Toronto, ON
I just posted my review on this machine last night. I'm admittedly in the Honeymoon phase with this game, so time will tell if the love in fades!
First of all, the ratings are all subjective, but the way people try to manipulate them is just sad and stupid. A perfect 10 for ANY machine is as stupid as a rating of 2 for this particular machine. This game is BONKERS. I'm thinking it's definitely one of the best pins ever made... But it's not a perfect 10. I think my rating worked out to a 9.3 ish. Lighting and Animations got perfect 10s for me, as did layout and rules... But there is literally NOT a toy in the game. How can you give that a 10?? Point being, I DON'T CARE that it doesn't have a goofy pinball toy... The rest of the package MORE THAN makes up for that. Would it be BETTER with a toy?! I don't know. It's almost perfect as is.
I was a JJGnR Naysayer at the outset. I was saying things like, "Well, it's definitely an impressive piece of hardware... but will it be any fun to play?!", Or "Sure, it's full of assets, but all of those assets are Guns and Roses... So, if you don't like the band, who cares?!"
I've never been so happy to be wrong about a machine. Eric and team knocked this one out of the park... Actually, they knocked it out of the County that the ball park is in!! I was really looking forward to telling a bunch of my pals that the game they are so excited about BLOWS... but it is simply amazing.
Here's the main thing I want to say. This game is incredible, but NOT for the reasons that are getting a lot of people excited. I really don't care about the number of GnR songs, and video content, and LEDs... The Game SHOOTS Great, has GREAT Risk Reward Code design, and is exhilarating to play. It would be just as good with 300 Less Lights, and half the songs, and video content. I'm not saying those things don't make it better (Of course they Do!), but the bones of a great pinball experience are there. Shots, Rules, Theme Integration.
I'm a HUGE Stern fan. I think JP is one of the best pins ever made. I also love my AIQ. I've always been a fan of what JJP was TRYING to do. I think they've finally done it with GnR. A good friend locally messaged me, "Every other pin in my collection is now for sale". HA. I'm not going there yet, but this pin is blowing my mind.
Kudos to the entire JJP Team on creating a truly magnificent Pinball experience. Like Maiden and Met before it... It's even turning me in to a bit of a GnR Fan! That's something I never thought I'd say!
Pontiac, IL
