My first impression was meh also, but I did not drop $10k on one. Went on down to the local arcade and put about a hour on one. Beautiful game, amazing light show, great music (when it can be heard because the screaming chick talks to much). Gameplay is very underwhelming and it is basically MB 90% of the time. I thought Hobbit was MB heavy and it has nothing on GNR. I will say they had the flippers dialed down to weak. Making the right ramp was VERY hard on this particular machine. It is a looker though, gets an A+ for looks. I am looking forward to putting more time on it and maybe it will grow on me.