As said many times in this thread, the top 100 and all ratings are manipulated both up and down. Take it with a grain of salt.

Either read up on the basic rules or play the game with someone that knows. I find I need about 20 games with a little instruction to make a judgement.

For example, the first 10 or 20 times I played SW, I thought it was blah. Only after playing with one of my friends and he pointed out the basic goals and rules did I become addicted to it.

GB is no different. With current code, you can't just "shoot the blinky lights and don't drain". You will not get very far and will start many of the same modes and hear many of the same callouts as you start the first mode of each ladder and get nowhere. As someone said earlier, there is strategy with the order in which you finish a mode. If your last shot is the first shot of another ladder, you will complete the current mode and start the next (first) mode of the next ladder, again, getting nowhere.

The call-outs make me laugh, every time. The art is one of the best (the LE armor is disappointing). Gorgeous, well appointed playfield. One of the best, if not THE best multiball starts in pinball. The magnaslings are hilarious to watch. Some of the shot are tight but all are make-able including the right ramp on mine, right out of the box. The game does need some mods to eliminate airballs and cheap drains but after that, it's pure fun and still bolted to the floor.

I've owned the LE since launch. A dream theme for me. It has been a love-hate relationship but mostly love once I settled down and used some strategy to progress through the game. I'll never forget the first time I started "We Came, We Saw, We kicked its A..", such an adrenaline rush!

Agree!

Mine does seems to get the ball stuck in the pops but heck, it gives you awards so why complain? It also doesn't seem like TOO long considering the duration of the typical game.

I don't understand the SPIKE fear. Sites like Pinside can magnify a non-issue into an issue. People don't typically post "Man, my spike game has been flawless", the complainers are more likely to sound louder than the satisfied customers.

BTW: Man, my 3 spike games have been just as reliable as my SAM, Whitestar, WPC, etc. games.

SAM and whitestar are worse in this regard. They have a total of 2 boards with everything on them. One has the CPU, sound and display driver (some titles have a separate power supply and driver board for the display), the other has the power supply, solenoid drivers and the lamp and switch matrices.

Spike has a separate modern switching power supply (no transformer). One board with the CPU, display and sound drivers. But the real beauty is the distributed boards with switch inputs, controlled lamp outputs and solenoid outputs. This GREATLY reduces the complexity of wiring in a game (short runs from each board under the PF rather than many long runs into the backbox). Plus for those people that cannot replace a driver transistor themselves can remove a small board and either buy a new one or send off the small board for repair. Much easier than sending off a 10" by 14" (or so) SAM or Whitestar power/driver board.

Granted, Stern charges too much for replacement boards ($200+ for a node board but what manufacturer doesn't charge too much for replacement parts (see: automobiles).