Picked up my KISSLE today. Here are the first unboxing pictures.

Watch gameplay Video here:

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A few more.

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A few more after I got the "LE Armour" installed.image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

Sorry, for not having time to do a video, I was having some minor technical difficulties with the game, and by the time I had it all tuned up, I had to catch a redeye to LA. I'll be back Saturday and try to get a video then. In the mean time here's my short review of the game.

The Good:

The artwork, metallic decals, mirrored backglass are outstanding. No picture does them justice. You can kind of see in a couple of pictures how the faces on the cabinet have kind of a 3D, lifted look to them. When the light hits the flames, they also have a realistic look to them. "Luci" was my favorite artwork package of recent Stern's. Not anymore. KISSLE is amazing. Lighting is also great, the only game that has better lighting is Star Trek.

Sound is also the best I have ever heard on a pinball by far. I have always liked the sound on AC/DC premium, but this is whole new level of clarity and depth.

The not so good:

As expected the code has a long way to go. The game can seem clunky at times, but this has an upside. The game rewards you for well placed shots. It makes the good shots feel more rewarding. This ain't no Steve Ritchie game!

This is my first "Spike" game. While the jury is still out, and I know this system adds a lot of possibilies for the future, I'm just not a fan yet. The system seems like "Papa SAM" and "Mama The Pin" had a baby, and they named it Spike. I know it's the future, but it just seems cheap. Flashers don't seem as bright. Coils don't seem to fire as hard, and other things I just can't put my finger on.

Some more important details:

Now, this is the most important takeaway if your on the fence about a pro or LE/premium: that one little single drop target in the Star child area. That little addition makes the whole area more fun and rewarding. Depending on the code, it stops the ball from exiting the area too early, or it pulses and kicks the ball back up into the targets or saucer. When I saw the feature on the game description, I thought it was just there to block your first shot to Star Child, but it does a lot more than that. It makes that whole area more fun! The floating ball is cool but it is kind of just window dressing, except for the fact I think it makes it easier to start Love gun multiball, as it is much easier to hit the right ramp than it is to hit the star child area.

The other important difference, is the real ball lock for demon multiball vs the virtual lock on the pro. When demon multiball starts, the balls are rapid fired out of Gene's mouth, machine gun style, and with force! It is a trip! I have had no SFTM shots out of his mouth.

Bottom line: if your happy with your pro, don't play a premium/LE. Kiss is not as different as AC/DC PRO/premium, but it is more different than MET pro/premium.

Artwork. 10
Sound. 9.5
Lighting 9.0
Code 5.0
Game play 7.0

Basically Paul just twitches, barely enough to be noticeable. Definitely not a reason to choose premium/LE.

Definitely a keeper. I'm sure the code will be fine in 2 or 3 years! I don't think it will be better than AC/DC, but it has huge potential.

Stern still has their version of Special Armor for the game I just like Pinball Metal's version much better.

As far as my comment about differences between pro/premium, let me rephrase it. I love my Met Premium much better than the Pro, because of the addition toys, but in the overall scheme of things, I don't think the differences in toys affect over all game play/scoring as much as the differences in Kiss pro/premium. Met pro/premium definitely has more differences than the KISS pro/premium.

I'm sure they could change the pulse time, but I don't think it would make much difference.

No issues at all. The holes lined up perfectly. Three nuts to remove the power supply cover, no big deal. Thanks for the great product! Took me about 20 minutes start to finish.

Gameplay Video here:

There's a few left. I would give JJ a call at GEX.