Every Stern ever made. And anything since 1981...........TAF, TZ, and Champion Pub Suck............

I make it a point not to down vote, but this statement comes very close to earning one. The longer I'm in this hobby, the more I realize that, while they may be cheaply made (especially now), Stern pins are some of the most fun ones out there.

I suppose that If you did not have a Stern in your Line up, you would have said that all of them were crappy.

Right now?
Congo.
$2000-2500 higher than the game is worth driven by new collector fascination.
Same goes for games like Centaur, Fathom, and several others unless they CQ examples.

Games like DH, I500, and NGG all offer superior gameplay.

An overrated game for me is one that I just sold that everybody else is suddenly saying is the greatest game ever.

I purchased a Bally Star Trek recently that needed a lot of work. The fellow doing the work for me said it's one of the most underrated games, and actually has a lot of great shots that you have to hit. He said the rating on Pinside does it no justice. He's supposed to be finished with the restoration in another week. Can't wait to get it back!

For me, T2 and HS2 are duds. There are many others that I like playing occasionally but don't want to own. I love Centaur but the prices on it are way out of bounds for what there is. If I get one it will likely be a full restore at this rate. Alot of the high end pins I'll let the hard-core collectors go after. To each their own.

For me anything I don't own is overated!!!!

Guys that have been in the hobby a long time all say this. Things like JD is a $1400 game. I don't think MM is a $10000+ game and think price is driven by it's #1 rating. Big money is thrown around on BBB and I think that is just silly. What I think doesn't matter since price is market driven. Everyone has their own tastes and reasons for owning a game.

This. I'm on the hunt for a Sharkey's Shootout because it was the first game my wife ever played, and a TMNT because it takes me back to being a kid and playing in the local pizza place. I couldn't give a flying flip about what their ratings are.

Every game ever made is overrated...yet at the same time underrated...still.

I do find threads about which games are overrated and/or underrated to be a bit overrated.

I think Gold Wings is underrated........Sincerely Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer and Gilbert from Revenge of the Nerds......I mean Goose

no, you just do not have enough money...or place! like all of us!

i don't know if the addams is overrated but i have played it a couple of days ago, and it quickly feels like an old machine to me.

Hot chicks that like guys that play pinball is way overated!

Not from the people I talk to overall, the "market sets the price", not individuals regardless of number of years in the hobby.
Most older collectors are just watching the comedy right now.
There is just a better gauge on value based on changes within the market, and negotiations for sales.
JD is no longer a $1400 game, but at dealer unrestored price you can still get it for around $2200 in excellent+ condition.
Superb examples right now are at $2800 with proper, unbusted topper, you just have to be diligent.
People that are paying $4K or more, the game had better be full CQ or a HEP restore, and that includes the cabinet.

Wow, this is an old tread. 2 years ago I said LOTR.... still overrated IMO but these days the cake really goes to TZ. The game is just not fun enough. Amazing spectacle, possibly the best licensed theme ever for a pinball, but the awkward often slow pacing and rules you don't care nearly enough about just get so old, so fast. To me TZ is mostly a vanity piece like BBB or CC. In terms of play-ability TAF utterly destroys TZ.

can so explain me how ratings of each pin are calculated?

for exemple Metallica pro:
game design:8,351
artwork: 8,498
Music:8,117
other aspects: 8,419

how this machine can reach the final score of 8,485? only the artwork is very slightly over this score!!

I appreciate AFM, but it is not top 3 for me by a long shot. CC and BBB are probably up there (for most overrated) just because of their prices. WH20 is just not my cup of tea.

No Fear
Elvis

Bsd

Close second fh.

Met
tom
cc

IJ and TZ.

Which is more so?

Almost nobody likes either ha ha
But any lore for Elvis doesn't make sense...

Its all relative...

Statistically, based on my rankings versus it's combined rankings:

The Pinball Circus (-1.7)
South Park (-1.5)
The Dark Knight (-1.2)
F-14 (-1.2)
Solar Ride (-1.1)

Most underrated at Hardbody (+1.5)

IJ is the worst of the two games.

Every Stern game made

What purpose does this generalized, unfounded statement serve?

Maybe most 2010 plus sterns

It's my opinion. That's what this thread is, but will concede I should say all Stern post LOTR

LOTR is one of my top pinballs, unequivocally

STTNG, I really dislike it.

These 2 top 10 ranked machines, BTW, both are in my collection

AC/DC - super repetitive modes with impossible to reach wizard mode
Metallica - as above

Having said that, they are nice shooters and are great themes

I agree about GNR!! Very overrated Data East pin!!

Stern has made a lot of improvements on their game design, and coding since 2010!!

I am starting to realize that AFM is underrated. Honestly when I first got the game I wasn’t sure I got it either... but the more I play it the more convinced I am that this is the greatest game I’ve ever played.

People actually believe that the game is bare and lacking toys. No, it’s presented with unbelievable elegance and simplicity, but in fact it is more loaded than any modern stern...

3 ramps
2 diverters
4 individually moving martians
Rising 3 bank target
Center drop target
Exploding saucer with tri color leds and strobe light
VUK with two entrances
Scoop with two entrances

When you get this game going the sensory overload is insane. Stack a Martian multi ball with TA and an open saucer and prepare for madness. I don’t think there is a crazier game in pinball when that happens...

The rules are clear but so varied and smartly integrated. It’s not just a grind of repeating the same shot over and over. You have to complete specific, unique, fun tasks to advance the game. The center saucer is very tightly integrated into the rules and has so much nuance.

The art, humor, call outs are all iconic and of the best quality. For 6k NIB AFM is truly easily the best “value” in pinball....

Bsd.

Most overrated, boring pin made. Overly repetitive.

Scared stiff and TOTAN

When faced with this question, you first have to put all these games in historical context... I you were to go back and actually LIVE THROUGH THE 90’s and played pinball back then, a lot of these “overrated” machines would not be considered “over rated”, they would be praised as the cutting edge of pinball. This is the reason their popularity remains even though many machines built since then have pushed the envelope forward and beyond the limits of the perineal top 10 list. Are there machines that seem clunky or shallow, or downright piss poor shooters on the list? I think, for me TZ, although when it was produced was the most toy heavy machine made to date, had one major problem... it shot like shit. No flow, to much stop and go, unbalanced non symmetric layout that punished you with a short game on left and long game up middle, and a right orbit that was a bit too tight. The rules, however, set it apart from the other machines of the period, and the toys were interesting, even though the clock was a waste, but we all know the clock story. IJ is a close second, where it had the toys, but the rules are meh...

What's the clock story?

Lawlor wanted the clock in Funhouse, but budget cut it out. So when they gave him the budget for TZ, he used it to develope the clock and it ended up in TZ... To many an operators cringe... the clock overheats and dies if you don't do anything to the stock clock... it had heat management issues. and it's the most useless toy in Pinball... or at least IMO... it added very little to the game for such an expensive toy. I think it was just Pat wanting to build a one motor, 4 opto stepper unit desguised as a clock just to prove it could be done.

Actually _eight_ optos, but who's counting?

The big heat problem was caused by a last-minute change that made the clock bulbs GI instead of controlled, which is why putting the jumpered diodes back in fixes it.

You could also just drill holes in the top for ventilation. On a list of most overrated pins I wouldn’t expect TZ though.