Quoted from Caucasian2Step:While I don't agree with everything noted here, I like the format, so I'm goin' with my list and why. I'm going down the list from #1 until I get to the 10th overly rated game.
1) Medieval Madness. Shoot the castle, survive, shoot the castle survive, shoot the castle, survive, you get the idea. After about 40-50 shots, you have defeated the King of Payne and won the tournament. All that awesomeness reduced to a 1 shot game. Truly saddening... CALLING MYSTERY PROGRAMMER!
2) Indiana Jones (WMS). Shoot the center lock, start multiball. Shoot the center lock, start multiball, shoot the center lock and buggy software that make a billion points go away right quick.
3) Theater of Magic. Shoot the left orbit, lap around the PF, shoot the left orbit, lap around the PF, (starting to see a pattern here?!?). Talk to Lyman and discuss pinball rules.
4) Tales of Arabian Nights. Look at the pretty game, exploit numerous rules that negate any real earned points on the table. A great game for the girlfriend and museum piece/mod collectors.
5) Circus Voltaire. Another game that needs serious s/w revision. Eternal wizard mode takes all the fun out of being rewarded for playing well. This one was a tough one for me as I REALLY like the game, until that point. Then... ugh.
6) Metallica. This is a good game, not a great game. Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, Shoot Sparky, survive, try and get a stack in there somewhere. I still have hope for the S/W revision, but 'Tallikuh Fanboys need to watch Some kind of monster and remember that half these guys are whiny little bitches who grew into everything they ever rebelled against as kids and are too stupid to see the irony looking back at them in the mirror.
7) Wizard of Oz. Potential is the word for this deck. New tech and a brilliant ruleset cannot save the awkward PF and new boards that need to be put into this game for it to work as it should. Like Metallica, I'll give this more time, but right now, it is severely overrated. Find a working one if you can and enjoy the theater this game has. I'd still rather have a game that has game within it.
Elvira and the Party Monsters. Left Ramp to the right flipper feed, Left Ramp to the right flipper feed, Left Ramp to the right flipper feed, Left Ramp to the right flipper feed, I think you get the idea. I love the character and artwork on this game, but Mystery Programmer needs to step in on this deck.
9) Judge Dredd. This one is particularly painful for me as I absolutely loved the comics as a kid and this deck embodies the feel of the comics and has all the dark judges in it, but this game just doesn't put it together with gameplay. Feel the pain!
10) Champion Pub. I'd rather skip a real rope.
Top SS Runners up:
Guns and Roses. I like Slash. The game suffers from so much wonderful input and ideas and not enough game/rule testing. Standard issue procedure at DE. Select super pops and keep putting it in there until you 9 it out. What a shame.
Bk2k. Play this game with your right hand.
Bride of Pinbot. Enjoy the theater, this game is a 1 shot game that will insta-boot when the second player gets the Bil club. Johnny Mnemonic. Gitcher spinner mod on. Or else.
Top 10 underrated games:
1) TZ. at #2. This game should be at #1, by a looooooooooooooooooooong mile. There is no comparison. Disagree if you must, but you are welcome to stop by Casa Del 2 Step and bear witness to what the real deal is.
2) The Shadow. A true players game if there ever was one.
3) Bram Stoker's Dracula. Another true player that is being grabbed up by those who know. Utterly brutal and relentless.
4) Congo. Not your average layout and ruleset, but DAY-UM... what a great game! Tron owes it's entire left hand PF design to John Trudeau and this deck. Best skill shot in a DMD that I can think of.
5) roadshow. This deck oozes character and while I will admit that it is not the best balanced game out there, this deck is a much better player than people give it credit for. The only thing in my home that plays cuntry music.
6) Indianapolis 500. A table that stays true to its theme. You don't stop, ever. Even when you get the big whammy score, this deck keeps on racing at lighting speed!
7) Tales from the Crypt. A true player that would have made DE as good as B/W if they had this kind of product with more of their releases. I'd love to have one some day.
Corvette. A really good game. From what I understand this was supposed to be a wide body and GG squeezed this table into a narrower body. It made the shots tighter and this game requires quite a bit of skill to get it to sing.
9) Starship Troopers. A much better game than people give it credit for. The flipper layout deserves particular attention on this table.
10) World Cup Soccer '94. This game has been in at least one bank (almost) every year at PAPA since it has been released. People say this game is too easy or boring... it can be. Do some work and modify/adjust/tune this deck to a challenging level and quitcher' bitchin'!
Special note goes to World Poker Tour. If you don't "get it", I understand. It took me a long time to do so. But I gave it a real chance and once you do too... Ohhh, the pinball pleasure!
Also, Goldeneye... when properly maintained and tuned, is a great game and a much better player than most people know. I know I didn't know until the past year.
EM Overrated top games. Now while EM's are a different animal and encompass a wider range of vintages and technological advances, I consider them to be as much of a player's game as SS/DMD's. While player skill sets may be different, they are all valid. However, there are a few notable exceptions to the general rating system:
1) Centigrade 37. A fantastic looking game that falls way short in the gameplay dept. This is a damn shame, because all the goods are on the PF. The rules on this game just aren't that challenging.
2) Joker Poker / Eye of the Tiger and many games on the EM/SS dual production cliff. When SS games have better rulesets than their EM counter parts, museum collector/ low production enthusiasts may rejoice. I do not.
3) Multiplayer EM's with less robust rules than their single player counterparts. El Dorado/ Gold Strike's offspring make for a much less challenging game. I understand the the op with games on the street wants multiplayer games, and I do enjoy them. I just enjoy the single player games much, much, much more.
Alright, there goes my lunch break. Now I'm off to work on the pin-fu!