Hands down. TZ is best coded game from the 90’s, primarily due to all the things that have to interact with the ball (there was an overwhelming amount of toys that needed code). People talk about how WOZ approaches TZ from a toy perspective, but it really doesn’t. TZ is still more loaded than WOZ.

Noooo, IJ is about to loose
I have AFM, IJ, JP, LOTR among the top 8.

IJ is just the complete package, so that was the easy choice for me.
AFM is great as well, but playing IJ just makes me in a good mood everytime

I played mine ALOT last night...reminded me how amazing that game really is...

Aware it's not for everyone, and nothing wrong w that.

TZ and TAF were the only HEP worthy games in my lineup ( for me), and they never disappoint.

Let's see what i spent a lot of time on last night.... camera lit-->left orbit-->camera help-->triple pick up

Lets see how the Elite 8 of past years has looked....

As of 1300 EST the vote totals are as follows:

412
416
419
435

Why the disparity? How are people not putting in a vote for all four match-ups?

Guess which one is top heavy... Ghost votes perhaps?

Once these brackets are done, I would love to see PinSide setup an Elo Rating System. Log in with your account and then you are provided two pins, pick one, data gets recorded, two more pins, etc... Then you get to see a true Elo ranking. I think the data would be very telling.

Could be people didn’t vote in a matchup because they don’t have experience with either game. I skipped a matchup in round 1 with two games I had never played.

JJP-PotC and JP2 are the two newest games left. Their total vote number track right in line with AFM vs IJ which everyone in their mother has played. If that were the case why is AFM/IJ not tracking like MM/TZ.

I'm half tempted to code up the Elo ranking system myself but I'd need to find a place to host it.

Yea I am kind of sick of all the hyperbole behind the complexity of playing POTC. If you know general pinball terms (which I imagine most people here know considering it is a pinball forum), I can teach you the majority of the rules in 5 minutes.

Each character slightly modifies the rules of an aspect of the game. They do not have their own rulesets and it is not complicated. It would be nice if they organized them so beginner players were suggested to play a character like Norrington or Barbosa.

Post a video....I'd love to hear an explanation that my 10 year olds are willing to comprehend On the other hand MM and AFM are very easy to explain....POTC, WOZ not so much....maybe u just have a much higher IQ than we do

I'm just sick of all the talk about POTC in this poll period. Notice LOTR still kicking it's ass, w almost no chatter. There are other games in this bracket, believe it or not.

Back to TZ, nearing the 2/3 mile mark...is there any gas left ( said with humor as I love both of these games dearly)?

Love my WOZ, but can't get any non pinheads to play it w me....

My main complain with TZ is I don’t like theme and then the atmosphere of the game.
There is nothing to argue, just a matter of taste and color.
MM is so fun and humorous game and I consider it had the best toy ever made.
I understand your arguments regarding tournament aspects but I don’t think it concerns most of the players that play casually

Yes, agreed. Tourney players are a big minority of pinball players. Games that niche of the hobby like and do not like is not reflective of the hobby at large.

I can...Stern's JP. Metallica is a fun game casually...but when you really start to dig into it, it really is like chopping wood. Which is why I never bought one. JP, on the other hand, is easily as deep (if not deeper) and never feels like chopping wood. The only other game that gets my blood pumping like JP is IM...and maybe to a lesser extent Tron and BSD.

For me JP was more wood choppy than Met.
I get what you're saying, but the thing about me is when you set the PF right, as in what's lit and where, when that shit starts rolling it all blends from one thing to the next. I havent even played since they dumbed it down, but I imagine it's even less choppy now.

I don't understand how MET is a chopping chore, when you own a IM that seems very similar. Hit ramps for drones, hit monger to raise monger to hit monger. Hit war machine again and again, same with whiplash etc etc.

Sorry but what means « Chopping wood »?

Like chopping broccoli.

Like having to hit the same shots over and over, like you're chopping a tree....in order to get any exciting things to eventually happen. Like it's a grind to get there.

I'd have to really love the other game to vote against a game I haven't played. That's why I wouldn't vote in certain cases.

POTC for the win...!

I missed the start of this damn it. Oh well I'm checking it out now at least. Thanks for doing this!

Thanks buddy

So I can say that I have never had this feeling neither with Met nor with JP. Obviously when you own them since a long time and play them regularly, I think it is normal.
The only one that gave me this feeling is Star Trek, quite quickly actually

I would compare chopping wood to pinball as performing the same task over and over again. MET is famous for this besides the Crank it Up modes which are unfortunately only unlocked much later in the game. Want to start a multiball? Hit the same shot over and over again. Then most of the multiballs play the same way. Same goes with ACDC with its song modes and multiballs often requiring a single shot to be hit again and again.

Other examples are games filled with "super modes" that have you hitting the same shot over and over again. Games filled with "super ramps", "super pops", and "super bumpers" type modes come across in my opinion as filler modes with little value compared to well flushed out story based modes. The same goes for modes that have a player just hitting a ramp or orbit 5x, then 10x, etc.

A ruleset such as that in LOTR is the complete opposite of above and has modes that require the player to work the entire playfield in interesting ways while telling a themes story through unique mode animations, music, callouts, and sounds. When a game then implements that type of mode design into multiballs and wizard modes that have multiple stages you get a ruleset that makes players coming back again and again. Those are a couple reasons why I think LOTR has been so well regarded for this long.

Like MM, which somehow is so highly rated.

Try to get to end of the line or play any multiball. The wood chopping is real.

I'm not even sure that's Sparky all day is a good strategy anymore for Metallica. I'm trying to reach the End of the Line and to do that you're trying to shoot one of the five main shots then one shot each to Sparky, Grave Markers, and Snake. After that you need to shoot the same shot again and finally a shot to the captive ball to lock it in. If you're shooting the same shot over and over and over you're doing it wrong. The multiballs are more just a way to collect your items once more of those shots are lit. During every game, I'm strategically aiming for every single shot at some point in that game.

Can’t say about JP right now.
Regarding Met, my best score is near 500M, 2 CIU completed, failed in the third.
I really like the game all the more as I’m not a Metallica fan, by far.
I think I like Lyman game, TWD is still my favorite.

So true. I'm always amazed by the all-overness feel of LotR, how it uses the entire playfield in so many ways for so many modes.

To reach End of the Line you need to play 5 crank it up modes (The 5th being end of the line). To play a crank it up mode you need to hit 10 or so, crosses, snakes, sparky and coffin. There are some short cuts, yes, but that’s the rule. The qualification of future crank it ups is the exact same process except more shots to each.

That’s extremely wood choppy. If I’m not going for the wizard mode, I like MET alright, but man it becomes a chore if you’re trying to reach the end of the game. Not a fun ride.

TZ is a mere 13 votes behind...as voting is coming in an end.

I guess I define wood chopping as doing something repetitive, ex. hitting the same shot over and over. When the process of advancing requires hitting nearly every shot on the playfield it doesn't feel like a chore. Also, I would say the "short cuts" are the rule not the exception. You are not shooting 50 Snake, and 50 Sparky, 50 Grave Markers to light your Crank it Ups. You only need to hit each shot once to light it for the main shots in the game, five total. Then use those shots to collect your items since they are awarding three items per shot. I find it no more repetitive then shooting the saucer in AFM or red arrows in LOTR.

But be careful because if you lock in the inserts of all shots you start seek and destroy and they all unlight again! Haha. It’s like the game hates you and never wants you to reach the end. And the process of lighting the shorts cuts is much harder than you describe especially since most aren’t locking them in so they reset each ball.

Wood chopping or not, the journey needs to just be fun. The journey of LOTR or TWD or MM or many others are fun.

I do agree with Seek and Destroy. It's not worth collecting since it halts your progress. I almost think it should have been a multiplier. Complete a shot on Seek and Destroy and now that shot awards double the number of items. I've owned both MET and LOTR. I rate them both highly, but prefer MET.

Got as close as 5, now slipping a bit...think she jumped out of the gate too strong...

I will play it exclusively tonight, celebrating the best fight yet for the King, lol...

My quest is always LITZ...nothing worse than draining w one panel left and scoop lit..

I need to spend some quality time with TZ. It's a game that I've only flipped on location a few times, but it was indecipherable. It feels like woz to me. A bunch of cool toys and no idea what I'm actually targeting or why.

MM on the other hand is a one trick pony that I and people that I've played it with seem to intuitively get and just flip and have fun. It also helps that its one trick is the equivalent of jumping over the Grand Canyon by way of the moon on a tricycle. The castle is just that cool.

Not even gonna make the quarters...

It's so rewarding when you put it together. Such a great game.

In my top 2 no matter how I calculate enjoyment.

Another benefit to only being a mediocre pinball player - I rarely make it to my 2nd Crank It Up mode. Thus MET never gets too wood choppy for me and consequently, I still LOVE it!

If I had a complaint with Metallica, it's that the best points come from crank it up. Period. You aren't gonna go on any high score board without getting to at least one of them. No matter how awesome you do outside if CIU in that game, it doesn't mean a whole bunch, points wise.

I’ve seen people crush high score boards from right ramp to piston all day. If you can consistently do it, the values get insane.

Well all the progress in the game moving towards CIU, so it only makes sense.

That is super fun to do, but my god have I gotten some amazing crank it ups that would equal damn near 70% of my score.

Anyone who says Medieval Madness is a one shot game isn't playing it right. In a tourney I can see the castle being the only shot worth while. In my basement its battle for the kingdom or bust. I dont even shoot for the castle until I started getting all the champions lit.

Same with me and AFM. I don't play for score, I play for Rule The Universe.

The great thing about pinball is that there is no wrong answer to 'Best game ever'... Except X-Files, that game sucks.

I honestly don’t know what the hell you’re going on about.

The red arrows? What does that mean?

EPIC!!!!