Seems like this is quite the polar theme as far as pinside goes based on the number of other people chiming in about it in other threads, but personally, I think it would be tubular to have a decent TMNT pin in my line up. The irony is, this is probably the one license, NO BODY WANTS BASED ON THE MOVIE(S). Looking at Jurassic Park and everyone moaning about it not really having any of the iconic movie references (even though it was an epic book first and foremost), TMNT is similar in that it's roots run deep in graphic novel format and was adapted later for main stream viewing. Which, like JP, would give STERN (or whoever) a lot of freedom in what they ultimately could do with the game, not being tied to redundant movie clips.

The TMNT universe has so much to offer design wise to build a unique playfield that incorporates theme such as their secret underground lair accessed via subways/sewers/etc., tons of characters and villain content (the 4 turtles, Splinter, Shredder, Shredder's foot soldier army, his goons bebob and rocksteady, Krang, April O'Neil, Casey Jones, the news van, etc.) along with an art style that really has a lot of options - - as long as it's iconic, and at the heart is comic style oriented. The original masters would do the theme the most justice, but based on the work that Zombie Yeti has done recently, I truly believe that he would knock this one out of the park.

As far as all of the nay-sayers complaining about it being an old theme for old dudes, and that it's just nostalgic for a few people, they clearly don't have children. My 6 year old has been a TMNT fan since he found out about mutant turtles that learned to be ninjas. The theme passes generations and will continue to be relevant in years to come. Just like Jurassic Park and dinosaurs.

#hopeithappens
#betterstartsaving

Not trying to kick a man while he's down, but did you play Munsters before you ordered your LE? After one game on Munsters I knew the game was absolutely not for me. I played a few more games to be sure, but it didn't change any of my impressions. I knew I didn't like the code and I didn't like the shots. Even a complete overhaul on the code likely isn't gonna sway that opinion... At least it was nice to see that Dwight went back and improved Ghostbusters (ALOT) to the point where that game is actually quite fun to play again and not nearly as repetitive and linear as before.

People have commented left and right about how cool it would be to be able to choose your own turtle and have some depth to this game in that fashion. To me, Dwight's the ONLY person at STERN that's really successfully done that kind of coding. His games take a while to get to the fit and finish we've all come to expect (why I don't know - just because we spend thousands of dollars on something doesn't entitle us) but when they do get there I think they are masterpieces. Star Wars and Game of Thrones both took a while but have come out as clear gems in my collection -- both of which have a choose your own adventure feel to them, both of which have very unique game play feelings each and every time I step up to them. If turtles can be on this level then I think it'll be an awesome game to have in a home collection.

"At least 3 flippers" and "each player chooses a turtle at the start of a game" sounds pretty awesome if it's true.

I'm confident TMNT is on it's way.

Have you seen The Beatles pinball machine? Talk about your basic rule set on a game that they sold for a small fortune - that to me was a slap in the consumer's face. Munsters is a theme that resonates with the same demographic and not surprisingly, was strategically designed to have more simple, straight-forward rules. It's not a slap in the face, it's buyer beware, play before you pay - just because you spend a small fortune on a toy doesn't mean it's going to meet all your expectations. I played a handful of games on Munsters and knew right away it wasn't for me.

For all of those others that are bashing Dwight, personally I think the guy is brilliant and can't wait to see what he comes up with on his next game. If he's on TMNT and goes to the depth of code like he did on Game of Thrones for the four turtles I can't imagine I won't be all in on that, but of course I'll play it first. There are LOTS of people out there that actually like the games Dwight codes and love the nuance and depth to the programming, even the multiplier logic and rules (and if you don't like that stuff, then play the games ignoring it, you don't need to worry about managing multipliers and trying to get more points to have fun and advance through the game and it's content).

Cowabunga dude - - bring on some Shredder.

Lol, that's exactly how I feel - - almost every pinball I've ever played gets old eventually, you learn the rules, you hit that, you hit this, but learning the depth of the multiplier rule keeps the game fresh and exciting and almost brings it back to older school pinball when it was all about points and there was no "depth" to a pinball machine. Dwight just did a phenomenal job of tying in that with modern day rules...

And let's not forget Mr. Lyman Sheats - - I absolutely got so friggin bored with Spider-man the first few years I played it. Then I watched some tutorials and some real pinball players playing it and learned about the nuance of all of the multipliers and how you get them and how you set them. That was literally a game changer for me and now Spidey is one of my favorite pins. It takes the grindfest away from just simply trying to progress through the game and provides some straight-forward basic pinball fun. And I'm sorry, if you can't figure out how the multiplier button works on Star Wars then you've got a really long road ahead of you...

Well, based on my experience, pretty much the whole pinball community has a disparate view on balanced game play and scoring. You can look at a bunch of the games in the top 10 and top 20 and argue many of them are unbalanced when it comes to scoring and unbalanced when it comes to game play and what you really want to go for.

If getting a high score is what's most important for you in pinball, then I could see how some of Dwight's games are polarizing and maybe not liked as much. Personally, I couldn't care less what my score is at the end of the game; what drives me in pinball is the experience and the integration, something I think Dwight has done a marvelous job on with Star Wars and Game of Thrones (especially considering how few "toys" he had to work with on Star Wars).

Regardless, I have yet to see someone step up to my Star Wars and beat my GC score on a few minutes of game play compared to the half hour or more that went into the top score. It is possible to focus on both progressing in the game and managing your high score shots, and I personally find it super gratifying when I manage to get that 40X multiplier and then not fuck up and actually use it on a video mode, or Escape Boba Fett. I mean, seriously, I don't think there's a single mode out there (maybe Horde in TWD) that actually gets my adrenaline that pumped up as when I start escape Fett and it's even more heightened when I know I have that multiplier high and I don't want to blow it.

Either way, it's clear there's people out there that just don't like it and that's fine, but there's a ton of people out there that do like it and that doesn't mean it's bad... I love the rumor that Dwight is on this and look forward to seeing if he does another take on choosing your adventure similar to what he's done with SW and GOT, just with turtles this time.

Exactly. This confuses me, if you don't care about score and you don't like the multiplier rules, then just completely ignore them. You don't have to worry or get distracted thinking about moving the shot multiplier or going for the 3 bank, etc. Just ignore it if it bothers you so much (hell most people unintentionally ignore the multiplier rules Lyman put in Spider-man and to me that's the one thing that really changed that game from a chopping wood fest to a must have in my collection).

These extensive multiplier rules are a way of almost getting multiple games in one. I can focus on score or I can focus on progression or I can try to do both. It gives me new strategies and ways to approach the same game which, in a home line-up, helps keep things fresh.

Well, I think it's fun! (and so do many others) I guess that's the beauty of pinball in this day and age, we're all lucky we have more than one choice on new pinball machines.

Lol, therein lies the problem. You could probably ask 100 TMNT superfans what kind of pinball machine they would like to see and you'd get 100 different answers. At the end of the day the game that is made is probably not going to deliver on exactly what every fan wants. I just hope it's close enough to what I know and love about the franchise and that it is fun to play.

I don't know how any pinball machine getting delayed or cancelled is a "good" thing unless you absolutely hate pinball, but whatever, to each their own I guess...

One thing is for certain, ZY is gonna kill it on the art package; gotta temper my expectations on the rest...