other words, I can consistently get to SOS by focusing only on a couple shots (Quorra and Disc), only because I found those are the only two modes that seem to linger after all the others are started, so I just go for them from the beginning and magically SoS happens. So unlike most games the challenge in Tron isn't to get to the wizard modes, it's to complete them.
In contrast IM requires higher than average focus to watch the ball and active planning for next steps due to limited ball times. Like Tron, the ruleset is broad and shallow, but I'm not aware of a tried and true path to success, it feels wide open and starting each mode requires intent. War machine is a tight shot, monger is a multi-phase mode with high risk and can get in the way of other modes, so careful planning is priority. Jericho isn't s super difficult to get to, but the odds are far less than SOS in Tron. There's nothing like Do or Die in Tron, and how many here can say they have ever seen Do or Die multiball as compared to Portal? Not even close.
In other words I think IM is a brilliantly balanced game compared to Tron's "just keep it alive long enough" strategy.