Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:Getaway is great for a multitude of reasons, and the first title I thought of when I read your post. The rule set is simple to understand, progress is visually well presented with the large tach in the center of the playfield, gear indicator inserts, and the traffic light, the flow and speed of the game are great with some occasional pauses (ball lock, supercharger action), good bumper action, interactive gear shifting is fun but challenging sometimes knowing when to take your hand off the flipper button to shift, music and callouts are great, plenty of shots that are all achievable, the ball looping around the supercharger while shaking the entire pin is cool, and there are mods galore for this title: PinSound, shaker, color DMD, all of my custom mods, etc.)
Getaway is a little different from many other car themed pins in that it is not a racing game but a chasing game. Your speeding away from the cops on the open highway with some chick you picked up in the passenger’s seat of your 90’s Lambo Diablo (I know that Steve Ritchie has never admitted to this, but the car make/model is obvious), and that’s sort of exhilarating while your Alpine audio system is pumping out tunes at 100+ MPH. Talk about every dude’s fantasy!
It’s always the game I go to in my 3 pin collection when I just want to have fun and play some pinball without having to concern myself with a deep rule set or overly difficult challenges. It’s a game I can play and walk away from with a smile on my face even if I don’t come close to beating it, knowing I enjoyed the experience and have a real chance of beating it next time (which for me means getting through all the gears and achieving Redline Mania, achieving Red Light Multiball, and getting at least one Super Jackpot).
The next time I talk to Steve at a show, I have to ask him about something that has been bothering me for a long time.
Why is there a Weiand 8-71 super charger when the car is a Diablo?!?
For whatever reason, it somehow thematically "just works" though, haha.