Sarasota, FL
My comments when rating AIQ:
INTRO: AIQ LE transcends pinball and is in the catgegory of interactive kinetic sculpture. My philosophy has always been that there is no perfect 10 in any category, and that a “perfect” anything can only score a 9.999. AIQ has changed that in the pinball category. Never before has a pin had such kinetic energy and artistic beauty. It’s a wireform roller coaster under glass. It’s the current pinnacle of design and implementation in the pinball industry and hobby, and is suitable for tournament play, mode players, and old-school walk-up-and-play shooters. AIQ in LE or Premium form is literally neurologically therapeutic to play, and is the new high water mark for pinball.
PLUS: Great for nearly endless combo shots to any and all ramps. One high point is the initial plunger service to the playfield. The shooter rod delivers the ball around the top partial orbit and on a wireform to the right flipper. This begins the game, much like Jurassic Park, with control for the player to a skill shot or the best therapy ever in the form of ramp combo shots. The top left ramp returns the ball to the left flipper via wireform. These 2 features alone keep the game from being a brick-fest or wood-chopping excursion. And the Avengers Tower lock shot is as tight and gratifying as they come, too.
The top right ramp is accessible from all 3 flippers, and the orbit for the top left flipper returns the ball to the bottom flippers for controlled play. Not to be left out, the Captain Marvel ramp is a gravity inversion scoop-to-wireform that also returns to the right flipper. The Portal gobbles the ball into a subway with visible windows, and then delivers the ball to the Pym Lab for ejection onto the same wireform as the Captain Marvel ramp.
Elwin’s design and flow are both signature-specific and ground-breaking. This is even better than Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park, and those are high on playability and theme integration, etc. AIQ exceeds all expectations and standards in pinball design and gameplay. It’s perfection as kinetic sculpture that is interactive with a player. Best tactile feel of any pin ever. It’s the “Goldilocks” pin, where everything is “just right”.
MINUS: AIQ can only have the negatives that come with licensing restrictions and designations, IMHO. Marvel chose the voice actors and designated the MCU theme to be off-limits, so this is based on the comics. Because of that, there aren’t any familiar voices from the movies, and the call-outs are generic and unfulfilling because of this limitation. (But any negative is far outweighed by the overall amazing and unprecedented gameplay of this epic pin.)
SUMMARY: AIQ is the long-play king with great (and improving) code, second only to maybe The Lord of the Rings in ways. I’ve broken my ideological guidelines to give this machine a 10 (9.94 for the Premium). It makes me content to play only this pin, and that’s never happened to me before in my 45 years of pinballing. As much as I enjoy many other pins from the various eras, this one makes me forget almost all of them. AIQ is the best of the best, including all the amazing mid-‘90s Williams/Bally DMDs and the earlier System 11s. I’m buying a NIB LE, and it’s the one pin that will never leave my collection.
