Pinside would explode if they add these features to the premium/LE.

Lets hope we see some fireworks.

With the similarities in theme, and the grandeur of this title I think everyone was expecting the LE packages to be similar - - especially with the cab lighting and mirrored backglass. Unfortunately no matter what STERN does it will never live up to the hype and expectations we all have in our minds, but they could have come closer, much closer.

Unfortunately this is still probably flawed. I've changed my mind since the poll was started and had cast my original vote. No longer in on an LE now.

Played the LE on location today. I can honestly say I'm relieved I switched my order to a pro.

Copy pasted from the other Star Wars thread:
Played the LE on location today at Tilt Pinball bar in Minneapolis. Thank you John G. for routing such awesome games.
For those curious, a few observations:
- The little Millenium Falcon toy is a really nice touch. Looking forward to modding my Falcon from the X-wing board game minatures and putting it on a pro, it appears to be almost identical if not the same product.
- Playfield looked great. No ghosting that I could see and very little dimpling at this time (not like some cratering on other SW pro's on location).
- The wireform coming across right above the flippers was not as intrusive as I was expecting. At the end of play I think my brain honestly quit seeing it during game play.
- Not sure if it was John's upgrades or not, but the lighting and effects on the LE were nicer than the pro.
- I was not able to backhand the death star shot successfully with the fork ramp up.
- If Death Star Modes are lit and you hit the right ramp to start the hyperspace hurry up, and then hit the death star shot, the ball freezes behind the death star somewhere while you select your mode. the ball then dribbles back down the fork ramp. Please, please, please, continue the hyperspace loop sequence instead - - it will be so much better if the ball orbits while you select your mode and then exits to the right flipper return like normal. Felt like I got screwed out of seeing the hyperspace loop even though I made the shot.
- In an hour of play we had 3 hyperloop miscues where the ball fell off the wire form down by the flippers.
- The hoth shot (right side horseshoe) is stopped dead whenever the death star mode is lit or anytime the fork ramp is up. This killed the flow and resulted in the ball dribbling out of the loop and coming down and hitting the left sling.
- Right flipper shots to the death star have to be much cleaner and more accurate to successfully get all the way up into the magnet system.
- Typical successful shots to the death star shot (left horseshoe) on the pro are now much more difficult on the LE making mode completion much more difficult.
- We never successfully destroyed the death star (see comment before about how much harder it is now with the fork ramp).
- Cabinet art looks great in person. Extremely disappointed with the lack of real back glass for the translite. Thought this looked worse in person.
- Probably saw the hyperloop used a half dozen times in the time we played. When it was working properly it was really cool. The ball travels super duper fast.
Added over 7 years ago: Edit: looks like you can backhand the death star ramp from a cradle. Video in follow up posts proves it!

Added over 7 years ago: Edit: looks like you can backhand the death star ramp from a cradle. Video in follow up posts proves it!

It's not bad by any means, but it's got it's issues, hangups, and trade-offs. If pricing were equal between a pro and an LE I might get the LE. The price difference between the Premium/LE and the Pro was a no brainer for me after playing both.

My point was I "might" get the LE if pricing was equal; but even then maybe not because the actual game play on the LE is not as fast and smooth as the Pro.

But thanks anyway for contributing to the negative side of pinside.

I feel I should post this as well - Star Wars LE was still absolutely fun as hell to play. I think just about everyone with an LE on order is going to have a blast playing their games. If there was no Pro to compare it to, we wouldn't even blink at any of the things that have been posted before.

Agreed!! Great to see that. I either have some practice to do or maybe leveling of that game on location!

When the fork is up you have to hit it really clean to get it into the magnet area.

Sounds very similar to Tortuga MB in POTC. I love filling up that spinning disc to the max.

When lit (via the inlanes), you need to hit the yellow right ramp shot or the yellow left orbit shot and then the death star shot before time runs out. Repeat once more and it will lock the ball and start Hyperspace multiball.

My GOTLE arrived with a big gouge in the side of the box. The driver wanted me to sign right away and take off and I told him no @$%&'in way. Pulled out my utility knife and carefully opened that area of the box and exposed the inside. Luckily the fork lift, or whatever that tore the box completely missed the game. I ended up signing and taking delivery but it wasn't until after I had thoroughly inspected for damage.

From your pics, it looks like you could already see the cabinet was nicked pretty good. I would have refused as soon as I saw that just like you did. Not your fault and you shouldn't have to pay for it!

Disclaimer: I have played well over a hundred games on various different Star Wars Pro models, and now a few hours on the LE. If I had never played the pro, especially not to the extent that I already have, I probably wouldn't even notice the game play short comings. Something just can't be unseen so to speak, and once you know how it could be it makes it that much more frustrating.

Just another quick update with hopefully as little bias as possible on the LE on both the game overall and game play (they are distinctly different):

The LE on location still does not have any ghosting. Shooter lane still looked good too. Seems to me that STERN figured it out for the LE's, hopefully they can keep that process and push it through on all future playfields... From a quality perspective this game looked fantastic.

Game still looks beautiful as can be. Side by side next to a pro, looks wise (minus the translite) the LE/Prem is hands down the winner. Those metal ramps and wireforms are beautiful.

Gameplay, I still 100% believe the Pro is hands down the better game for actual playability. Maybe this LE needed some tweaking, or ALOT of tweaking, but most of it is just inherent in the design. Having the forks come up out of the playfield just screws the player. First moment of extreme frustration - I'm going for the kill shot to destroy the death star and finally see this little egg pop open and light up, I line up my shot, shoot the death star shot and a half second before that, two other balls collide and send one up the hoth shot. the ramp immediately drops as my ball is going up and my shot is rejected. no destroy the death star, no victory multiball, just a bad taste in my mouth. yes something similar could conceivably happen on the pro, but maybe not, the speed of the ball on my death star shot was probably fast enough to have enough momentum to carry through for the win, or, the ball going through the hoth shot would have already cleared. This same frustration got me a second time when I had the hyperspace hurry up ready during MB, same deal happened, ball got knocked up the hoth shot while going for the death star shot, ball rejected, no hyperspace shot (which at the time then meant no hyperspace multiball).

I'd go toe to toe with anyone who honestly believes a back hand shot to the death star with the forks up is "reliable." If anything it's a miracle. Heck, even from the right flipper the death star shot with the forks up isn't reliable. It's really satisfying when you make the shot, but when you get a reject when the ball is all the way up under that death star and it trickles back down it just feels like crap. Especially knowing that 100% of those shots would have been good on the pro. I can honestly say though, during normal game play, when you shoot the hoth shot with the forks up, the trickle down release didn't bother me as much this time around. Maybe part of me was enjoying the game taking a half second time out and slowing down just a little bit.

Onto bugs... sorry if these have been covered before. they're pretty important so worth stating again if they are elsewhere:

Game was running code version 0.89.
Bug - Had Tattooine missions lit and death star missions lit, hit the death star shot, ball went into the hyper loop, right ramp diverter opened, fed the ball to the right flipper and then the ball drained. Flippers were dead, couldn't flip at the ball, the game was in mode select as if it thought it had the ball captured behind the death star ready for you to pick your mission. Instead it killed my ball. Happened again, this time when the hyperspace hurry up was lit and the death star modes were lit. same deal, ball fed to the right flipper and drain, no power to the flippers. It about made me want to leave the establishment and not put any more money in the game. It's sort of insult to injury, you're on a high for finally making the challenging death star shot with the forks up to finally get to see the hyperspace toy in action and then the game drains on you. augh. I'm sure this will get fixed quick though...

Bug - escape was lit and the diverter was not over. ball drained down the right outlane and no ball save.

I know your "fix," there is no fix for this. The forks are literally down or half way down as required to release the ball thats behind it (theres no possible way for a ball thats supposed to go up into the death star to get there when the fork is dropped half way down to release the ball behind it). The only "fix" is to permanently leave the fork up during multiball and then suffer accidental ball traps behind it which would be a huge exploit. Otherwise as soon as you start lowering the fork to release the ball you make the death star shot inaccessible. Its 100% design. Now, rejects up in the ramp due to alignment etc. is a whole nother story which sounds like it can be adjusted and fixed as you and others have noted.

Fantastic! That's encouraging and makes me believe it is something that can be tweaked mecahnically on the game itself. Glad to hear you can easily backhand that shot if the game is aligned properly and dialed in. I know I could easily do it on the pro.

Ok, so bare knuckle or gloves? Fair warning I'm 6'3" and 250. glad to hear its doable, one less issue I have on gameplay of the LE. I need to find an LE like yours and play it.

Star Wars is like TWD, you gotta learn to nudge and nudge quick. These games will make you a better pinball player.

Lol. Ah, the sarcasm/sadness is just too much sometimes.

I'm willing to bet a few years from now this game is going to have the same love IM does - -

Initial release:
Pinside: empty! where's the stuff? cheap plastic toys? the code is all multiballs, augh. this game sucks.

Two years later:
Pinside: the game is a masterpiece, it has all the elements it needs. the code fits the theme and the layout perfectly. the music makes the game!

Quite a few similarities there....

First off, you need to find a better distributor, $5500 is more than I got quoted from any of the distros I talked to. Besides, even with your analysis, personally, I'm willing to pay a 10% premium over what equivalent prices would have been to have the new display and fully licensed assets (the John William's score makes the game along with the actual video footage and callouts in the game - they are great - - this obviously is not free and something STERN has not always paid for in the past).

Also, IIRC, IM was one of the last games STERN had going when they almost closed their doors for good. I wouldn't be surprised if game pricing at the time dropped to try and move more volume, thus skewing any comparison for today. It's also plausible, in hind sight, that charging $4.2K back in the day didn't provide enough profit to stay in business. Either way, I'd rather see games being priced a little higher than to not have any new games at all.