I ended up meeting Timmy out at Schwoegs to play late last night just because I couldn't wait to play it! I agree with your review and have a few things to add.

I'm really glad they included a spinner and color changing leds. Both add a lot to the game and the leds are already used better than some of the previous games that have them.

Layout just has a great feel to it. Shots flow well and doesn't have much clunk to it. Love the shot through the pops and the Starchild area. Right ramp shot is tight but satisfying to hit. There isn't much I don't like besides that the standups on both sides are too dangerous to shoot for as the game is deadly once you get side to side action. The scoop is also a dangerous shot to try and shoot dead on and can result in a SDTM drain. If I were to make a comparison to Metallica I would say that met looks great on paper but feels kind of clunky when you play it. Especially the orbit shots. Kiss doesn't feel this way at all and it just feels tighter and flows a bit better.

Right now the game seems heavily weighted on Demon multiball but I'm sure this will change as code progresses. I do like the collect instrument combos (right ramp and alternating shots) and I think if you get 5 of them you light extra ball. I also like how the lights change color for combos and you can build up your score pretty quick by concentrating on them.. the starchild area is also a fairly tight shot and I actually like the way it works. It is somewhat random but is something unlike anything I've really seen before. It does seem to take a lot effort to build the love gun meter for starting mutiball. I was able to qualify it once but the right ramp didn't light so I'm unsure if lovegun is actually in the code yet?

I did notice that it gives you a small amount of points (100 or 150k) for the skillshot of hitting the right orbit switch and having it fall down.

I also found that you should save the backstage pass scoop for multiball as it will give you an add a ball vs. A random award. I was awarded an extra ball once randomly though!

Overall I think it's a solid Pro from what I've seen so far. The layout and art are already great and I think the code will really be the driving factor for the games potential!

Here was my top score from last night. Not great but starting to get a feel for it...

IMAG1742.jpg

I know the rulesheet states that you can start it at either the starchild saucer or right ramp but didn't light the ramp for me and I was unable to get it in the saucer.- Not easy since its random... Hopefully they make lovegun easier to start as it currently isn't worth all the work of getting there.

Pretty sure you light it by completing both stand-up banks. Once lit I try and save it for multiball.

I also noticed that when you select your song at the start of the game (right flipper button). You can also select a city using the left flipper. Still not sure how song/city selection factor into the rules?

I forgot to mention the animations and band callouts in my post. I thought the animations were pretty lackluster thus far especially compared to TWD. They are pretty sparse and quality is on the poor side. Hopefully these improve with newer software updates.

I do like the custom band callouts from what I've heard so far. Most seem to be from Gene but I think I heard a couple of Paul ones as well. They warn you when you have tilt warnings and also scold you when you tilt out.-which I seemed to do often.. tilt is setup rather tight and they swapped in those silicone outlane posts which make the outlanes quite deadly!

I think you have the tilt set up correctly and the game pitched and leveled how I like it . I think it's more a combo of having the bouncier outlane posts, steeper pitch and a new game that hasn't settled down yet. its just playing very fast and unpredictable right now... Once it gets a few hundred plays it should settle down some.