Beat me to the punch with this topic. Full disclosure, I saw SW 7 times in the theater back in 77 and is probably my number one dream theme besides Groo, but that won't be happening ever. Also immediately sold my TWD to get this one as well so you can say I'm a little biased. In addition, this is the 3rd Steve Ritchie table I've owned and would buy another of his older ones if the price was right.
After 3 weeks, and playing a bit with .89, I am not regretting my purchase. I love the cabinet and back glass artwork. At first I didn't care too much for the playfield art but I like it now and really like the little scenes surrounding the mission groups. Casual observers that I've had over really like the art as well.
I'm not the best pinball player in the world(I don't nudge), or even my house, so I find the shots challenging and hope to get used to them over time. We have the pitch set a little higher so the speed is pretty high. (bubble is almost all the way in the top third on the level) I miss the SR kickback shot that was in GOT, but the Tatooine kickout is pretty fast, as well as the inner loops that rocket it back to the flippers. BTW, in over 300 games the ball has never gone SDTM from VUK, always goes to the left flipper. I think that the speed, shots, dare I say flow, all match in my mind what Star Wars would feel like. I like the tie fighter bobble and the minigame with the tie fighters and button mashing. It's been fun to progress from trying to cradle it while I mash, but now we are almost flipping the ball back up there and mashing it and adds a welcome challenge. Just learning the multipliers has been fun as well, moving them on the fly or when the ball gets up in the pops, or mystery.
I really like the screen as well with only a few minor complaints/suggestions. The mini lcd just seems to duplicate the main screen often and I hope that changes. Also with the Tie and HS hurryups, I don't like the way it covers the entire screen. I'm hoping that just changes a bit so I can still see the normal HUD and what targets I still need. Also love the "callouts" when I miss or hit a shot. Maybe I just haven't heard it yet, but would love to add Han and his "he's the brains sweetheart" in there as well.
I also like the depth and having to complete the variety of missions per character and should take me a while to do so, considering my limited skills as mentioned earlier. The fact that the code still isn't complete speaks wonders in my mind for this game. To know there are still things going to be added, rather than "hoping" things get added makes a difference for me. I don't feel like a beta tester and am in the camp of being happy they got the game out as they progress. I haven't seen that many bugs so far, and will be patiently waiting for the next code release while enjoying the heck out of this game.
Things I'm hoping for: Get that Hoth I mission right. Would love to see tow cables/inner loop/LE loop type of gameplay. <$500 topper, and since Artoo is my favorite droid ever, it should be pretty cool. Millenium Falcon addon <$50. If not, getting one from the Xwing miniatures game and putting on there. Side blades to improve the overall artwork on the game. A truly great video mode. A nice custom plunger.
Overall though, I feel like the next pinball machine I get will be to go along side this one, not to replace it. Extremely happy with the purchase, and I don't feel like they went cheap on me and glad to see the LEDs match the Premium/LE versions. Lastly, there is no game I've played that I actually enjoy watching the Match animation. That is a nice touch with the light show.