It's not an issue of the physical characteristics of undead vs the living (and who says the Black Knight is alive, anyway?), but obvious motion capture (canned or created) vs hand animation. They styles are not a smooth fit.

Munsters is a blast!!!!! I would not trade it for anything at this point!!!

"get out"... delivered in a deadpan, Ahhnold-style is a mainstay in SR games. He even yells it at you if you fumble into the rapids in NF. Pretty cool trademark imho.

I do wonder why the main four chord theme is such a short loop however... it could have wandered into a bunch of different directions before restarting. As it is now it does indeed get tiring... quick. And that's a shame because otherwise it's quite appropriate for the game.

Can't wait to play this - super high adrenalin game.

So far though, comparing to Maiden, I was more blown away watching Maiden for the first time.

My prediction is that this will go down as a good game, whereas Maiden is a classic.

Animations are better on this game though.

I'm not very impressed by this BK3 premium, Star Wars premium is a much more better pin in my opinion.
SR failed to make something spectacular with this classic theme.

3 questions:

First 'Knight' completion gives you the oldest black knight retro mode? This is 'easier' as you already have some letters lit.
What would a second 'Knight' completion give you? The BK2000 song/mode?

What is needed to qualify for the black castle wizard mode?

I could not find a certain strategy setup in the game.
Except for the 6 ball multiball combined on the premium/le. But is it worth more then? Or would it be smarter to avoid playing them together?
Next to that you have the logic thing to start a mode before starting multiball (but it's the same shot so not that hard).
Is there another strategy, multipliers, super modes or is this game quite 'classic' regarding rules?

Interesting that no ones mentioning the scoring.....

Word of Rage - the original name for the pinside forums

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Once again people on here nitpick the stupidest little things.

Animations, to music, to call outs. Who knows maybe they are not 100% final but if they are it is still a great overall package.

I hope it sells well because the idea of classic pinball sequels is really intriguing. Good on you Stern.

Two things that i really dislike: misplaced "magna save" button , non physical kickback ( it´s a balls-save!)
What will come next, a virtualized upper Playfield ?

Looks pretty awesomes to me... I’ll be happily flipping my pro next week. Very excited!

I had noticed scoring seems pretty low and there didn't seem to be anyone blowing up the game.

Maybe code is too early.

Not sure if there's any kind of story in the game but it would've been fun to add a kind of quest into the game, with the Black Knight travelling through his dark realm, killing and looting then ultimately facing judgement with.....some big ass bad guy for the end of game battle.

Story telling is starting to creep into pinball games now and can be more engaging for a player than just chasing a high score.

I know Deeproot have hired story tellers for their games, so we'll see what they come up with.

not low but skill shot is 30x jackpot. mystery 15x jackpot and the modes and hurry ups are more than the jackpots in catapult mb...

The Iron Maiden Pinball has cool modes (except Flight of Icarus!!!), everything is staged. As an example the Aces high mode, you start against a few fighter, easy to do even for unskilled players, then there are the bombers and it's getting harder and if you finish that, the Ace Pilots waits for the skilled player. You can find this gameplay in Hobbit too.
And I think it would fit in the BK too. If every Bossfight had 3 stages and you could finish every stage, than the timer resets and every stage you have to use different tactics untill you could finish the boss. That would make this game a dream to play.
Who else thought about World of Warcraft with the boss fights? Now why don't they make this fights more complex. Like the one GoT mode, the lich kings could freeze your flipper and drain your life, so you have to restore it with certain shots. The Molten Core beast could flood the bottom play field with lava , so you only are save to play on the upper playfield, the Hydra could spit poison and you have to hit the shield to shield you before it hits you, the psychodelic hellhand mode could switch your flipper controlls......there are so many possibilities to make these fights epic.

I agree, this smacks of being cheap. Totally different physics to a game with a kickback. Virtual kickback, now that's funny, you're spot on it's a ball save/autoplunger.

just realized that when you pointed it out. This seems to be another cost saving measure. My wallet is safe.

Time for me to head over to the BKSOR club this thread has turned depressing. This is Steves Magna Carta and some of you have the audacity to shit on it. Have some respect.

Gotta admit, when I saw this in TWIP Deep Dive a few weeks back , due to the insert placement and shape I thought it was a kickback ( this being a "kickback" title too , so it seemed fitting), then in Stream today it's a rock stock current day ball save

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I think for me, this will be one to wait and see where the code winds up. Deadpool felt the same way to me in the beginning, and its really turning the corner now. The drains seem to be pretty brutal and frequent. The upper PF on the LE seems like you'll have a lot of time spent watching the ball ride the bottom rail and not be able to do anything about it with the flipper. The animations look really good though.

People are voicing opinions on game aspects, expectations from images Vs today's reality , not shitting on SR. Huge difference

I think they really stepped up the animations with this game! The music was cool but even during the short amount of time I watched the stream it got old quick.

The upper playfield seemed pretty boring to me.

I’m excited to get to play one just not sure I’m that interested in owning one.

50 - and I still like metal.
Love the music on my Maiden pin, but with IMDN it's not the same song in a loop

BKSR soundtrack gives me a little anxiety - I like it but it's very high energy and makes me feel like I am under the gun to hit certain targets asap
feel like they should of used it only during certain modes

Overall game looks like fun.
Love the call outs
Graphics, while not up to current video game standards, look good to me (if you compare it to Oktoberfest - well you know)
Playfield lighting is a little red - but maybe it looks better in person
BK in center is very cool - can't wait to see topper

It's a game I need to play a few times before I would buy
Either way - great day for pinball - another cool machine out in wild!

My excitement has been drained on this one. Pro only if any.

I love a physical kick back....part of the reason I like and own DI & TFTC ("I got good noose for you" )

Not a fan at all of the virtual kick back

I don't know why "virtual kickback" is getting parroted. Is it actually called that anywhere in the game? I only recall seeing it called ball save, or the LCD saying ball saved.

I personally don't mind, I find kickbacks annoying to fix when they break, but to each there own.

If I have a choice between a physical ball save kick or a sweet ass black knight with a spinning flail and interactive shield and awesome lighting.......well bye bye physical ball save and hello virtual ball save. Couldn’t really give 2 fucks if it’s physical or virtual

I was not paying super close attention to what they were saying during the stream (I was watching the game)

Is there an option to ditch the hard metal soudtrack in favor of a more "BK2000" type track.

I am digging this game, but not a fan of the way they remastered this to be more metalish.

It looks cool but I have to pass for at least 5 years. These animations are cool, but are by far the "scariest" animations I have seen in pinball. With a 2 year old, 5 year old, and 7 year old at home, I think I'm going to have to hold off until the kids are a lot older. My youngest is borderline scared of my Hobbit as it is.

There is the throwback mode in which you need to earn, but it is the original Black Knight not BK2000. I would love for them to put in the power song from BK2000...”You got the power, you got the might...”
Having said that, the throwback mode is really cool and you could hear the spinners and other shots reflecting the original game...

There is definitely the BK2000 theme redone in this game. Tim talked about it extensively in one of the podcasts.

Feel like I kinda saw this coming a couple weeks ago...

thanks would be epic!

It is the best part of BK2000 so they need to bring it in!!!

Got a chance to watch more gameplay video last night and really dig the pro. Compared to a pin like Star Wars pro it's a loaded game with the interactive features. Main ramp looks like fun, especially since the knight flail can block it a couple different ways.

The premium / LE features bummed me out. The upper playfield just looks like theres this huge ugly piece of metal up there with a few plastics screwed on. The catapult lock should at least be surrounded by a 3D mold considering the price. Then the catapult itself just leisurely let's the balls out..how does that represent a catapult? A molded interactive castle up there would have fit much better with the theme in my opinion.

You hit the nail on the head.

After watching the stream of both pro/prem I think I would have to go with the pro for the money. I love bk and bk2k and at first the thought of a bk without an upper playfield really bugged the hell out of me, but after watching the game play I just wouldn't be able to justify the price gap. I do think the game looks awesome and super fun and hope I get to play both versions. I hope they add a little more to the upper playfield to close that price gap. Either way game looks great, well done stern.

Lmaoooooo at everyone complaining about the music. Bk2ks legend rides upon a demonic, razor electric soundtrack that pierced your ears. It’s supposed to scare you and get you amped up! What are you expecting in a sequel?

Maybe stern should make an over 55 version featuring this?

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Last week : What no upper playfield on the pro....
Today: id rather have the pro anyway

Hypocrites.

With up to 6 ball multiball and 3 ball released from upper playfield lock, I wonder how scratched that clear upper playfield will be over time, especially on location.

I think the reason that folks are saying, "go pro" is how unimpressive the upper playfield is, especially compared to BK and BK2000. Putting pop bumpers and rollover lanes on the main playfield instead of upper really makes it look barren up there.

It’s not being hypocritical to change one’s mind in the presence of new information.

personaly, if i have to use only 1 word after this stream, it will be : disappointed

strange feeling, as i was waiting so much from this franchise (may be too much ???)
i dig the overall artwork, colors, theme, screen animations, and of course sounds (even if already too repetitive with some music loops, remember BK2K)

but as a player, the flow & the gameplay !? oups no...
i know its still way too soon to have already a full judgement (and here i dont forget the code), but when they're saying "amazing" at the end of the stream, sorry, its not my feeling

That music sounded good at the beginning but grated on me after a few minutes. Looking forward to putting some plays on it at Allentown.

I don’t know, mixed feelings for me. Don’t think I’ll own one but definitely looking forward to flipping one on location.

Glad I'm not the the only one with these thoughts after watching the stream yesterday. Sat down in high anticipation, but I walked away underwhelmed.....

My two cents after watching the stream --- and this coming from someone who has owned a BK2K for 20+ years (I love the game).

I was really excited about this title, of course, and the initial pictures got me even more excited about it to the point where I was considering selling my 2000 to fund one. But as with every game when you see reality for the first time, you come into reality and think about it some more.

I'm still really excited to play it - I like the fast / difficult nature of the playfield. I love the playfield art and how they kept the BK2K feel to it. I think the animations are the best Stern has done yet. The Black Knight toy is *awesome* . Initial light shows were really cool.

A few things disappointed me; primarily how modern pinball rules seem to apply in not very unique ways to this game. Modes that seems to be just collections of lit shots, IMDN-style supers, "everything is a jackpot" multiballs. It had me longing for the era when getting a jackpot was difficult and special. Yeah, super jackpots have replaced that, but one thing I love about BK2K is the huge buildup to a multiball, where you're possibly left with nothing, and if you get that Jackpot shot your payoff is huge. We didn't see a lot about hurry ups, which is core to previous Black Knights... especially ones that build in value over repeated attempts.

I'm not a metal fan, so while I appreciate the music in the game, I preferred the mix between electronic and metal that 2000 has. This version, for me, was a little frantic. But again, hard to tell on a stream when you're not playing it how well it will fit for you.

A few small things I hope they put into the code:
* The game really needs to start with "I am THE black knight."
* A "get the ball back in the upper PF lock jackpot" (I think even Steve said 'that needs to be worth about a billion points')
* Use of the lightning wheel during random (mystery) awards

So, I think I'm just in the "this is different from what I know" phase. Really looking forward to playing it and seeing how it evolves over the next several months.

Thanks to Steve and Tim for producing this sucker, and to DeadFlip for the early view! I'm really glad Stern took a chance with this.

Hopefully there will be more lightning wheel spinning animations (i know it's early code).

I didn't see much of this in the steam, but honestly I didn't watch the full thing end to end.

"no way" and a lot of the black knight speach needs to be amped up.

I didn't watch the whole stream, but what I saw didn't feature the games namesake sword in an overt way. I saw the sword graphic there filling with energy (rage?) but didn't see the big payoff. Suppose I just missed it or they didn't make it there.

Overall looks like an exciting game that I'm really interested in getting some time on.