Huh, why do you say that? The only feature I can imagine giving up on Met for a Pro would be the rising cross. It's cool, but whatever, doesn't change gameplay. The dual snake mouth, the hammer lock, the RGB arrows, all make the game better.

Just get a slimmer hammer, solved.

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I don't care if people love it or hate it, so over-rated doesn't mean anything to me, but I think it's fucking cool, I love creative ball locks and magnets. No way I'd want to give it up.

Dumb prices aside I want more toys and interactive features. It depends on the the game design though admittedly. I love drop targets, but I'm not sure I'd prefer my Tron Pro had them. But they're not really in a satisfying place to shoot drops, and banking the ball off the targets feels good.

Metallica's hammer feels great to me though. People love seeing it go. I admittedly thought it was too big and clunky, which is why my mod exists, it was just a personal project before people started asking me to make more. But not I have zero issues, it blocks nothing. When it slams down and the shaker goes off I feel very satisfied.

I'm certainly not going to argue with you about what you like!

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I had a Star Trek Premium. I don't really love that game in general it turns out, one of the reasons I sold it is I just found it somewhat dull in the end after owning it for a while. But I far preferred the Premium just for the RGB LED inserts, they really made the game look great and the effects on shots were awesome. Nothing about it was 'worse' in any way than the Pro, even if the upgrades were mostly cosmetic.

Is the Pro a better 'value'? Sure, if you just want to shoot the layout for less money it's totally fine, the extra stuff adds more intangibles than serious gameplay features. But if you leave money out there's no way I wouldn't want the Premium instead. Which is what I thought the point of the topic was, gameplay and enjoyment, not what you were spending.

I wouldn't pay the going price for my Metallica LE now, that's for sure!

Which is why I was puzzled by people saying they don't like the extra mechanical interaction on Metallica. Anyways, not trying to beat the horse with you, if you don't like it you don't like it.

Beyond the RGB arrows giving you good game feedback, beyond the cross being a satisfying multiball start, beyond the hammer being an awesome physical ball lock, I really like how the snake is a two way switch/scoop and you don't just go into its mouth every time. Shots that change are one of my favorite things in pinball.

I haven't made that in years (for reasons) and I still regularly get people asking me about it. I'm glad you like it!

Appreciate that. If it was easy to keep making them I would have, but for obvious reasons the market for this kind of mod isn't so wild west anymore. And I respect that, but that's why I avoid doing anything with trademarks now.

There is nothing wrong with this preference. I'm looking for a little more than just making shots as fast as I can personally. At least across a variety of games, it's nice to have a good title for scratching that itch.