Metallica at sparky. The payoff is a “Jack-Fuckin-Pot” once you stack snake lock from collecting pick targets, w/ a 2x scoring collect at the piston target. It feels epic! BUT, Showtime w/ a single or double jackpot is something special many more will see. Like you, I love it.

Honorable mention to BSD here.. between slaying Dracula (loud af yelling) hitting a jackpot to slay one of his wenches (loud af screaming) or the ever amazing triple stacked Thirrrrrtttyyyyy Mmmmmmiiiilllloonnn! It’s the king of jackpot awesomeness imo

I couldn't agree more. I love that on Addams.

Of the machines I've played maybe the start of Groot Multiball on GOTG has that feeling a bit. Still not as memorable as Addams though but does grab the attention of anyone around.

For me that's probably the Twilight Zone jackpot. Not only is the sound and light show amazing, but the jackpot theme that plays afterwards is fantastic. I always feel like the coolest person in the world when I get a jackpot on TZ! I also love how the game will hold onto any balls that are waiting to get kicked out somewhere while the jackpot sequence finishes, so you can enjoy it without stressing about losing multiball. We definitely need to see a comeback in building up excitement in pinball, as it's just not as prevalent today as it used to be.

One of the best call outs: "It has to warm up...............so it can kill you...................SHOWTIME".

F14 Tomcat has a similar effect on me when you start multiball. The beacons and alarms start going crazy, gives you a quick adrenaline shot. I love the Addams Showtime too...

Picture it. Dream Machine Arcade. Methuen Mall. 1989.

You are playing Black Knight 2000…

You have R-A-N-S-O lit… You just completed the WIN rollovers and the ransom light comes on…. The ball rolls to the upper flipper, you take the shot and it goes up the ramp…. The playfield goes dark, loud strikes of thunder boom from the speakers as each letter of the word ransom is revealed in all it's eclectic amber glory. The lightning wheel light spin to life then one by one each objective of the games lights, all while the music furiously builds until everything is lit.….

Now three balls enter the playfield. The angels sing as the timer counts down as you try to not to panic and get as many lit features as possible. Your ball goes to the top playfield, drawbridge down you take your shot and again up the ramp….

Every Lamp, Every Flasher is now going, letting you know that this is the moment!

An eclectic fanfare alerts you to you accomplishment, The Black Knight himself boom “YOU ARE CHAMPION.” Then the Crowd cheers as you play on….

That is my Addams Family Effect (An the reason that game will never leave my collection).

Goddamn that's a great one.

Storage Facility Multiball, with a shaker motor, is a fantastic moment on Ghostbusters.

For me it was Vacation Jackpot in White Water. If you haven't experienced that moment you are missing out on exactly what the OP is talking about. The first time that happened to me was so funny. The game goes black.... "Oh shit I broke it" then Wooop, Wooop, "what the hell is this thing doing" I'm backing away from the machine. Then everything goes off... "Holy Shit This thing is Going to Explode"!

Yep, was just going to say the same thing...

It was great back in the day, when you would get Vacation Jackpot in an arcade and everyone around would be like "what did you do to it !?"

Space Station condition green. Not quite as epic as AF, but it is quite a thing if you never experienced it and aren't expecting it.
MB frank multiball is very similar to AF, but it was after so more of a 'repeat'.

I brought this up in the R&M thread. What is missing from most pins these days is convincing call outs. Really the only good ones in new games is R&M and when Steve Richie does them.

The difference is people were actually playing characters back then. Now it's just band mates talking, or apparently local factory teams phoning it in (to save money). If you want the player to be excited, the callouts need to echo that.

My first experience of this was Funhouse, and why it remains one of my favorite games. Rudy isn't just a toy on the pf, he's a full on character. Back then, when I was a kid, that was magic. And that scream when you hit the trapdoor in multiball. Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

TOTALLY agree! TAF was my first machine, and I've been hunting for that same experience ever since. I mean one thing that you can't replicate is Raul Julia's joyful performance as Gomez. those callouts were specifically recorded for the game, and he gave 1,000 percent like always.

In a very different way, killing Smaug in TH is a similar experience, although it's more of a reflective experience than a madhouse. But just as cool - the end vs. the beginning I suppose.

POTC and EHOH are standouts, with Kevin McNally as his POTC character. The character may not be a perfect fit for pinball, since he's kind of sarcastic - there's far less bombast than Gomez. Elvira's 3rd game is head and shoulders above almost anything else that's come out in the last 6 or 7 years in this department. It's just a perfect fit.

I haven't played EHOH yet. Are they better than Scared Stiff? I love that game but assumed at this point EHOH would just be more of the same or less enthusiasm.

Were they really re-recorded for the pin? Most (if not all) of the callouts are direct quotes from the movie, seems strange that they would pay the actors to re-record the same lines that they could just snag from the movie itself.

I've played it and I have to say that I was not impressed. Granted, I didn't get very far into it (so maybe it gets better later on), but I wasn't enticed to get far into it - which is a problem. I found the game to be pretty boring actually. I realize that I seem to be in the minority here.

Sorry, but just not a fan of TAF. The sound quality is abysmal for the time period. Lawlor recycled ideas so many time before and after it. Just don't get why its people's gold standard. Would rather play br, fh, tz (still has terrible sound), NGG, RBION, or FG.

As for excitement in other games? Mystery Castle Doom Multiball, fires up a different colored GI and has an amazing callout.

LOTR is probably my gold standard for building excitement. Both at the start of mode/mulitiball and during.

RJ definitely recorded callouts specifically for the pin. There's an article floating around or recap (maybe from Granner) that talked about how we was in the studio. Was very quiet, calm but soon as it was time to record the next line he was like a different, possessed person

Now, if those original-uncompressed recordings exist anywhere, that would be a worthy upgrade to any Addams Family pin.

+1 on GB intro.. the rumble of the shaker and the sound of the siren... you know shits about to go down!

TAF is a classic tho.. I always wanted to hook my flippers up like Al’s Garage Tour where the flippers vibrate when it happens..

I love on Iron Man when the Monger comes out of the PF and says "Where do you think you're going?"

When you are juggling five balls in the Apollo 13 multiball.....and then EIGHT more pour in from the side. It takes a moment for your brain to accept it can really be that many pinballs. Has a nice light show leading up to it, too. The pure pinballs-everywhere insanity....love that pin.

I always enjoy the light show starting NGG multiball.
TOM is cool too. DMD throwing the ball at you then ejecting balls from under the playfield.
Congo shooting balls out of the volcano.

The day that they announce a remake.

Best game in my collection for this is the Super Cellar Jackpot in Whirlwind. Whole time you're playing the game, bystanders will hear the various thunderclaps and maybe feel the wind, it kind of becomes background noise in the din...

...until suddenly with another shot same as others before, the game suddenly goes dark and eerily quiet for a second, then you hear the knocking on the cellar door followed by

BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!

...each with commensurate lightning flashes and a countdown of the individual bonus award boxes under the display... as a player it's intense, and the sustained countdown racket is *guaranteed* to get everyone's attention!

I should give an honorable mention to Big Guns, which is the game I experienced my first moment like this on a real pin. First you load the cannons and start multiball with a great multiball theme playing. Then you hit the lit cannon and get the epic "YOU ARE INVINCIBLE!" callout and a frantic hurry-up theme as you begin hitting as many of the center spot targets as you can. With all the ball saves active, you can put your focus into just nailing all those targets that are usually dangerous to shoot, and if you manage to hit all of them, you save the queen, get big points, and a victorious rendition of the multiball theme. The first time I managed to do it at the arcade is one of my fondest memories of playing pinball!

MET CIU modes.

Completing all modes or collecting DIALED IN on DI and starting those wiz modes. Quite the rush.

I am new to pinball and for me so far is on MBr mosh pit MB. Dracula call out, music, and the DMD animation was just fun.

For me,
#1. Red—Line—Mania
Never gets old in Getaway HS2. Ball spinning in turbocharger - beacon flashing.

#2. Tie fighter multiball in Stern SW. What SW fan doesn’t get amped to the imperial march.

#3. Cherry bomb multiball in GOTG

But admittedly I’m probably not a good enough player to have gotten to the best parts of most games.

Wife says:
BM66 jailbreak mb
AS Love in an Elevator (I had no idea...gonna have to follow up on that one)
GB Are you a God

TAF showtime is a cool multiball buildup. I think NGG is at least as good. Being a Trekker, waiting for the Borg ship to shoot to start multiball also ranks up there. JP TRex is really cool, especially after the update. Though I think you’re right, newer games don’t tend to have this like some of the past.

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The beginning of Lost in the Zone is and will always be the most fascinating and satisfying moment in pinball for me. The first time I did it I was mesmerized

I really enjoy Smaug multiball on Hobbit. Once you lock 3 balls the battle begins with a trash talking dragon that wants to roll you up and smoke you like a joint. At first it’s just multiball chaos and you’re just trying to survive. After you notice the ball save goes away your heart starts to pound a little harder(you can feel the momentum swaying to Smaug)but you tell yourself that’s not going to stop me from taking down this mighty beast and you battle on. You start to hear Gandalf shout out Jackpot!...Jackpot!...Super Jackpot!! And you realize somehow you made it to the final stage. You quickly try to trap up what used to be a bunch of balls but has dwindled down to just two and think to yourself :thinking:all I have to do is hit that easy ramp(which suddenly shrinks to half its size). Somehow you squeeze that ball through that suddenly narrow ramp and load your arrow. You take a long breath to try and slow down your fast beating heart and swiftly hit the lockdown button to fire the arrow. Meanwhile you still have the other ball trapped on the left flipper. Time starts to slow down and the ball is now rolling down to the upper right third flipper. Now its time to finally take down that loose lipped dragon down and you only have one shot to hit that exposed chest. You push in the button(with a very sweaty hand)and hear the clank of the flipper. You see the ball is hit in Smaug’s direction but you’re not sure if it’s the death blow. You see the ball make contact with something close to what you were aiming for. All of a sudden you hear this wonderful sound of Smaug yelling(as if he just took a arrow to the chest) everything goes out the flippers die(you think your loosing your trapped ball so you frantically hit the flippers)and you finally look up and see this great dragon falling from the sky because that one very intense shot has finally landed. The game gives you a much deserved ending of Smaug and then it starts to kick out victory lap balls. Now it’s time to relax take in a few deep breath’s and enjoy. I really enjoy this moment on the Hobbit(part of the reason why I still own this pin)and its definitely one of if not my favorite pinball Nirvana moment.

<nod> The first time I started LITZ after installing a ColorDMD was a religious experience.

Yes, both Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston (and Cousin It!)

You...have an amazing lineup there

T2’s simplistic but entirely awesome sound package for me. Though LOTR may be my favorite call outs of any game.

Everyone's named the classics here. TZ's jackpot sound had a way of piercing the din of noise in the arcade. You could be playing MKII or NBA Jam instead of pinball and you'll know someone's on a run on TZ.

BK:SoR breaking the (kickass) Scott Ian metal soundtrack for the sounds of the Williams BK games for its mini-wizard mode was pretty cool.

AFM. The MB start there is actually very similar to TAF - lights pulsate starting from the bottom and slowly work their way up the PF, and then the saucer registers a hit with the "MULLLTIIIBALL!!!". Love it!

Super jackpot is short but super awesome. The tank fires three shots, rotating counter clockwise with each shot, and then the guy on top of the tank raises his arm on the final blast and the martian screams "SUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPER JACKPPPPPPPAAAUUUTTTTT! Oh...Baby!!!" By far my favorite callout ever.