I'm just trying to understand why this pins seems to have settled in the undesirable category. I actually prefer a challenging layout. Perhaps many of the newbs do not? Or perhaps it's the code? It's certainly not the art or the theme. I don't have enough time on it to comment on the code. I only played it a few times and didn't have a problem with the layout.

I've never seen a Premium for $7100 before - lowest I've seen is $7500, sounds like a great deal. Looking in the marketplace it looks good and pretty stock. If you're close I'd grab it. Make sure you level it and check the slope or it can be pretty harsh.

I'm grabbing one locally, but if I weren't I'd probably reach out to that guy.

You know, it wasn't that long ago that I was buying NIB Stern Premiums for $6k. Heck, my first NIB was a Transformers LE for $5200 shipped. So, $10k for a Premium and $13k for an LE seems totally outrageous to me. I'm steering clear in favor of more reasonable options.

Yeah seems like a great deal, people say the pro is totally good for this game but at that price if you’re close enough why not go for the prem.

I just joined the club yesterday with an LE from a local pinsider friend, and the fam got me this cake today! So far a great game, pleasantly surprised as it wasn’t on my list.

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I bought my premium for $7100 a few months ago. It's a great game. No regrets.

ok than

and for what i'm listening around me, yes, the reason seems to be : the pin is (really) too hard for lambda players
at first, you may think its a family pinball, but than, when you play it, it may quickly become frustrating

as an example : yesterday, ball 1 : ball to the upper lanes, miss & rebound to fall in the center ramp, to the the left lair target, straight down to the left sling upper rubber, and than more than often its perfect left to the left outlane, or even frustrating, a perfect right long drive to the right outlane ! got a "ball save", same, than even another ball save !!! and same...

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that "sequence" also happends when ball goes in the upper lanes, some bumpers, and than fall to/in the center ramp...
i know i can nudge, but even that, its not always enough

this pin remind me TWD for how easy/often/quickly its eating balls, but due to the layout & the fact you're playing on the volley to make the combos shoots, its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay faster than TWD !

in conclusion, while you're looking for some challenge, Turtle is for you (because when you're in a "good" game, its full of adrenaline)

Game is an arse kicker. You get your arse kicked a lot. We have a LE and have had it since it was released. I love the game. I think once a fair few games have found loving homes, game will become like Ghostbusters. Love hate relationship. Most will love the game. A noisy few will hate the game

I find nudging when it hits the lair target most effective with those feeds, should always be enough if you time it right, you want to stop it even getting to the sling

or also change the slope (this will than change all the angles)
but its a 1 month loan pin, than i'll play it as it...

Agree fantastic theme ,killer art ,fun code.just a beautiful game I have an le also and just love it.down the road will be sought after like ghostbusters

I also get a little bit of ghostbusters vibes from this game. I had GB premium but sold it and I totally regret it, so I'm much more reluctant to get rid of this game now.

I see. Sounds like this pin is for me then. It's a shame when people crap on s pin for being too hard. Reflection of this generation I guess.

I also think a few more things factor in to why some people like to hate on this pin. It was released during covid when no one was able to go play on location, on top of the fact that now when you do play it on location, it is usually dialed in to be a location pin. Ex: posts are at the widest, settings either default or perhaps harder, etc. This on top of what some call unbalanced scoring make it a tough sell to the masses. I personally love it! I do wish the scoring was a little better though.

I think it's misconception that the scoring is unbalanced simply because the game doesn't score on the same billion point levels that other games do. Although mission scoring was kind of weak, that has now been improved.

Foot123 is still my least favorite part of the game. I would turn off the pizza eating contest too if I could (I don't think it can be).

Rob

I don't know that I'd want my whole collection to be hard pins but I'm glad I picked up a Turtles Pro and I no longer worry when people say some pinball is "brutal" or whatever. It might be challenging but the designers know their jobs, it's not going to be so brutal that a decent player can't enjoy it and learn it. With Turtles specifically, I think there is some point to those who say that a kid friendly theme might not be the best match to a difficult game but it is what it is. For what it's worth, after reading some posts on this thread I just raised my angle from 6.5 to 6.7 and I think it plays significantly better at that angle. After I play it here for a while I may try 6.8, 6.9, etc... before settling in on a final angle.

The good part about a reputation for being a harsh game is it helps keep the prices lower. Turtles, Star Wars, Walking Dead, Houdini - all are pretty reasonably priced compared to other titles.

I don't mind 123-Foot other than it blocks some other features while it's running. If it ran simultaneously it wouldn't be a big deal. For pizza eating contest it helps to be aware of how many slices you have. If it triggers by surprise it can be hard to keep the ball in play while hitting the button, so I try to watch the number and make sure I know when it will trigger. Or, if you have a young kid they love hitting the button for you and it will let you concentrate on the ball

Spent some time yesterday with my new to me turtles, and it is a fast flow and combo monster. Difficult? Yes. Is that a bad thing? No! Its a rush to play, kept my attention and coming back for more. The theme might be off putting for some, as it was for me having never watched the show, but glad I tried it and got one.

I agree with you. I love a game that makes me work for it. Very challenging shots and also rewarding shots too. Code has gotten waaaaay better. Still a few bugs for Dwight/stern to work out. But over all, great challenging, fun game, beautiful game.....IMO

And yes, I think people new to the hobby are looking for the easy flow games that might just want to bat the ball around.

I have had Turtles since release and do like the game a lot. The main problem of the game is the brutal nature of both the layout and the code. The code on the game is very unique in that it offers a mode based progression in which the different modes are very unique but it also adds a lot of objectives that you have to obtain in order to reach the end of the game. Other than the modes, the other objectives are all hurry up based. So the game can be very stressful in trying to collect those hurry ups. A majority of them can only be obtained once per ball so if it is missed you are out of luck. I like games where I feel like I can get it all on ball 3 if I am lucky. Turtles is not like that. It is just a different style game that you need to play in a certain way.

To me, the code is one of the most unique coded games but also the most frustrating and not coded well games. But in a medium to large collection it should fit just fine.

A lot of the hurry based objectives are based on the center loop and center ramp shots. In my opinion these two shots are very clunky and do not work very well. I feel like Borg did a much better job on these two shots on Rush. Feels way better designed on Rush. Not saying its horrible on Turtles. It feels great hitting those shots on Turtles but can be very frustrating when these shots are very important on Turtles.

100% agree turtles with the smoothness of the Rush upper loop and ramp would be so amazing. Those shots on turtles just don’t seem to hit as well. Also multiple upper loops are very hard to hit since it’s so fast I do like the way Rush slows it down just a bit so it’s repeatable.

The upper flipper shots are definitely hard to make due to the speed the ball goes around there. I haven't turned down my upper flipper strength yet, should probably do that and see if it helps some. I do know that raising the slope to 6.7deg has helped a lot with flow in general. I may try 6.8 sometime and see how that goes.

I don't mind so much that a lot of things have to be re-enabled by a new ball or an Episode or getting TUMB to do them again. That feels to me like just how the game is intended to work. If anything I like the emphasis on Episodes and making them important to progress.

The thing that bothers me more is that so many things are locked out when 123-Foot or Training are running. I played a game over lunch today and really needed to get another Episode going. BUT, the ball bounced into the Lair and triggered Training which seems to lock out starting an Episode. The rules aren't very well documented either, even the Tilt Forums rulesheet is not that good at covering all the details.

To be fair, I don't prioritize the Hurryups that much so if I miss collecting one it's not a big deal to me. If your strategy relies on those more I can see how they can be stressful but at least the game has some shots to help add time to your timers.

Anyway, I really like the game a lot and when you're "on" and hitting the shots well it feels amazing. I can't say if Rush does it better, I haven't played that one very much and to be honest I'm not a fan of rock band themes anyway. If anything, maybe a spinner somewhere along the path of the center loop would help to slow the ball down - is that what Rush does or is it more just about the shape of the loop?

But I feel like Turtles is improving my skills and it's making me excited to play other "harsh" or "fast" or "brutal" pins that I might have steered away from before. It's also shown me how much difference leveling and proper pitch can make in the feel of a game. I'm no pro, I've only gotten TUMB a couple times and my best scores are in the 40M's, but I've only had the game just over a week and feel like I'm making progress.

I also want to say that I love all the extra ways to play that Dwight has added. It really adds value to having a Turtles in your collection and the feature where your Turtles training level can be saved between games with Insider Connected is cool too, I don't think any other game does this?

If Dwight is watching this thread, two requests for an upcoming software update:
1. When choosing your turtle, can you show the high score for that Turtle? If one of them is lagging behind, I may want to play that one specifically.
2. When starting Ninja Pizza Multiball, can you show the Pizza Toppings a bit longer, or have a config option that they stay up until the player presses a button? I feel like I'm being rushed here and knowing my toppings better would help me know what to shoot for during NPMB.

Both of these are I hope low effort things to add that will provide a bit more "quality of life" to the game. Thanks!

I'm old(er) and can't read the pizza toppings menu. Yes, it goes away too quickly also. White font on a near white menu background is killer.

Rob

How hard is it to remove the eye from the topper? Does it just pull off? I don't like that it's 3d printed and for the money they could have molded it for sure. Does anyone make a better looking eye that doesn't have that 3d printer texture?

I’m curious as to what people’s times are for the Half Shell Challenge. What is your best time and what would you consider a good time.

For me my personal best is 83 seconds but anything under 150 I consider as an ok time.

That's a great time IMO. My best time is between 91-92 seconds.

We have a couple of more interactive Neca Krangs in stock for the pro.

https://lermods.com/shop-by-game/ols/products/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-pinball-interactive-krang

finally ejected my son from that 1st step ! let's admit it was more than hot/hard...

FINAL BATTLE reached but not completed, while i had 1 more ball behind, its a bit frustrating the code didnt stay there but goes back to the begining (but OK, that's Dwight choice)

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Enjoy reading everyone’s impression about our fab TMNT game.

There is another popular animated game out there that just showed for the first time game play. Congrats to them, code looks cute so far, but the game play is a borefest. There is literally not much going on in the game. Shoot up the center only to have the ball disappear over and over again, half way up the PF. Then rinse repeat same boring shots with not much to do in the upper PF. Has nothing like what TMNT has in the game at all, except a bash head in upper PF.

After watching that game play stream, sold all over again how superior TMNT plays and shoots, when compared to other game offerings.

Contrast TMNT game play, an evergreen property that will only grow more valuable as time goes by. Who doesn’t like ninjas? This is not just a theme only kids can enjoy, but us adults really have fun with too. Certainly the difficulty in shot geometry at times indicate its an adults game. Shots galore all over the place with incredible multi level ramp ball flow. So many mechs in the game to enjoy. Spinning left and right magnetic pizza disc. Pizza disc also turns during game play to deter balls from going SDTM. Ball lock pizza parlor. TMNT van dumping four balls onto playfield, creating turtles jumping from van into a fight. TMNT glider changing direction for ball traveling down the sewer system to strike next villain. Lair lock shot is very fun to begin training ninjas. Talking animated lit up Krang toy drawing player into immersive game play even more. 8 ball MB simulating 4 turtles fighting 4 foot soldiers. Ball flow on TMNT is superb with combos all over the place. Super fast flowing layout. Did I mention the ball is always in view and never gets lost as it constantly does on the game just newly streamed?

Now Dwight, please consider cleaning up the areas that are glitchy during Krang’s speech for example. This is a stellar coded game, other than a few more bugs being squashed. Glad Xaqery Dwight said he doesn’t consider TMNT done yet. He does such a great job on coding our games. Good idea to show toppings more prominently and longer. That’s a part of the game I’m just beginning to get into.

In the club. You guys were right. This pin rocks. I love it already. I think it's just what I needed as my other 2 sterns are the longer-playing sort. Haven't owned any ass kicker sterns since TWD and IM.

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I just saw this on the RUSH forum, lockup on boot regarding the external headphone jack. This looks exactly like the TMNT issue.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-official-rush-owners-club-1/page/63#post-6835810

Does anyone sell an airball plastic for the TMNT right ramp entrance?

https://mezelmods.com/products/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-airball-plastic

i am not sure if it's still on the market

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-club2020-cowabunga-its-pizza-time/page/181#post-6971943

and i hope this what you mean.

Yes, that's the piece I was looking for. Thanks, I'll contact the guy and see if he still makes them.

just been treated of "imbecile" while TILTING the game never heard it before

in fact, even didnt knew this word was also used in english !? same signification as french...

Welcome to the club!

I think Turtles kicks arse harder than TWD and IM. Turtles is much faster play.

+1

and that left outlane seems to have a magnet in it !!!
well on mine... i've watched the Raymond D. Turtles videos, its also eating balls there, but not as much as here
my right sling sending perfect power balls out to the left is unbelievable, the black metal rail there is marked/paint removed

actual stats (+/- 430 games/1500 balls) are 470 left outlanes for only 210 in the right

Any tips on how to make the center ramp shot more reliably? I have a very low percentage and it's frustrating. Currently have my machine set to 6.7deg, level, and I think the upper flipper is around 190 power? I'm no pro, my high is around 44M, but I'm not terrible either.

I have upper flippers on my Godzilla, Twilight Zone, and Whitewater and all of them work fine, but TMNT sends the ball around so crazy fast that it feels like a .01 second time window to actually make the shot

you've said it all
its fast, its hard, and its the same for evbd
simply play more, and you'll get the shot soon or later

I think that shot is meant to be tough. I find the ball is just ripping around there quite a lot and I miss most of them as well. My solution is to shoot the ball lock in the van. When the ball is ejected from the van it is travelling much slower giving me a better chance to make that shot.

Good luck!

**Edit Sold**
I accidentally bought two of these baxters, and am selling this one for $30 shipped. Perfect size(4.5” tall) and cartoon accurate to mod in your game. Pm me if interested. Everything in pics are included

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So what do we think, one more code update to address any lingering bugs? We are coming up on 3 years (well 2 and a half). I don't think we can expect any new features or anything.

And I gotta say we've had some pretty good updates. Half shell challenge is unlike anything on any other stern table. That was probably my favorite feature from a code update.

Got a Pro that the optos work in test for pizza lock. Cleaned the optos but the game during game play does not register at all. Ball just passes through. All boards say ok & no tech alerts. Guess it has been like this for some time on location. Thanks for any help!

I think people had some issues with the post not being engaged and the ball bounces out on a really good hit to the van might be something to check

When the ball exits the lair and sometimes goes down the left outlane absolutely does my head in because i feel theres not much I could do to prevent it from happening. A simple code change to return that ball in that scenario would be a real winner I reckon.

I don't think Dwight is going to invest any more time in it, and I can't imagine stern is going to want to invest any more in the code with the game out of production. As much as I love this game, it very much feels like a Dwight game, and while that comes with some good things, it also typically means you're stuck with bugs and you're lucky if the game has all of the intended features in any form.

There is an adjustment to add a ball save timer for there.

I think I remember reading Dwight saying he wanted to do another update but who knows when that might happen. If not, I’m happy with what we have.

Oh wow. I didn't realise. I'll definitely play with that. Thanks for the tip.