It’s likely that when the Scoleri Brothers are up, hitting the left ramp from a moving ball that just came through the right inlane is easier than any other ways to shoot it. From the inlane, it will already have leftward velocity, so any shot will continue to drift left as it travels up the playfield, sneaking around the drop target.

I love my GB. Balls do NOT spend too much time in the pops, I have zero airballs, Spike is fine, no flipper gap problem whatsoever. Hoping for a good code update though.

Great game IMO.

I can see the premise there, and by the looks of the scores you do it fairly consistently. I currently like the mode track (left scoop is optimal route) and light SF thru the pop awards, as a lot of the mode shots (orbits) will dump the ball in the pops. This way I'm scoring on shots rather than trying to move captive balls (which I'm not consistent with). If I can complete two modes and start SF, I'm looking at 200M minimum, often much more. I'd love to see your strategy in action if you have any video.

This is so true. It does a decent job of giving direction once something gets started, but it doesn't help someone with "how" to start anything. Inevitably, this game attracts a lot of play from people at the house, but their initial impression is usually negative (with comments on how hard it is). The ones that are open to a little explanation often change their opinion. Super-casuals that don't care about "rules" don't ever give it a chance.

There are a lot of very lucrative options to choose from at the start of each ball...much moreso than on most games I think. But I don't think they are quite the "gimme's" that a lot of the GB haters make them out to be.

The competetive side of the game is very fascinating. I keep telling myself every month that I'm going to start playing in the Denver tournament, but I never get there. Hopefully one month that will change!

Those of you that have the Stern topper, does it integrate well ? I'm looking at adding it but at 500 it better be great

I have one,and it looks nice, but does very little. Goes off a few times during gameplay and in attract mode, but kind of underwhelming to be honest.

I agree, does very little.

I thought that the SF award from the pops was just lighting a single lock. Is that true? I never go this route but I've seen people just get one lock lit, collect it, and then never get another. My machine is always in tournament mode so the pop awards are not random. I would have guessed that it's just too tedious to go deep enough into the award progression to make it to three locks...not sure I've ever seen it. Are you in tournament mode?

Agree, they aren't gimme's. But it sucks that you spend an entire minute or two short plunging and then taking shots without starting the ball save. It's pretty boring. However, if that option went away, it would be even more frustrating because the skill shots are so valuable that having one one shot at them is really punishing.

Do it! The Colfax tournament is tough, but you do get 8-10 games guaranteed. Lots of other tournaments and leagues all over. Most with a wide range of experience amongst the players.

Yes it is. If SF is awarded from the pops it's only one lock at a time. But I go into the pops constantly. Taking the 10% right orbit skill shot dumps you there, and at least two shots on any mode...sometimes more. And my game bounces the ball in the pops for a while each time. I do not have my game on tournament mode, so that is an issue I didn't consider. If it doesn't award SF locks often enough in tournament mode, that method wouldn't work. In standard play, if I finish two modes I'll usually have SF ready to go...three modes tops.

Without a doubt the code on this game is...let's say...quirky. The short plunge option does keep it from becoming simply shoot the "K" and win or miss and lose. I'm not the creative type, so I can't think of the best way to fix all of GB's code quirks. I'm putting my faith in Stern to really get this right. I love this game and think they can make it truly amazing with the right final code.

I'd really like to join a league, but schedule consistency is tough on me. I'll try to hit up couple of Colorado Springs people to see if something can get started closer to CS.

I've said before,and I think its time to give the paying players 5 balls for their bucks!!3 balls just is not enough ball time to get exited with!!

Maybe I'll get motivated to do a glass off test and write down the order of awards in tournament mode. It's just two shots to the captive ball and you can do it without validating the playfield, so it's not that big of a deal to me personally. My bigger gripe is that a large portion of the people who play have no idea. But maybe that's true of any game that doesn't have obvious "lock" inserts.

Ryan,
Your analysis of the GB scoring imbalances is impressively comprehensive. If you haven’t already, would you send it to Stern? I’m guessing you’ve given this more thought than they have. Hopefully, they’ll address most of this stuff in the long-awaited code update. Thanks!

I'm flattered, thank you! It's easy to point out the flaws, but the harder part is what to do about them - something which I haven't spent any time on at all. I'd certainly engage if someone reached out, but as passionate as I sound, I don't want to turn this into a crusade or anything.