Not a huge fan of playing games of this era....but damn they look GREAT. True pride in the work.

Iv played a really nice Sea Witch, I agree it plays very solid. The art is great too. Don't know if I would ever own one for myself though.

So much thought and detail going into these games. Especially if you like the -D&D kind of look. Amazing really.

Drop targets are begging for something.

Sterns rulesets were also very advanced for their time, not games you just walk up to and within minutes have it all figured out!

i also own a catacomb.
does your voice card work?

it s a really cool game,not very easy!!

I agree Sterns of this era are awsome... never owned this particular model, but the ones I have will never leave my collection... except maybe Nine-Ball...

Everytime I see a Catacomb thread I always ask: "Why do the lanes in the back box have 3 switches?" ...and I never get an answer.

That's a very good question... Never thought of it before... I've never played the game, so can't comment, but I'm sure the OP can help... Hyperion?

Classic Sterns are very good playing games. I really want a Catacomb.

I have never looked into the backbox of a Catacomb, but my guess is that they are wired in series (so it awards the same value 3 times) and they are tied to existing playfield switches since they had a limited number they could use. Just my guess, could be wrong

My guess is the 3 switches are redundancy if any stop working.

I got into some of the early Stern classics over the last few years. I think they match up with the best from the big three manufactures of the early 80s. The playfield designs are interesting, drops are butter smooth, spinners spin forever, and the rules are usually interesting for the period.

My favorites from the ones I've had the most experience on are Nineball, Stargazer, Catacomb, Seawitch, Meteor, and Big Game.

Dave

That was always my guess too, but 3 switches seemed a little overboard on having a backup.

I had the same guess too, but as you say, it's completely overkill... and I've NEVER seen a redundency of switches anywhere else in a pinball ever, so to suddenly have not just one but TWO as backup just doesn't make any sense... there must be another reason!?

Maybe the original idea was that the ball could jump between lanes and therefore trigger more letters, but in testing there was an issue, but instead of re-cutting the light boards to have just one slot as they removed this feature, they left all three in...?? Clutching at straws re guesswork here

Catacomb is a lot of fun. I believe Scott Charles has a nice video on You Tube that discusses the game play and strategy. I enjoy early SS, especially early Sterns. The following are particularly fun, IMO: Seawitch, Meteor, Big Game, Star Gazer, and possibly Galaxy (if you make it harder as many others have suggested in the past). Best of all, many of the early Sterns can be had for relatively little coin. Enjoy.

-Steve

I really enjoy playing Cheetah quite a lot! Split Second is supposed to be an excellent playing game too... Only had one game on it at another collectors house, so can't comment from personal experience on that one...

I recently got a flight 2000 and also was impressed with the overall game quality the only thing I can say negative is the flippers feel "clunky" and this is coming from someone who loves the feel of my stargate flippers which so many call clunky

HA! What a difference 8 years makes!!

I was just playing my catacomb tonight with PavBall We really love that game, my favorite classic stern...and tons of competition with classic stern games.

Man, you are not kidding...it’s incredible how quickly things change.

and you guys are freaking nuts.

classic sterns were the crappiest made games of that era. this had advantages though.... they were lightly made, so that means they felt great to play (when new.) But time is not friendly to this maker. Sam Stern and Gary Stern both play from the same book... make your games last 2 to 3 years, with parts that kill themselves, and don't engineer them to last any longer. EVERY classic stern i work on is a worn out piece of crap (comparatively to say Bally.) Sure you can rebuild them, you have to... but they were *not* made as well as say Ballys of the same era.

For example, stern flipper assemblies. damn they are awful, especially gen1 version (though gen2 isn't much better.) Felt great (lightly made), but just crap quality. And who in the hell uses PLASTIC pop bumper rod/ring assemblies? WHAT THE HELL is going on there???? PLASTIC??? Kind of reminds me of today's sterns with their self deteriorating flipper coil stops! ha! Why do you think classic Sterns are hard to find today? It's not necessarily because production numbers are low... because they really weren't low... it's because they killed themselves...

that said though, classic sterns were great games. just they need a lot of love today to restore them.

These 2 are underway.
Looking forward to setting them next to my Seawitch

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