Thought I'd chime in here with my view having had the game about 2 weeks now. I'll preface this with a few caveats. First, there are very few games I don't like, but WOZ (and Dr who) is one of them..woz is beautiful, but I can't get into the game play. Second, cabinet art is very low on my list when evaluating a game, I'm just not into art packages that are barely seen anyway since games are sandwiched between each other.

For Wonka, the sound does not bother me one bit. I too thought it might, but in a home environment, I barely notice it and there is alot of variation in the music and I like how the intensity changes. The callouts are also good for directing shots.

The playfield reminds me of woz in terms of lighting, which is a good thing as woz lighting is about as good as it gets.

The game shoots like dialed in or TZ, also good, and as would be expected for any Pat Lawlor game.The shots are very smooth, there is no clunk and the flow is great.

So, based on these two characteristics, we've got a cross between woz and di.

As for rules and gameplay, there is a lot going on. Still learning the rules, but you can see it's typical jjp depth and variability. It's a fun pin to shoot and has me pushing start over and over, few games do that for me.

Animations on the screen and the amount of detail in terms of game status on the screen are great. The wonkavision basically just shows which side to hit and reveals the awards.

Theme integration is pretty good, but nowhere near as good as the Hobbit. It draws you in, but it's not as immersive as the Hobbit. I'd suggest this is where jjp should focus more for future code, along with better integration of the clips, if possible.

Overall, I think the game is very well done and I am not disappointed with it at all. Sound does not grate on me and artwork doesn't affect me at all (I'd note the quality of the side decals is very good, almost looks like rad cals).

Do not judge the pin based on play at a show. Find one set up in a home and then evaluate. Flipper strength also is not an issue.

i'm an LE buyer (have hobbit LE and POTC LE, had DI LE and Woz RR). I went with the SE because I felt the price gap was too large and at 7500, the standard is a hell of a lot of game. I will likely add a shaker and I had a piece of invisiglass already.