TNA is The GameRoom Blog Game of the Year...

http://gameroomblog.com/features/2017-game-of-the-year

Number 174 made it in!

C10902FB-7B68-41C6-BDDA-814233BB35A2 (resized).jpegA4BE9CEB-7340-4A0D-B936-890402210248 (resized).jpeg2FD9F0FB-F6A9-416A-9BC9-2D912C8CAB5F (resized).jpeg97B6AE69-852B-4179-AFC8-00DFB0EAAB79 (resized).jpeg

Congratulations! You are going to love it. Even my non-pinball friends can’t get enough.

Great game!!

Looks like a great time! Glad you finally got yours! Medusa right next to it is looking good!

Hello!
I am strongly considering buying a TNA to my home in Norway, but I wanted to hear your opinions on some matters:

I am a little worried its a bit too much emphasis on only getting multiball, and then in multiball shooting all the shoots for starting and then destroying reactors, rinse and repeat. Is this a real worry? I would think that either if taking down reactors in single ball gave lots of more points than in multiball, or that it was only possible to stack multiballs when in the destroy reactor phase, it would be a bit more open for different strategies.

Also, how would this game hold up in a home, when I am playing alone and not having friends over? Will it get boring quickly?

Cheers,
thank!

Morten

There is strategy with knowing when to start multiball. As I become better at the game I'm actually using multiball less. I only want to start it when there is a decent chance I will still have three balls in play when it's time to destroy the reactors.

PS: It takes a decent amount of skill to reenergize the locks after multiball. The drops can be dangerous, when the balls aren't locking. Especially the last one. I only shoot them when I have a ball save.

This was my concern too, and after watching Bowen play it on YouTube, it confirmed my fear. I was between this game and Dialed In, and chose Dialed In for this reason.

There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s an awesome game with incredible lights and sound to help the player become completely immersed in the gameplay. I know for a fact that when I finally stand in front of one that I will be hyped up to play it more than any game I’ve ever played, and I guarantee that I’ll be into it so much that it’ll be hard to pull me away. That said, I can’t confirm I’ll have that same feeling 1-2 months of playing it like I do for other machines because of the simplicity of the rules and repetition of shots.

That’s not meant to be a slight...

In order to play it like Bowen does, you have to have extremely good control. Constant live catches on the right flipper are not as easy as he makes it look. Restarting multiball is also not as easy or safe as he makes it look. I agree with lpeters82 , for a player of my skill level, constantly trying to restart multiball is not the way to go about it. I have to choose when to use my multiball and constantly be on my toes, both physically and mentally. If I start making bad decisions about what to shoot, it all goes downhill quickly.

If you're looking for complex rules, I'll grant you that DI certainly has it beat in that department. I personally have much more fun playing TNA, though.

9 months of ownership and still my favorite game to play.

We have or have access to over 100 games locally and TNA is still the beauty of the ball.

So much to do in this game and while multiball is a great start for great players to use, I find I get deeper in a game if I really just use multiball to complete reactor key pad and do everything else in a more controlled single ball play.

I constantly feel like there are lots of things to work towards and part of the fun is actively switching gears. e.g. oh shit, just lit supper spinner... need to shoot spinner.

oh shit, hit the pop a bunch... need to try and get that damn default pop champ score off my game finally

I’d say depends on how many pins you own. If only a few pins maybe get repetitive but with medium large collection it really seems like it’s a must have for being so different.

I agree with this... and while I’ve only put up 20-30 games on DI, for my tastes TNA is way more fun. Obviously, different strokes/different folks

I dunno. Personally, I think the 'simplicity' of TNA is what KEEPS IT from getting old.

The fact that it isn't some long drawn out boring old story helps in that regards too.

That's exactly the case for me. It's counter intuitive, but simple, brutal, quick games are the ones I find myself playing over and over.

Most of my games are like that.

I personally don't like ones that you have to spend a half an hour to an hour to advance thru the same old boring story just to lose and have to start it all over again.

I had the EXACT same concern and almost held off from buying but glad I didn't.

I have 5 games. I go through games like a knife through hot butter but I know which ones are great and which ones are duds. None of the games I've owned or currently have feel or play like this. I would say sound but I also own tron so I know what great sound effects and music do for a game. This game wouldn't be the same without the music, effects or light show. Period.

Is it simple - yes! There is something though that makes you want to come back and give it one more chance. It is def the most 1 more time game I've played and I only pay single player with it. For me, I really value music, effects, presentation and shot flow/feeling. This game has all of those in spades. 80s feel? I also love that too. Even in a small collection, it's so unique that I would recommend it if the game speaks to you.

these guys nailed it on the head. Don't let Bowen's gameplay lull you into a game that's easy or repetitive or mulitball all day long. I try that strategy and fail miserably. I don't have a tenth of the skill that Bowen has and unless you're a top level player, I wouldn't worry about it getting boring. like the other guys have said, I like to hit the keypad, start the reactor and get it critical in single ball play, then I use mb to maximize reactor points, or to hit that damn "D" target by random lol. My best is starting the 4th reactor. I've put on probably 170 games since ownership 2 weeks ago.

LOL! That's why I don't watch his videos in the first place.

Total snoozefest.

TNA is a very fun and well designed game. There is a lot of strategy and skill in getting and using ball saves. Plunging into the core before the game auto-plunges a ball to start and/or overheat the reactor. Getting ball saves, and then draining balls on purpose to get another chance at plunging into the reactor. Trying to master live catches and drop catches from orbits and the reactor scoop. There is a lot more to the game than just the multiball. (Though it is pure adrenaline when you do get multiball)

The speed, music, and light show are second to none right now. The code is very clever. I hope more games that come out in the future are as fast paced as TNA is. It is a blast. The multiple player is great as it really helps non-pinheads into the game quickly and they soon get hooked.

If you have not already, give these videos a watch!

Ain't that the truth. My friends and I joke about just starting over when the "D" is randomly selected.

My non pinhead friend was over here the other day and saw my TNA for the first time. He said "it's so empty, where are the toys?" I told him that this pin is all about the game play, not toys, and that's one thing that makes it one of my favorites.

He loved the music.

My 20 year old daughter played mine for the first time last week and I had to pull her away from it just so we could go get something to eat.

Mostly if I'm in multiball at the time I just start wailing on the other destroy targets and after 20 "misses" it changes it to something else if I haven't accidentally hit it by then.. at least I think 20 is the default. Scott has denied weighting the randomness of the "D".

seriously... is there a bug?

I have never seen it beat on any game.

Is it really just number of pop hits in a game?

As far I know it is just the number of pop hits, mine now has my initials (don't know the number at the moment I'm on vacation.. miss TNA

#188 is back home in Canada, safe and sound and running A+. It was the usual crazy longish road trip with my buddy Joe, basically from Toronto to Benton - which I had assumed was on the 294 towards Milwaukee but turns out was west across LOTS of farmland...almost in Iowa!

thanks to Spooky for letting us crazy Canadians swoop in for the pickup!

Sean Joe at Spooky (resized).jpg

I love that there’s a pop champ record. I think pinball has barely scratched the surface as far as implementing achievements like you would see on an XBox game... or like here on Pinside.

Get a GC on an Iron Maiden and sit and watch it list off achievements for five minutes!

Guess we have scratched the surface. Haven’t seen that yet! I’ll have to check it out.

yeah there is a lot on Iron Maiden . ....Maybe too many....

So true. Assuming game play by watching a player like Bowen is akin to watching Michael Jordan or Mike Trout and assuming you’ll be throwing down tomahawk dunks from the foul line and crushing 420 ft bombs off the best pitchers in baseball.

Unless you’re insanely good at pinball, those videos show nothing of what you’ll experience when the fires up and balls start rolling around.

Are you only able to stack one extra ball in TNA? I have noticed that if I set replay to award an extra ball, and then start the 3rd reactor gaining an additional extra ball, you are only awarded one if they were stacked on top of each other.

I'm pretty sure mine have stacked, that's how I have mine setup as well and I get both.. I think.

They stack!

Finally picked up #167 on the way to my nephew's graduation/eagle scout ceremony. He got to challenge Green Bay's mayor Jim Schmitt to a game. KT at Spooky was awesome and gave us the grand tour.

20180630_123118 (resized).jpg

20180630_123218 (resized).jpg

ok, that's one of the most unique scenarios I've seen on pinside.

Who won?

The Mayor won - he managed to steal a multiball.

That is hysterical!

Notice also that he took his jacket off to get serious on ball 2.

Anyone have a step by step on taking the rails off to install the side lights. Having a tough time getting the rails off at the moment. I got all the screws off from the side but she wont budge.

I heard you had to remove the hot glued flipper button and that’s when I called it quits for the time being.

You have to carefully pry out the hot glue for the flipper buttons so you can remove them. I used a small flathead screwdriver. It may seem intimidating at first, but it was a 5 minute or less job. I was able to get the plastic nut off the flipper buttons with a small crescent wrench. There is also another screw with a nut by the flippers buttons that holds the rail on.

Lol shit they dont make it easy do they

So do you have to glue the flipper buttons back or will the plastic nut hold them? Why do they glue them?

I asked the same question and I was told the glue is to hold them in place for location games.
Seems that bass and shaker really put those flipper buttons to the test.
I think in home location it is unnecessary.

I didn’t glue them back in. My guess is they do it so the nut doesn’t come lose overtime. I may glue them someday, but its been fine without so far. This is a huo game, so I can easily tighten if them came lose. If you are routing the game, maybe good idea to put some hotglue on the nut.

If you don't like modding please don't click on link below If you do check out my TNA!

-Black side rails, speaker covers, legs, leg bolts, shooter assembly, and lock down bar
-Flipper buttons w/ purple lit trim
-Purple LED Shooter assembly, LED Legs, and underlights/Backlights
- TNA Pin-Gulp w/ purple Volcano Lite up
-Much improved speaker lite up inserts
-Lit up TNA Side rails
-Pinstadium lighting
-PDI Glass
-Mirror Pin Blades
-Target Decals
-Flipper decals
-Dark Purple flipper rubbers
-Custom TNA Shooter Rod
-Shaker
-Plastic Protectors
-Super Shiney Balls
-Of course 1 awesome power ball

**I always run a separate power supply to run my mods to not affect or burden the factory setup.**

**Mod makers I love you all for your ideas and hard work! Thanks for feeding my Moditis addiction lol
You rock!

PICS link below :

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3s62ox23iilqxv7/AADMtOt-gD0fecwWrn4KiUOra?dl=0

20180705_075110.jpg

20180705_081719.jpg

TNA is everything I was hoping Iron Maiden would be. Maiden is complete garbage thrown together with a license slapped on it and TNA is a work of GENIUS!