I have owned them all. TNA is best for you IMHO, esp if the family is all into it. I saw you guys playing on route last Sunday and the whole family seemed really into TNA. Did you play any CoOP games with all 4 of you working together to destroy the game?

Also, for the poll... Pinside historically has a bunch of people that are hardcore on ST (esp defenders of the premium/LE looking to dump and hoping they will eventually stop loosing value on the secondary market), so that will almost always skew a poll like this. Too many defenders of the game they own rather than purely judging on what they really feel is best for you in their opinion.

Ironman would be my second choice for you based on what you seem to like in pinball.

ST would be a distant 3rd. You have already been down that road and it did not stick for a reason.

TNA has 13 shots from the main pf. 7 more shots from the upper. 20 total shots from 3 flippers.
IM has 18 total shots from 2 flippers.
ST has 21 total shots from 3 flippers.

All 3 games are very similar in number of shots. Someone at one point came up with this narrative that TNA has limited shots when in reality it has similar amount of shots as every modern game.

fair enough if that is how you play pinball and think about it. I can totally understand "feel" of a shot as being your qualifier for a shot.

In most case I guess I would agree, esp if a game has four standups in a bank and you can hit any one of them to award the shot (i.e. Whiplash you can hit either and in fact they are angled for that reason). TNA each standup is a specific shot and programmed into the game with the need to hit specific shots so I personally think they all feel really different, esp in actual game play. For example, I can promise you when you are on reactor 5 and all you have let is the "D" target, it feels extremely different then the "R" target in that same bank.

If you really want to think of shots as how they "feel" then I would say TNA has 11 main shot "feels"
Left RAD targets (in progressively harder to hit as you go down)
Left orbit/ spinner (man this feels great to hit, esp in combo and when supper spinner is rocking)
Red block targets (one on each side but they feel similar to me with a nigh deflecting hit to be safe and often the easiest feeling shot for me)
Left scoop (love this sound, feel, challenge, and speed of return)
Keypad standup bank (in your face and all 3 targets feel similar but I treat them different as the outside can be glanced easier and center can be death)
Drop 1 (beautiful either forehand or back hand and the return bounce is quick due to position at front of channel)
Drop 2 (I prefer forehand for this and the channel often makes it a less predictable return)
Drop 3 (I prefer back hand and the channel tends to have enough space for a predictable and smooth exit)
Right Scoop (oh so satisfying to hit, the sound followed by the drop resets in mutli is music to my ears and feels amazing; also the return speed is completely different thane the drop inlines)
Right Orbit (probably my most challenging shot but butter smooth)
Right pop bumper smash (k-thunk sound of hitting this to vlow a reactor is like none other)

This response makes it obvious you have not played the game much. Not trying to be a dick here and you are entitled to your opinion, but yes shooting top lanes from upper pf and hitting standups in upper pf are extremely important when going for big points and all very makeable and controlled shots.

I suggest getting a nights session on the game with someone that can show you the ropes and explain on the fly. The speed of the game can make you miss the importance of each shot if you are just too busy reacting and slapping the ball around.

now for IM feel of shots, I put it at 10 main "feel shots"

Left bank are all similar in feel
Left orbit is great and smooth/satisfying to blast
War machine with the in your face return
Left ramp is so much fun and the exact right amount of smoothness and need of clean shot
Center spinner is tight feeling when you need it but not so important most of the time
Whiplash while 2 targets they dont feel any differnet and either functions the same.
Right ramp actually feels very simialer to left but just opposing flipper. I actually think its beast feature is the tie in to other ramp and hitting them alternating on the fly is super fun!
Right spinner/orbit feels similar to left but nice and clean also
Right target bank all feel similar.

IM again has similar number of "feel" shots as TNA. However, for me personally IM is more bilaterally divided in design so I find the right and left sides of the game feel similar and I take points away for that (i.e. left and right orbit, left and right target banks, left and right ramps are similar feel, just opposite sides of pf). This bilateral design is part of the appear for the game, but to me it 'feels' much less diverse in shot type than a game like TNA.

we can agree to disagree.

I did not state the "feel" idea but I can get behind it and understand how people perceive shots based on fell. Also just pointing out how TNA has lots of "feels"

Orbits feel completely different on TNA. I think everyone will say the left is easier to hit than the right and on different flipper position. Scoops are completely different on R and L also (both position and depth of field and return)

for sure, 100%

I think all 3 games in discussion here are super fun. We are splitting hairs and just having fun discussing.

I still think you cant go wrong with either. For the OP, I personally suggest TNA as I think the family will really love the Co-Op and that is a big sell in this case. Great to get the family playing together.