Well not really sure why (maybe because of the corny humor etc) I never liked MM much and I owned a nice original for years.

Never really understood how it could be so highly rated.. same deal with MB.

AFM to me is way more fun and shoots great, can be a bit wood choppy though.

If you were to grab joe off the street who had never played pinball before and left him with both machines, he would prefer Medieval Madness. Taking toys out and playing with a box of lights... he would prefere Medieval Madness.

Were you to take a random player from league night, AFM would win. I've got an original AFM next to a MMr LE at home in a small collection (besides STTNG and TSPP). I'm still loving both, but AFM is staying while MMr is going.

I believe the risk reward shots on AFM are more difficult. You are more likely to drain on the Saucer Shot than the Castle Shot in MMr and it requires a strategy of waiting for and timing your multiball shots. I also think the lower MARTIAN shots are a bit riskier than say the catapult shot.

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MM for me, I feel the drawbridge and castle are better than the ship and raising 3 bank. I like the Madness MB risk/reward factor over TA, although TA is great. Castle MB and the 3 lock MB on AFM are about the same.
But where MM is bette, is BFTK, it’s more challenging and better implemented than the shoot everything RTU. Just more satisfying to win.
Both are great, but AFM was the rough draft, Medieval is the Masterpiece!

The Royal edition of MMR is just stunning. It’s really hard for me to divorce the gameplay rules from that. The topper / light show / rails just add so much enjoyment for me. That being said I’d love to find a nice AFMle.

from that stand point AFM is a classic to most "players" and tourney type guys.

MM not so much so thats probably your answer there.

MM has more appeal to the "collector" type who wants more toys and bling and more stuff.

afm is way better.

What if 80% choose AFM, will that mean u will prefer it? Never will I understand these threads.

Pros for AFM

Shots

- It has 3 ramps (lock shot has a diverter that turns the shot into a ramp) this is the most satisfying shot in the game, MM only has 2
- Saucer is a much more strategic toy, the bank target has 3 lights, you have to hit the blinking lights to lower the bank
- The drop target fires the ball back at you in a much more intense fashion than the bridge/gate
- 4 martian targets are more fun/a better challenge to shoot than two big trolls

Code
- Better multi balls, more varied and unique
- Has tracked combos, you need to achieve a 5 way combo to get to the wizard mode
- Need to be more strategic with multiballs and bash toy, you have to lower the bank before starting a multi ball
- You need a super jackpot to reach the wizard mode, so you can't just use multi balls to blow up center target

Pros for MM

shots

- Easier to hit more flowy ramps (especially the right ramp) allowing more ramp combo flow, in AFM the right ramp is sometimes hard to hit
- Overall shots "feel" a little more intricate/dynamic because of the way they are presented

Code

- Has a few more tracked achievements, trolls, castles, damsels (vs. just martians)
- Has a little more depth with mode/multiball stacking in order to achieve high scores

Other points

In terms of shot feel I would say that each game matches their theme. AFM is fast, kind of like shooting lasers. MM is a little slower and bendy, kind of like shooting an arrow.

It should be noted that in AFM the orbits at first shoot at the Jets, so you need to "unlock" the flow. In MM the orbit starts open and then closes. A matter of preference there.

Information used to make a big purchase. Finding these games to actually play isn't exactly easy these days.

Both games are all time classics. Pretty hard to beat AFM on code imo. I feel like it’s perfect for the game. Some say it’s not deep enough, but I personally feel there is just enough content. My BIGGEST complaint on MM is the scoring!! God I hate the scoring!
Overall afm > mm imo. Both fun games though for sure.

I'm sort of in between, I'm not really a random person off the street who doesn't play pinball, but I'm no expert either. But I have gotten into pins in my last years so I have some experience. All my experience with these 2 machines so far is from my trips over to the Banning museum. So I have played them a decent amount but not a lot, and definitely not enough to get a mental picture of everything that is going on with the rules and such.

So, I really like playing both of them, basically just bashing away and having fun. But I will say this, even without really knowing what I was doing, and just bashing away at MM, I beat the ever-loving snot out of that game. Racked up credits like crazy. That always worries me, when I can somewhat easily beat a machine I have barely played. That might be a signal it is too easy and will get boring. ATM didn't seem to have this issue.

I had both, side by side even and AFM left. I still miss it from time to time but MM has more shots and it flows better imo. I had limited space and they both felt similar so adding all aspects up MM is really the next evolutionary step from AFM.

Either one is amazing but in a small collection of 5 or less, no reason to have both.

Had a MM. Fun toys (castle/trolls) but rules/code got stale quickly.

I'm a AFM type for sure. I think both can be a bit wood chopping, but I think AFM does a better job of sprinkling in fun stuff to do while you chop wood.

That said, toys on MM > AFM.

Looks like it was a tie 7 years ago, MM had an edge 8 years ago

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/afm-vs-mm

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mm-vs-afm-the-case-for-afm

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I've had both for more than 10 years now, but give the nod to AFM. On top of all the other reasons some prior posters have said they give the nod to AFM, I'll add that getting "Dirty Pool" on AFM is one of my favorite pinball moments in any game, and the ability to do that makes the Saucer/Force Field raising and lowering target bank one of the best toys in pinball. I love it.

Also someone posted this on reddit the other week

https://www.reddit.com/r/pinball/comments/isno2f/attack_from_mars_or_medieval_madness/

106 v 61 for MM. Interesting it was nearly 2/3 for AFM here and 2/3 for MM there

I've owned both these games. One isn't really better than the other. As most people who have played or owned both these games know there are several similarities in call outs, rules, etc....it really comes down to personal preference. For myself I ended up selling AFMRLE and keeping my MMRLE .... why? because the kids liked blowing up the castle more than the ship....they are both great games with great flow, and rule sets u don't need to be a PHD to understand.

Then u shouldn't buy it. That's a lot of money to spend on a toy because other people like it. Make arrangements to try both then decide. Listen I'm very guilty of this and that's why I'm trying to help this man, when I first starting collecting I bought what I thought u were supposed to, like a real jackass that I am. the big name B/W and most of them were disappointing but I loved the middle ground. JM, TS Congo etc. they were half the price and not really celebrated. So learn from my mistake and try both then decide. Personally I would rather have TS than AFM and JM than MM. Good luck

Its true...ratings are totally subjective....its crazy to me how many games are purchased site unseen...every game, theme, etc...resonates with people differently.

Both games are amazing and i would love to own both but there’s something about AFM that is just flat out fun.

I own MMr and never owned AFM but have played it quite a few times. Played an AFMr a few months ago and my impression was.... meh..

While they are both somewhat shallow games by today's standard, I find that BFTK is more challenging than RTU. I prefer games I cannot easily get to the end. I have gotten to BFTK quite a few times now and even almost twice per game on a few occasions but never been successful at beating the King of Payne. Keeps me coming back for more.

Also, as been said above, non-pinheads LOVE MM.

I said that earlier.... AFM is more of a players game and MM is more for the bling and trophy collecting guys

I dont know anyone who I would consider a good player or tourney type guy who has a MM..... AFM yes.

MM is a favorite among the more casual players.. or back in the day just because it was the most expensive pin so it was a trophy.

They are both great games for a multitude of reasons. Both have about the same code complexity, both have great flow, both have their major toys in the center of the play field, both have very similar callouts, both standard size games....one u blow up castles, the other u blow up space ships....pick your poison

I disagree but to each his own. I think that I probably didn't like AFMr much because I have RFM which re-uses a lot of the same assets and the layout is certainly similar. Never intended to own one (RFM) but the deal was impossible to pass on. Now there's another game that non-pinheads like but I digress lol.

i saw afm. its fun, sometimes too hard (depending on your setting). the rule are simple, but the game can be deeper than most realize with some not so seen multiballs, moving targets and mini game on the screen.

i like mm, but heard a lot of folks say how easy it is. on afm, rule the universe is not easy and you can have a great game, followed by one that just kicks your butt.

Same can be said about MM with Barnyard Madness and the elusive "Save the Children" video mode. Royal Madness is cool too with having to make all the shots within a certain time.

Tie!

It's weird how few people know about the video mode in MM. Then again, it's awful and is not easy to start. (Maybe they made it hard to start because it stinks?)

I find it slightly better than the AFM video mode which is nothing more than sweeping side to side the whole time. At least on MM you have to change directions sometimes lol. I think video modes suck in general anyway.

With that being said both AFM and MM at least have some randomness in the video modes it's not always identical (like Dr Who, STTNG, etc).

They’re both great, and really very similar. Overall I prefer MM but I wouldn’t turn down an AFM... however I don’t think you need to own both.

As for why MM? Theme, art and sound are subjective so I’ll leave them out of this...

Multiball Madness. It’s super cool to stack all the various multiballs and them pop them all off at once... it’s basically an evolution of Total Annihilation.

The standard Multiball mode where you’re killing the knights is a little more interesting than just shoot shoot shoot super jackpot...

The ability to hunt castles in multiball... AFM will let you kill an open saucer during MB but not open another. MM you can actually keep qualifying castles. This gives you more multiball strategy in MM.

Trolls are more fun and cooler than the bouncing martians and targets. They also get in the way, which is more of a challenge.

The Battle for the Kingdom endgame on MM is also more satisfying, it’s kind of an evolutionary step from AFMs.

I had them both once. Started out preferring AFM, ended up preferring MM... it’s just AFM perfected. You can see the design lineage and how Lyman and Eddy set out to improve certain things.

DAMN YOUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shakes fist at Fizz

I prefer MM and yes I own one. But I recently borrowed AFM for a few months and I have more fun with MM. AFM is a fun game, but I didn't like the right ramp and the one shot that felt good isn't available all the time. Talking about the middle ramp to lock balls...wish it could be a real ramp all the time.

That's the ONE thing I haven't done. Played Strobe Multiball in a dark room. RFM has a similar mode with Hypno Beam but there's nothing like having a seizure while playing pinball lol.

I actually prefer how AFM doesn't allow you to make a ton of progress on UFO's during a multiball. And also you can dirty pool which is one of the coolest tricks in pinball. (Or just leave it parked up there and play a single ball multiball)

It's good for earning an EB (and a half bill on your way there)

Had both, sold AFM around 4yrs ago...
missed it and so..,

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Yeah. I believe it's 10 hits to lit EB. And then it's like 250m jackpots every additional 10 hits or so. (On top of the 50mil per shot)