Well I've had my pro for about a week now.
WOW... I am just floored by how far this code is already. The game is really a lot of fun, and I can see how it would appeal to a wide range of skill sets.
I have played a ton, and had a few notes on the game that I thought others might benefit from.
Awesomes:
- The multiballs are really interesting right out-of-the-gate. The Turtle Power multiball is so cool because you can keep it going by collecting all the turtles and hitting the right ramp to add another ball. The Ninja Pizza Multiball is also cool because the toppings really do create a different type of multiball scoring and so you have to alter your game to really go for the points. Just really cool.
- I like how many different paths there are. Training and Leveling your character, the foot spinner and the 1-2-3 foot combo shots, the weapon hurry ups, etc... there's so much going on, and I find I want to reach the end on all of them.
- The episodes are just a ton of fun. I feel like they are interesting and not just "all shots are lit... hit them all". Each one has a slightly different progression and it really makes it fun to choose your episode. Also, I love the 2 locked episodes that can only be reached by playing the one that precedes it.
- When you hit that Krang Combo, it is one of the most satisfying combos in pinball for me personally. It just feels good.
- The playfield is mean (in a good way). I love games that really make you slow down and think about risk/reward for every shot.
- Co-op mode is GREAT. My girlfriend is always frustrated when we play together because I've been playing pinball for most of my life and so I sometimes get large scores. Now she is actually getting into the game and learning rules to pinball because we can progress the game together in a co-op fashion rather than me shooting-the-moon every time and her getting frustrated with her skill level. She also likes the chance to put her name into the high-score board.
- I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone about how stunning this machine looks...between the artwork and the lighting, it's just a masterpiece.
- I could go on and on, but I think I'll finish with the callouts in the game. They are fun and funny. I find myself not skipping animations and wanting to hear all the callouts just because I really enjoy all the voice acting and some of the good one-liners they have. It's AWESOME!
Could be improved:
-Almost all the flaws I've seen are software-based except one. Mind you, this is for the PRO and not the other models. The one problem I've noticed with the machine is the sideways middle ramp shot. I'm hoping someone has some advice for me on this (like flipper strength or something), but one of the objectives for the Cowabunga Wizard mode is to do a "Max Krang Combo" which is 3 upper loops and then the middle ramp in succession. It's a very difficult maneuver which I've done now twice (and that was just going for nothing else other than that combo). One of the problems is that when you loop that upper orbit multiple times, the ball really gets going and when you manage to hit that ramp afterwards, a lot of times it air-balls and just hops the sensor so you don't get credit for it... it's sooooooo frustrating because it's already difficult. I wish they would have put some sort of top-plastic over the ramp to prevent it (maybe they did and it didn't work).
The code problems I've noticed are very minor, but I'm hoping they get addressed to really polish the game:
- The "Player [1,2,3,4]" at the bottom of the screen should be reduced to reflect the actual amount of players in the game. Even if you're playing a 1-player game, players 2-4 are still shown at the bottom of the screen.
- The pop bumpers sometimes award items that you can't get in your current scenario (add-a-ball when you're not in multiball, add-time when you're not in a mode, etc...)
- The "weapon" inlane light should be visible during the animation for starting the skill shot. If you are playing Raph or Don, then the ball is about to come down the inlane and it'd be nice to know which one is lit before the animation ends rather than guessing.
- Scoring is much too Bonus-heavy right now. There's a few exploits in bonus multipliers and I think there should probably be a cap on multipliers or at least take away the pop-bumper bonus multiplier increase awards because it's easy enough to get to the top-lanes.