Airballs are bound to happen once in a while (particularly with the Mick on a stick or the Rockstar standup on the left ramp), but it generally shouldn't be happening on normal ramp shots. Things like the ramps, orbits, records shot and side targets should be pretty smooth on this game.

Interestingly though on my LE, I did notice more airballs than on the Pro I owned previously. I just dealt with it (it wasn't as consistent as it sounds like it is for you), but I did notice the game flipped and felt totally different from the Pro. I'm not sure what it is, but that could be part of it.

The stackability on this game is one of my favorite aspects of it, and what's nice is it's all relatively easy stuff to do--you're not spending ages getting it all set up. For instance, start records, then start licks, then start multiball. Or if you want to get fancier, get a Super Combo ready on the center ramp and have that going on top of the others during the multiball. It's fun stuff. I suppose my only disappointment is not being able to stack multiballs. The wizard mode (Encore Multiball) is extremely tough to get to because you can't stack Album with Rockstar (unlike say, Avatar or Iron Man, where their two main multiballs can be stacked, making completion much easier).

I always assumed Lyman worked on the game a bit as some rules are similar to what he's done on previous games. For instance, a five way combo to start Super Combos, or the Records mini wizard mode basically being Total Annihilation from AFM, and Rockstar Multiball being War Machine from Iron Man.