Quoted from Xjship:
So I am the market for my first pinball, and have always wanted Jurassic Park as it was my favorite movie as a young kid.
I really want to like this game, but am finding it to be pretty difficult and not that fun. There's a local arcade where I've played it regulary. I put $20 in the machine yesterday and I think my highest score was 165M. Never hit Chaos, and only got Tri-balls and jackpots rarely. I know the strategy at least at a high level too. I keep playing, waiting for it to grow on me, and it isn't happening. The other pins there, like Pirates of the Car., Star Trek, or Medieval Madness are much more enjoyable. There's also a Star Wars DE there, and I liked it at first but that game is almost too easy (repeat shots) and I have no trouble getting replays on it.
I noted that the table had the Cliffy scoop protectors and made that makes them harder to hit? No other mods or board issues that I could tell. Also, I feel like I was getting drains constantly, to the point where it was laughable how easy they'd drain.
Don't know if I have a question, just sharing my frustration. I am OK paying $3k+ for a game, but I want to like it. I guess I'll try to play a different JP somewhere else so I can give it a fair chance.
Personally, I would not choose JP as my first/only pin. The game is challenging and the flow is not very smooth like many games. If you have multiple games, then I think it is a great addition since it seems to play quite differently than the Williams games of the same era. Also, when it comes time for me to sell a pin (I only have room for 3), this one will be the first to go (albeit, I hope to command top dollar given its condition and all of the mods I've added to it - might price me out of selling it)
As far as progressing through the modes, I've owned mine for about a year now. I've probably made it through to the computer shutdown 5 or 6 times which I do find fun and rewarding. I can get to CHAOS fairly regularly, but it does seem like it takes a little work. For me, the theme is great, T-Rex is awesome, and the pin is fun to mod with personal touches.
Bottom line is that when I just want to have a fun game that I know I can dominate, I go to my Getaway. When I want some good flow but want to try to achieve an objective, I go to my Attack from Mars (I've yet to rule the universe). When I want to work a little and be serious about things, I go to my Jurassic Park.
BTW, here are each of the games you mentioned in the Pinside Top 100:
#1 - Medieval Madness
#5 - Pirates of the Caribbean
#14 - Star Trek
#40 - Star Wars
#75 - Jurassic Park
Which one is the outlier? Not that the rankings are the end-all, be-all for what you should like, but they do represent the pinball community's overall fondness of a particular game given all of the subjective factors that are polled.
Of course, you could always step up to the new Stern JP, which is a completely different game (2-3 times the cost, however). It has quickly earned positive praise from the community as a very good game.