(Topic ID: 194752)

Star Wars - A negative review

By Hawkeyepin

6 years ago


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  • 674 posts
  • 168 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by Psw757
  • Topic is favorited by 7 Pinsiders

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#137 6 years ago

Have yet to play SW yet but hollow seems to describe many of Stern pins, hardware, software and QC is off. It's almost like a race to the bottom. I don't like BM66 look in the dictionary under the word meh they have a picture of BM66 especially not at the price, let alone the code debacle and throw in PF issues they hit the trifecta.

Even their so called 'hit' games are not that great, I own STLE maybe one of the last great LE but it's code is kind of meh. I'm trying to like it because it looks so pretty and it has a great layout but it's modes are just flat, no juice.

I do love Met, TWD, IM, Tron and ACDC of their latter games but there are as many that I really dislike and others that I just don't care about and that's because Stern doesn't try any more, just cash grab city. Maybe a great game sneaks out but that's by chance because Stern has really stopped tryimg. Now their cabinets don't hold together and their new system has node issues.

I do like GB premium when I played seems well made, but have heard the code is not the best which IMO sums up many of their games particular lately starting with XMLE if it wasn't Lyman on code, don't touch it. (Edit I've not got much time on GOT but that really is a gorked license to me. Didn't understand the bizarre multipliers and the video modes Stern is deciding to cram down our throat is another thing I hate).

I'm free and clear of Stern since STLE (did buy TWD pro but that it and only after I was satisfied with the code and second hand so Stern didn't benifit directly from me I want to make a point.).

If SW and BM is any indication of Stern pinball going forward they will do so without me (and look at my collection 10 Stern pins five were bought NIB) no more, they've made their bed they have to lie in it.

#139 6 years ago

SW would have been a dream theme but thanks to Stern I'm totally over it. Why couldn't JJP have done this theme?

#148 6 years ago

Just as an off topic, I see some people saying AS is good? I had the opportunity to pick one up for a very great price but had just bought SM red so I passed on AS pro. Now after playing AS, I'm very glad I didn't. It's very meh. The toy box shot was neat the first time but I can't believe that wouldn't get tired after 100 times. I like TOTAN magnet trick well that's cool, but it's not like you see that trick 5 times on every ball on every game.

#197 6 years ago
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:

Call me silly, but I love playfield magnets. Such a great thing seeing that ball come to a dead stop, get thrown around, manipulated, picked up, etc. I LOVE playfield magnets. You know you do too. Such a great idea.
Look at modern games like TWD, MET, SM.... great integrated gameplay. Looks at classics like BSD, TAF, TZ.... such innovative uses of playfield magnets. Look at classic outlane magnet ball saves like Black Knight & Grand Lizard, how awesome are they? Even IM, one of the fastest games ever, has a playfield magnet. Magnets are awesome. There's so much you can do with them.
So why the hell does SW (which SCREAMS for a playfield magnet to USE THE FORCE) not have a fricking playfield magnet??? That's just incomprehensible to me. It should have like 4 playfield magnets & should have taken BSD's Myst Multiball gimmick to another level. THAT's the type of gameplay that should have represented this theme, not some blazing fast ramp/orbit speedfest. I know I'm disappointed & should get over it, but what a lost opportunity IMO. Don't bring up the hyperspace loop magnets either, those aren't even on the playfield.

Magnets cost money.

Anyway loved TOTAN magnet trick (borrowed for Metallica).

My early recollections of pinball were in the 70's once I'm rediscovered pinball in the 90's was in love with TZ, TAF etc.. magnets.

#251 6 years ago
Quoted from jar155:

I actually know where Levi is coming with on the whole "player" vs. "Pinsider" thing. Some people really don't give a rip about the dressing on a pinball machine if the thing doesn't play well first and foremost. That's how I feel. However, I do appreciate when a game looks nice, and I think with an industry this old, and with a long history of great art, it's fine to expect some effort be put into those things.
But if you're going to review a game, and it's not gameplay that most concerns you in your praises and critiques, then yeah, the review isn't of much worth to people who would be considered players. Many "Pinsiders" may appreciate the heavy-handed critiques on art and toys, but the "player" probably won't put a lot of stock in them.
Anyway, here's what I said about the game in the other Star Wars thread. I'm not super positive on it right now either...
-----
Ok, it's not ALL bad with Star Wars, but I don't like the sum of its parts when it comes right down to it. I just wanted so much more from the Star Wars theme than we got here. It feels like they cranked the speed up to distract you from the fact that it's a pretty bare game.
The playfield shots are smooth as silk, and shots, when made, just feel right. The geometry of a game is something that Steve Ritchie just seems to understand better than most anybody. Some shots are tight, some are easy, but they all feel pretty much where they should be. It's hard thing to put into words, but you feel it when you play. Compared to something like Aerosmith or Batman '66, Star Wars just has a more refined feel to its geometry.
The sounds on the game are pretty cool. That spinner sound is the best since Metallica. Lots of neat little sounds are found throughout the game. Stern usually does a pretty solid job on sound packages, and Star Wars is definitely no exception.
I'm really not digging the code on the game. Bugs aside (and holy jeez there are plenty), it is totally the wrong type of game progression for how fast it plays. Shots get back to the flipper so quickly, that it's hard to keep up with what you're doing in the game. It's a bummer, because while the game has TONS of modes, they all end up feeling so samey because the ball is just flying around and you're fighting to keep control. Game of Thrones is also very fast, but the modes feel better differentiated, and it doesn't feel like a constant race against ticking timers. Star Wars gets in your face with too many hurry ups, too many timers, and too many dang layers of things going on. And you better like multiballs, because they are to be had at every turn.
Then you have the action button. It's way overused, and there's nothing fun about having to constantly babysit that thing. You have to use it to unlock, move, and lock in your multipliers, you have to blow up TIE fighters with it, you need to hold it down to add a ball in multiball, and you have to unlock and move your multipliers again. Don't forget to lock them or else you'll make your shots but they'll be worth, literally, a 40th of what they could. The game barely gives you a chance to breathe, but you're expected to keep up with slapping that action button so often? That was not even close to fun.
There are also some real head scratchers with Star Wars. Why do they even have pop bumpers in this thing? The ball rarely goes in there, and when it does, it's completely hidden from view. You can't see the pop action at all, because the mini LCD screen blocks it. They feel like they're in there simply because "a game should have pop bumpers." The mini LCD is nothing special either. It helps you on the "skill" shot, and then it's used fairly sparingly from there. You barely have time to check it for indicators anyway, because the ball is always at top speed. The kind-of-a-scoop is a bummer. I've played on 7 different machines now, and all of them had reject issues. Stern could have spent an extra buck and put a proper scoop in there. The eject from that shot is wild too. Blah.
The plunge on this game is terrible. By ball 2 of your first game, you already know the exact timing to get the max skill shot reward, but it sends the ball into an out-of-control state in the lower half of the playfield. Not a fun way to start a ball. Less fun when the ball saver just throws the ball back into chaos again. I would prefer the option to short plunge for the stand ups or to full plunge to the pops. Make it so you can risk chaos for a multiplier or play safe if you want to. But no, Star Wars never takes its foot off the pedal.
The game is always teetering on the edge of control. That can be fun in bursts, but to always have every shot leading to a blazing fast return is just too much. All the stand ups cause a lot of airballs. Bad ones. I think the flippers are overpowered here. It's just one speed to experience: maximum. The Star Wars films aren't some adrenaline-fueled spaz fest. They are very measured in how they dole out action, and the speed of the game just doesn't feel like a good match to the franchise at all.
And that's really my biggest disappointment here. It doesn't feel like Star Wars at all. It looks like Star Wars, but once you start playing, it just melts away. Stacking up Hoth and Tatooine stuff seems so strange. It's like an extreme over reaction to people not liking the Ghostbusters ladder system, so they just let you throw everything in a blender. Makes for a weird use of the theme.
The game is still very much in development, so things can evolve on the code front quite a bit, but I doubt it's going to dramatically change how the game feels to play. It's always going to be too fast for all the layers it's trying to put into the experience. Once the rush of the game's speed wears off, it just feels overwhelming. It's really hard to parse out why a shot scored the way it did, because some shots will have so many things stacked on them beyond what the game can adequately indicate.
I have a feeling that this game will have a hot moment of popularity and then people will get fatigued by it. Once you start getting dialed into the shots, you start having these insanely long ball times of super fast play. Multiball rolls into multiball, modes sit on top of modes, and it all just blurs into a samey hot mess. Almost all the games you play start feeling so alike. Even Ghostbusters, as linear as it is, has games that feel very different from one another. I can't seem to find out how to do that in Star Wars.
I was cold on Aerosmith out of the gate, but I am liking it more and more these days. I hope Star Wars goes through a similar process for me.

Awesome review.

I feel somewhat similar with ST as well so many modes yet they feel alike, and when you play them out of sequence they are just a jumble.

#309 6 years ago
Quoted from CrazyLevi:

A JJP game has to be brought in for comparison in EVERY Stern thread. I believe this is in the Pinside TOS.

DI has like five magnets!

#469 6 years ago
Quoted from Khabbi:

IM was made when Pinball was slowing down and Stern was short on money, if I recall correctly. Same with Avatar. Those playfields were sparse because of the time they were produced. In this current time, Pinball is at an all time high, prices have soared and one would think profits are much higher (more machines being sold, less on playfield=more profit, $500 plastic toppers, etc.), and technology has advanced.. that's why I think SW should/could have been a Killer offering.

Agree but IM has two magnets, three spinners, Iron Monger figure and kick back shot from War Machine plus some figurines on the PF.

I mean come on Monger is one of the greatest toys ever, and I know spinners are not something to flip out about but Stern is taking them off Met and TWD pro.

#471 6 years ago

I've not played SW but the rules don't excite me, if anything like ST = hit the flashing light (make 30 modes of the same thing) plus button mashing video mode and scrolling to pick missions and GOT-like multipliers. I can't say about GOT because I only played it here and there but one time for no apparent reason I got a massive point infusion (someone said maybe I hit the battering rams shot x number of times) this is just not interesting to me.

I don't know GB too well either but it looks 10x more feature packed.

#517 6 years ago
Quoted from jar155:

I'm not worried about long ball times in general, but it's a bummer on Star Wars because everything feels so similar mode to mode. Shots have so many things stacked on top of them that there is little differentiation to things moment to moment. Something like Iron Man is equally simple on the playfield, but its rules cause things to feel different ball to ball and within each ball. Hopefully the aim with future code revisions is to make things feel different as you progress.

Agreed

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