Quoted from Otaku:It's like MAME for arcades, kind awful and not much like the real thing
Not true at all. Arcade games have no physical component that can't be implemented. Pinball machines do.
MAME runs the original game code exactly as it runs on the original hardware, emulated so well it's nearly indistinguishable from the original hardware. If you're playing a MAME game using quality joysticks, spinners, & buttons I challenge you to tell the difference under a double blinded testing process.
Pinball physics emulation is not accurate enough yet. It probably will be someday, but it's not yet.