JJP's Pirates of the Caribbean is a fantastic game. I was thrilled to be able to play this first hand at Expo this year (was one of the few things that made it worthwhile this year). Those that know me know I'm not a big fan of JJP games. I think Dialed In has a fantastic layout and smooth, fun interesting shots but I just don't connect with the theme. Pirates has both - great satisfying shots and a theme that I believe is timeless. It's Pirates for crying out loud! Whether it was based on the original movies or not, the whole nautical theme has so many cool things to pull from that it makes it timeless. The fact that they have so many movies with great video, sounds and images to pull from will make this game a hit. And I agree, so what if a POTC game was done before - this design blows the previous version out of the water. No more grinding out hitting the ship over and over and over again, or hitting tortuga over and over and over, or the chest over and over and over. They both will have their place, but this is the first JJP pin that may have a place in my house.

Eric did a fantastic job with the layout with some very satisfying and fun shots and combos. Risk reward with the compass is going to be awesome when finished, I love the bump save on the right side drain (this is brilliant), and since "immersion" is the buzzword for this forum, this game has plenty of it. An upper playfield that rocks like a ship in big waves? A treasure chest with physical ball locks? A whirlpool ramp? A canon shooting the ball? Spinning map like in the movies? I can't think of many games with that many "toys" that tie so well into a theme. Honestly, really, really well done game showing that a rookie designer can do great things.

With 200? modes and 20? characters, JJP has their work cut out for them in making them all awesome and unique, but I'm sure they will knock it out of the park.