LOTR is the easy choice for me. It has one of the best themes in pinball, tons of shots, awesome ring and balrog bash toy, call outs galore, and the animations are terrific.

It has stood the test of time and has earned its spot as not only the best stern pin ever, but one of the best pinballs ever made.

I have to go with LOTR in this one. Despite some of the negatives (mostly the long ball times), the positives far outweigh them.

LOTR has some of the best call outs in pinball of all time. It has one of the best theme integrations of all time. It has at least two cool toys (the Balrog that swings out, and the Ring magnet). And it has one of the best rulesets of all time (which compliments the long ball times). The rules are so good, that you can have fun and feel like you accomplished something even if you don't have a long game.

I think the LOTR theme fits pinball extremely well. And while I do like Metallica, I still prefer LOTR by a wide margin in terms of theme.

I've owned both (I've owned LOTR multiple times) and I have better memories of playing LOTR and getting to Valinor than I do of MET.

Never seen MET lose any comparison on PS (so the outcome for me was predictable)...........fun to watch, however, MET is nowhere near my #1 in that group

Are the results posted? If so, where?

Same as the other links posted above in the thread.

Metallica 83
LOTR 78

Ok, i saw it. Lotr 78 votes to Met 83. I'm definitely surprised.

Not sure how TWD lost. Of course this whole thing is tainted. If this thing is rerun RBION would win hands down.
#Travesty #neverforget #australianconspiracy

Totally. RBION is the true pin entitled for the throne.

Since it was never in the vote, we’ll never know. It really should get an honorary win. I’m calling a tie - RBION/Met

Interesting. Looks like it ended with an upset, if you compare it to the PS rankings. I've always wondered how the ranks would play out if the slate was wiped clean and started over.

If a game made in 2003 nearly wins, and we are now 2019, what does that say about innovation?!

It says that LOTR is one of the greatest games ever made. But we already knew that. It’s funny that we usually hear from people that either don’t like it, or complain about it. Too long playing. Clunky. But it had everything I love in pinball. Great art, some of the best callouts ever... and the two most critical thing needed for greatness. Staged rules, and depth. It had things you could get your hooks into. You could always find one mode, or one thing to get into. The staged rules speaks to that. There were easy modes, and very difficult ones. To start Destroy The Ring, you just needed to start 3 multiballs, but to destroy it, you had to hit shots under pressure. Eventually you started finishing Two Towers, and really went to work on Fellowship. Did you beat Return of the King? How did you feel the first time you earned 3 cheese wedges from the elves? It plays long because it’s so deep, and there is so much to do that it has to play long. The rules match the play perfectly.

This is the same reason why Metallica was there at the end as well. The rules match the game perfectly. Do you want to just play a basher game? MET is a bash game! Sparky all day. Grave markers all day. Snake all day. Just keep hitting the same thing over and over, and poof, the game will give you a multiball for it. It’s a true basher. BUT, it isn’t. Because combine that bashing with key shots, and all of a sudden you are lighting shots. You are progressing a bit deeper. You are earning those bashing shots on the real smooth shots. You are locking in those shots for the rest of the game to earn them quicker and less dangerously than bashing them. Get enough of them, and the blue light starts flashing for Crank It Up! Hit the scoop and pick your poison. These modes require a quick bashing of all 4 main spots, but then it quickly becomes a huge risk reward choice. Sure, you can hit the scoop and get the F outa town, OR, you can increase the jackpot massively. And of course, you need to then double it at the end before exiting. Well, really you probably already drained, but if you didn’t, you need to hit that pison first. And during multiball, who doesn’t try to hear “Jack F*****g Pot”? The perfect depth, and strategic decisions needed to do well.

That’s the innovation of pinball. And I make it sound like a formula, but it isn’t. It’s hard to put a game together that has these levels of great play with great rules, that are also fun to play multiple ways. That’s the secret sauce that makes them win.

I missed all rounds after 1. Fun idea. I liked this also when it was done a few years ago in a bracket style with various manufacturers (maybe it was top 100?).

Nothing?

Innovation does not equal fun.

Well said. I mean, there is a reason why we are all still playing with steel balls rolling over painted wood boards 100 years later.

Another reason Metallica is Stern's best game is the toys. The four main mechs aren't really new, except for the hammer, but they're spectacularly choreographed and executed.

The brilliance isn't in the mechanical "innovation," it's in how they used fun mechs and dressed them up to create engaging characters and moments.

TallicAAAAAAaaaaa !!!!!

In love since 2013

Glad Metallica beat LOTR. Even though Metallica just misses my personal top 5 list, I can't stomach playing LOTR anymore. Respect the game, hate the idea of ever playing it. Metallica is always a blast though.

Obviously, I will state for the record that I am one of those people that dislike the pin, especially for the reasons you listed above. And also obviously, it is many people's favorite game ( it gets played nonstop at my arcade ).

I have no problem with the things you listed (depth of code, sound, callouts, animations, etc) except for the "great art" comment. C'mon now, I thought we all could agreed that the photoshop art with HORRENDOUS resolution is super lame. Even the LOTR super fans can usually be counted on to point this out. Maybe they will vault it one day and fix it.

I've owned LOTR twice. I sold it when my collection was around 6 games. I missed it and have a HEP LOTR now with my collection at 19 pins, and it's not leaving.

I think LOTR really needs to be in a larger collection to be a keeper in a home environment. I play it once a month or so, when I'm in the mood and have time for a longer game. I don't get sick of it or burn out on it, because I have plenty of other pins to play.

Well of course you can never get all of any group to agree on anything. And especially, art. And on this, we will need to disagree. I’ve never minded the photoshopped art on LOTR. And the resolution was not only fine for the day it was made in, but is fine in a pinball machine. Is it a piece of art? Of course not. However, for the art on a pinball machine, it does just fine. You can bash it all you want for that, but I’ll just disagree. Fortunately my copy has decent registration. I’ve seen some pretty bad examples that were not worthy.

Art is most definitely the least important aspect of a pinball machine. Plenty of Stern's best games came out in the low resolution photoshop dark ages and are still great and fun games (like LOTR). I just pray that we never see that era of art packages again. I am enjoying the fact that we are getting great games WITH great art from them now.