I would add white water to this in fact probably the best of the bunch imho

I never consider that an upper playfield, but you are correct. That is a satisfying shot on the very rare occasion I hit it

...and Black Knight 2000!

Flash Gordon has an awesome upper playfield. And the three ramps to get you there are... awesome too.

I find it funny that people bring this up on music pins at all.
On regular games you get to hear the exact same music over and over with no choice at all. But for some reason that is just fine.

Totally! At least these rock band pins give you a choice.

"I can't buy this rock pin because there are only x songs to choose from and I'll get bored." Lol

Yup. Most games have the same 15-20 second loops. Music themes games have more variety of music than any game out there.

Funny how that works. Some games have background music that's not so in your face and others not so much. GNR even with it's poor quality sound was OK as long as I had it.

All I know is after owning Metallica for a few months, I never wanted to listen to them again and really have no desire to play it again. At one time they were one of my favorites. I'm not chancing it with this one. I know the end result and it won't take long. I'll be happy to play somebody elses.

I had to replace a node board after 50 plays so the machine was down for 3 days.

Disappointing because it broke on the first plunge for league night.

Would like to see these break less, but not going to stop me from buying a new machine.

That's where pinball browser comes in. My Metallica Prem doesn't play a single Metallica song. It's a keeper for life too

I have purchased five NIB Sterns over the years and this is the first to have component failures. Things happen, but losing two node boards out of the box is unusual. I'm thinking Stern got a bad batch and was wondering if others were affected.

No board failures for me from either AS or GB, both new

Updated my Le today and first game after posted my best score yet

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Any PF ghosting?

Seems like all the usual new game hype .

Has anyone seen immediate hype for a Stern game like this in the past 10 years?

No ghosting

Good reason for hype on this game though because its good, its gorgeous, and ships with a decent code even!

Since our expectations are so low now from GB's design and QC issues & Batman's insane price and zero code... Aerosmith is getting more props than it probably normally would have. Aero is a pretty run of the mill game - the fact that it doesn't have any drama attached to it is making it look better than it actually is. The Pro price is right, the Color LCD looks cool, you can open the box & have a good time. What's to complain about on this one compared to last year!?

Those with upper play fields be careful that the wires in back don't get caught up in the plunger on the vertical up kicker. My upper flipper stopped working. I discovered that the plunger cut a couple wires. After a solder, back up and running. Even though I've tried to tie them out of the way, the wires still want to work back over in that area.

I have already had to replace a node board on my Kiss LE

I would agree with you accept I am not hearing the "I love Aerosmith and they remind me of my youth so I want to love this game and have to buy this pin!" to go along with it. I really don't know anyone who loves AS so much they are buying the game not matter what. Folks are playing it and liking it and giving it a buy. The way a pinball should be. I also am not sure we are going to see the usual "I just bought AS and I am not sure if I like it myself, but if anyone criticizes it I will cut them!", like we see on other games. I am just not getting that vibe. Maybe to early to tell.

The game is fun and folks are buying it even though they don't love the band. I know a group of folks who don't like Metallica the band but bought the pin anyway because it is solid and like the band better because of it and I think AS will be like that. Will it be as good as MET? Uh not sure of that, but I bet AS will fall along the lines of other good Borg games. I would say around IM level or so.

We will see.

Everyone is talking positive about it from what I can see. This game is a winner period! It may not be the best game ever but it's solid enough to make almost anyone's lineup I would think and be a keeper.

Great score - Just in case you didn't know you can change HS settings from 3 letters to 10 letters if you want.

You say it's only as good as IM...No way!!! This game rocks!

Bad news for my MoPLE...It's lonely right now!!! And when guests come to house it is ASLE every time...Even guys that haven't played in years!

Have You played a Premium or LE yet???

Thanks! Just haven't gotten around to changing settings yet, other than free play. It just arrived on Tuesday, setup yesterday. Love the game so far. Fast paced and very engaging with good mix of shots, I am really enjoying this game. The artwork and the backglass on the LE are Dirty Donnie's best work in my opinion.

Really?! I hope you are right. I love IM for the one more game factor and think if AS is better then bonus for me! I think it will be popular with all types of players. The box lock is just so cool. Played Pro and Prem at TPF. I liked the Prem a little better but wanted to cut back on the cost, so I am "settling" and picking up my Pro for myself next week.

My Aerosmith Pro is inbound and if it's as good as IM I'm going to dance a jig. IM is one of the best pins ever.

I think AS is a lot of fun to play, and I hope it will do very well. For my personal opinion (I'm a pinball nerdy type that likes complex rules), it's too shallow to want in my collection. But having simpler more straightforward rules likely appeals to a broader market than what I prefer. The great news is that AS rules/modes seem just nuanced enough to make a competitive game in league or playing dollar games plenty of fun, with not everyone playing it the same way. And the Toy Box is tougher than Sparky to start consistently because you not only have to bash the box, but either get lucky bounces into the lock lane or shoot the lock lane.

The biggest drawback for competitive games is having too high of a luck factor in starting Toy Box due to bounce-ins. But if you're simply playing with your friends over a few beers, this same factor helps level the playing field a bit. And you still have to perform during the multiball -- I've had quite a few VERY short Toy Box multiballs.

I'm curious: what do you find slick about it? Maybe I'm missing something. From what I can tell (I haven't "completed" Elevator yet), it's identical rules to one of TF's multiballs: shoot any major lit shot, and then shoot the elevator. Repeat (with one less major shot lit each time). It's not bad... but neither slick nor bad azz IMHO.

They remind me of how old I am not yet.

Melissa called today, my Premium is on the way! Next week just got better.

it is a great game but not that of MOPle . no way

I actually like the pro a lot, so I would not say you are settling. I think it is kind of like MET pro, you really can't go wrong and you are saving some cash.

Borg makes fun Pros. He makes well done Premiums and LE's also.

I'm glad somebody cares about us Po folks!

I received my Pro from Cointaker this week...very pleased out of the box.
No issues and fun game ...shots feel solid. Honestly I was a little apprehensive after test playing the LE and Pro a few weeks ago.
The game felt wide open and the LE felt like the PF was an after thought. Anyway after a dozen games or so I find it has the one more game feel. I like the carry over of opting out of the multiball from Mustang - basically betting on yourself that you can lock more balls.
and the elevator shot on the Pro is a solid shot that reminds me of STTNGs mode start shot. The back hand shot to the rt orbit is nice too.
Just seems well thought out and the lcd is fun to watch for those not playing.
Seems to be a location winner in the Pro form IMO (pro only because of price for ops).
If someone sees a Pro on location or an Prem on location they will not care IMO.

Not a ground breaking game just a solid effort IMO. Metallica > Aerosmith but to each his own.

Do you think its a keeper for the home environment? Also do you think its as good as MET?

Aerosmith Le came yesterday. No issues with his one. Perfect. Played over 50 games. No loose screws etc. I did not see one flaw. Looks like the QC at Stern was stepped up a bit unlike my gb and batman66. Aerosmith has the best art package next to Metallica in my opinion. Just an amazing looking package from the translight to the playfield and cabinet. The light show is crazy cool! Just a beautiful game!! I play to play the game all day and get some high scores!

It sure does.

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I wonder what the rationale is for taking KISS and essentially re-theming it to Aerosmith? KISS wasn't exactly a hot seller nor was the design very original either. Perhaps time constraints meant that they just had to get this game done in a certain time frame?

Rob

Dude, not even close to a re-theme. Give it up.

Sorry but they play way different and don't feel anything alike

Lonnie on code!

The code on this game is tight; in my opinon this game is lonnies best work and it shows; just wait till you play it you will see; some excellent code

Why say something like this without elaborating? One way or another.

I get it everybody has an opinion, but if you have an opinion, why not elaborate on exactly why you think that way? In what way is Kiss and AS completely different, or the same?

There is an entire other thread I have up that talks about how cool the rules are to the game

Not even close? Let's see...

The AS code used KISS code as a framework. This was quite apparent because early versions of AS code had the exact same sound effects as KISS.

Both center and right ramps are very similar

The jet bumper layout is similar, except there's 3, not 4

There is a scoop, but it was moved to the left

The toybox replaces the starchild area

The lock channel/mini playfield replaces Gene's head

The spinner is the same

I don't care one way or another really. AS was designed very similar to KISS for one reason or another. It's certainly not a unique layout like TWD. I don't think JB would scratch design AS to be the same as KISS, so perhaps he just started with the KISS cad drawing and changed things accordingly. Time and budget constraints perhaps? Just postulating openly...

Rob

The layout is EXTREMELY close to a re-theme. Undeniable. Look at the picture. The red is where the elements are on KISS, overlaid on an Aerosmith. Gene head became Jacky-box and it was moved to the Starchild area in the same placement. didn't mark the targets, but they're 3 on the left and 4 on the right vs 4/4 on KISS in approximately the same location. The overlay clearly shows AS is not a from-scratch design. The rules, however, are definitely different and expanded. So not a total retheme, but the layout definitely borrows VERY HEAVILY from KISS, and the software borrows lightly from the same (as evidenced by the system settings still having a KISS setting still in AS).

AeroKISS (resized).jpg

siamoi brothers without a doubt

I've had several 100's of games through the 17 years I've been collecting and two of them were kiss so let's address each one of your statements and yes I have several hours of play on both kiss and Aerosmith so here we go
1. Addressing the sound thing that was all taken out and the modes in Aerosmith are vastly different from the modes in kiss. Some highlights of those differences and awesome features on Aerosmith are the single ball modes and such great features like crank it up and also timed ball lock, missles, shot multipliers and other stuff too and yes I have stated before that kiss code is not that good and needs work; so it's not like I'm not critical of Lonnie so let's give credit where credit it due and Aerosmith has some of the best code that has come out of stern pinball.
2. The ramp setup have you played either title? Because if you have you would know this let's address the center ramp first. On kiss you can just hit the center ramp all day long and is very easy. Well that is not the case on Aerosmith at all. Very challenging to hit and much more satisfying to hit. Let's address the right ramp; which on kiss is challenging but on Aerosmith is in a slightly differnt position and also is way harder to hit on Aerosmith then on kiss. The ramps just feel so much better on Aerosmith then they do on Kiss. Think GOT Pro vs Star Trek by Steve Ritchie.
3. Not a unique layout maybe you have not shot Aerosmith yet, because TWD is an ok layout which was made great by its software and not the layout and yes I have owned two twd's so I have a lot of gameplay on both. The differnce on Aerosmith is it flows and just flat out shoots better and is more fun; it really does have a unique gameplay to it that you can't compare to any other title out there.
4. To address the pop bumpers come on same position maybe but kiss has 4 and Aerosmith has three and both kiss and Aerosmith have a way differnt feel in the pop bumper area.
5. The scoop thing now I know there is no way you could have plugged in a significant amount of time on both games because the scoop on Kiss can be shot all day and is rather easy to hit. Where as the scoop on Aerosmith is more of a half scoop shot because the ball just kind of sits there and yes The Aerosmith scoop is one of the hardest shots to hit in all of pinball, but also very satisfying and does such things as crank it up which really boost up your scores. In kiss the modes are really meaningless where as in Aerosmith you have to beat them to get to the main wizard mode and by cranking them up you really don't want to time the mode out, because if you crank it up you will get a ton of points.
6. Comparing the star child area to the toybox is just plain dumb. Starchild area just flat out sucks and well the toybox is probably the coolest toy ever that stern has ever put in one of its titles.
Some examples of the toybox that make it so awesome helol just play the game and you'll see.
As far as time and budget constraints really Aerosmith is the best pro stern has put out since Metallica. It's loaded with such features as
-spinner
-6 ball play and mball
-physical ball lock that can hold all 6 balls
-color changing leds in pop bumpers
- both scoops have cliffys on them from the factory
- color changing arrow inserts
- magnet and unique lock shot along with the toybox is outstanding
- probably has the best artwork ever on a game too
In conclusion like I said in my other post just please push start on Aerosmith and you too can find out why it is so much damn fun and just a blast to play; it really does hit on all cylinders and the design team should be commended for it.

Wow musketd , you are just so obsessed with this pin. That's ok as we each have our own tastes. I agree with the others that have posted for months here that it is extremely similar to the KISS layout in many ways, KISS base code, similarities in some of the multi-ball code ideas to Mustang, some other similarities to MET. Does AS do the entire package better than those? Definitely better than KISS and Mustang IMO. Yes, we have played AS. My wife and I might buy either an AS or MET, but definitely not both as they are too similar too each other. AS is a good, fun game and so is MET. I'm watching reviews on AS to see if it will hold interest (longevity) with owners other than those that are obsessed with it. The reviews that just bash it I ignore. AS may win out for the purchase as we like the music and LCD better than MET.