Not sure where I should post my mini review of both versions, so I'll just leave it here. I know I'm gonna piss off Some people with this review but I'm a stern fan, Ritchie fan, and Dwight fan; but sometimes I just have to call it like I see it....

I wasn't too impressed with SW PRO but it was still Fast, with some fun aspects and good flow. The horseshoe shot is great, the captive hyperspace shot is great, and the shots overall feel good. I think there's a little too much side to side movement in the ball that causes a conflict with some of the mode timers at times but not a big deal. Overall not a bad stern pro. There is something missing though in this game though, see below after my LE review for more on that...

Watching the hyperdrive in videos gave me hope that what SW was missing would be made up for with the hyperdrive. I was mistaken. now this could be the gamesetup I played on location, it was setup fairly steep (level bubble halfway between top line which, from my experience is approx 6.8-6.9 dig pitch); but after reading other reviews there seemed to be a lot of similarities. First and foremost, the hyperdrive shot itself bricked...a lot. And I was hitting it dead on. When you finally make it and it takes, it is a really cool experience. I once had two balls going at once which was extremely cool until one flew off and my third ball bricked the hyperdrive shot...again....ending the hyperspace experience. One time the ball came flying off the ramp into the shooter lane. Overall, the shot felt clunky but was a satisfying toy when it took.

Next is the wire form ramp in front of the flippers - I don't care who you are, the ramp is abtrusive and in the way. Maybe 30% of the time i didn't notice and/or it didn't bother me, but overall it was very irritating and getting in the way.

Both versions are missing something....code! I know it's early, and the rules actually are really good and I like the rules. But the overall code is so unpolished, so lack luster. There's lots of cool sound effects for modes and such but not character or theme interaction with what's going on. The game needs some call outs on top of the sound effect transitions to immerse the playe more into the theme. The lack of mode instructions on the display was a downer too.

And the outlane save on the LE, forge about it. It's like it was originally going to be a magma 'force' save but got scrapped for a flimsy diverter.

Overall, it's Still on early code and if Dwight dedicates his life to this game, he and he alone can save it. Rules are great. But polish and integration are heavily lacking.

I like the idea of the hyperdrive and if it wasn't so clunky and annoyingly blocking vision, I'd say the PREM is a must go if I had to choose. But the pro seemed to play better for the reasons stated on the hyperdrive. So right now, pro wins in my book for better gameplay. But, I'm begging Dwight if he's out there to follow through with this pin and make it the best it deserves to be - I hope stern gives him the time and resources to bring it up a few notches.

After playing the dialed In next to it, the LE felt like a pro, and the pro felt like a home pin. Sorry if this sounds like a harsh review; it's just my initial opinions of both versions after a few hours of play on both.

Pro vs pro:

GOT shoots better.
GOT (hound) call outs blow SW (Fake3PO) away. I really don't like the custom SW call outs.

SW smokes GOT in display. But GOT is easier to see and read shot values and scores. I don't like the score fonts on sterns LCDs, but I think that'll come in time.

Hard to say on rules but looks like there's more going on with Star Wars. Whether it's balanced or not (which GOT needs some houses tweaked for balance too) is yet to be determined. So I give the edge to SW for now assuming scoring is balanced, and the strategies are more involved as they appear to be.

What SW needs:
There's no instructional or theme interactive call outs. The Fake3PO call outs are ear wrenching and the game is sound effect overload. All mode transitions, timers, shots, etc... are sound effect driven and not theme oriented driven via call outs. Even TWD red neck narrative would be better than just sound effects. There's no characters to relate with that bring us on this epic adventure.

Very. It did not scratch the pinball itch or desire of wanting to buy. I am curious to see how far they go with code. If it's as far as they went with GOT and GB; then this game will be a solid C at best. If they make the push and effort they didn't with GB and GOT, then there's potential of making it a great.

If I had to choose now with current code. I'd go pro easy. The annoying nuisances of the hyperdrive ramp shot and obstructive wireforms don't make up for the cool feature it does offer, nor the price tag it demands.

It really depends on the game and the entrances and exits of the ramps. Metallica, for example, is ramp bliss with its metal ramps. No one in the world could convince me that plastic ramps would better suit that game. TF has metal ramp entrances with plastic returns and feels awesome to hit. Other games like ST or GOT are a hybrid plastic/wireform ramp which work very well - GOT would not work well with metal ramp entrances on the center and right ramp. As for SW; I'd have to play an SW pro again, but for some reason i didnt like the SW metal ramps as much as i remember enjoying the SW pro plastic ramps.

Well like I said, I didn't notice it about 30% of the time. But I like to do a lot of drop catches and that's when I notice it as it messes with my timing. Then I get focused on it and irritates me. Plus there's a lot of side to side movement of the ball in this game which can cause the wireforms to catch your eye. Just my opinion. Maybe I'll have a better experience on it next time I play.

Pro owner here but I have access to a premium on location.

I’ve never been a big fan of the hyperloop until recently. It really is a hard shot to make compared to the pro, but once you get it dialed in, it really is a good rush and a great feeling destroying the Death Star with it. I hear so many comments saying that the exploding Death Star needs to happen more...no it doesn’t! It really is a pretty ‘meh’ mech, but keeping it as a rare occurrence makes it cooler.

That said; if it wasn’t the holiday season and it wasn’t such a cost hit, I’d consider upgrading my pro to a premium. But here’s a few other things to consider:

+ the pro does play faster. But not necessarily more brutal, I think the premium is more brutal because the Death Star shot is one of the most important shots in the game and it seems to be harder (and not as easily back handible) on the premium.
+ also the premium lacks that post below the drops which prevents cheap plunge drains.
+ here’s 2 other big things to consider. 1. The hyperloop ramp does cause flow and speed issues when making the horseshoe ramp from the Tatooine (right) shot. And 2. The hyperloop wireform is obtrusive - it just is. You learn to play around it, but it’s always there pecking away at your visuals during normal gameplay.
+ the other features on the premium are minor and meaningless imo.

All in all, It really is a comparison of hyperloop yes or hyperloop no. In short (too late), you get a cool final blow shot to the Death Star plus a more intense hyperspace mb experience at the cost of a visual obstructive wireform, a missing cheap save post, a slightly klunk horseshoe shot, and a buttload of $$$. But man, it is a cool feeling putting the ball in the hyperloop when destroying the Death Star. However, the destroy the Death Star sequence in itself is so cool that doing it on the pro is just about as rewarding.

SW PRO is a fantastic addicting bang for your buck; but if money is no object and you don’t mind the nuisances I mentioned of having the hyperloop, then I’d say go premium. Id reconsider upgrading my pro to prem, but having a premium on location 15 minutes away from me makes no sense for me to upgrade. I can play the pro and premium whenever for the most part

And when it comes to cost, at $7k+ I have to start wondering if I’m better off with a JJP game than a stern.

Hah so after posting my thoughts above ^^^ on pro vs LE. I went back and found my initial thoughts mini review that I originally posted in this thread a year ago. Keep in mind, I have now owned the Pro version for 6 months. But a few things in my ‘initial’ review that still stand out today as an owner:

+ the use of the display is one of the worst in pinball. It’s put together nicely, and has cool theme integrated elements, but for a pinball player, it’s horrid. Instructional text is either too small And/or coded in droid language. And scoring display is completely inconsistent, the only feature in the game that uses scoring display properly is the hyperspace hurryup. The rest is just messy.

+ the custom call outs are still really really bad. I understand they got a voice actor from the attack of the clones series to do the call outs; that’s great and all but this isn’t attack of the clones.

+ now the positives: rules, energy, and excitement factor are the best things going for this game. The fan fare of beating one of the 4 planet multiballs is exhilarating; unfortunately (back to negatives), if you stack tie fighter multiball or hyperspace multiball on top of one of the 4 planet multiballs, all excitement, fanfare, and sense of achievement will he diminished when you make that final shot to destroy the Death Star, or blow up jabbas palace, or escape both. It’s so bad that I sometimes will intentionally try not to stack a multiball so it doesn’t void all this.

+ another positive: the premium I play on location now doesn’t brick like the one I played a year ago. Way way better, and feels great. That’s the great thing about these follow up reviews; people have found a way to properly adjust the hyperloop ramp now so it’s a more inviting shot whereas a year ago not many people knew about the adjustment wireform nut.

All in all, Star Wars really is a great game and while Dwight did an amazing job with the code, it does need polish to address the scoring display inconsistencies and bugs as well as the choreography glitches.