the skill shot does not suck....actually Zen copied it for their Tesla game!.....actually they copy a lot of our stuff.....ToTan made $350-$450 a week on test for months....we tested with Kingpin....the Cyclops is from Greek and Roman mythology....Jpop

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I agree...it ACTUALLY takes some skill to hit the right target unlike the "hit the flashing lane" skillshot that anyone can do with their eyes closed. Plus, there is the bonus "super skillshot" that was mentioned earlier.

maybe the skill shot sucks a little bit...but I have seen worse!! Jpop

Changed your mind in the span of 20 minutes? I kinda like it for the originality. It's not not as smooth as something like TZ, but it's really different than most others.

Your TOTAN is bananas -- it really lives up to the term "better than new" but why didn't you go all out and plate the shooting star cages?

Yah this game does suck. If any of you guys that have one decide its so bad that you need to unload it for a fire sale price just to get it out of your gameroom, please let me know.

5 ball set to hard with some minor rule adjustments. Its a fun game.
I rarely get to the genie battle.

One of things I do like about totan is the two stage skill shot. The first good thing about it is that its not a button. Pinball should always have shooter rods. It combines the skill shot of a shooter (a controlled shot) with the skill shot of a push button shooter (hit this shot right after).

So is anyone going to tackle this and make some good changes?

It doesn't suck. The ONLY change I would make would be that Wishes are fully random. You don't know what choices you are going to get. Sometimes wish a mode away shows up, sometimes it doesn't. All random luck of the draw. that's the only thing i'd change. Rest of the game is really awesome.

And add a Super Jackpot shot!

How about the obvious glitch where it makes more sense to *not* defeat the wizard mode in order to score way more points?

Love TotAN. Would reduce Lightning Lamp points by about 50 percent.

What a great, great game. Theatrics really carry this one far.

Change Harem multiball to Harlem multiball?

To address my change there is only one. Skill Shot is awesome. But I would get rid of the Skill Shot brackets.TOTAN is one of the best pinballs ever produced. The Music is awesome. The Art work on playfield and Translight are beautiful. The female voice that talks to you is sexy & great!! It has One of the best Ramps in pinball history Brilliantly designed. The Magic Lamp is another Hall of Fame playfield toy. The Shooting star ball save with the cage shooting up through the playfield is Epic. The Multi-ball is great. Shot the Blue Evil Genie(another great toy) to collect jackpot than shoot the Orbits to relight jackpot fantastic. Hitting the Orbs to avd. X via captive balls leads to some great strategy. Harem multi-ball is very rewarding when you can spell harem than lock ball to start. Tiger loops fast to adv. to extraball. Tales are fun working to collect all the jewels to get to save princess and wizard mode. Rubbing /spinning Magic lamp for wishes/ Lightning Lamp mode awesome. Three magnets.1. lock pinballs. 2. vertical hole top of ramp magnet to catch pinball to fight evil Genie. 3.the best magnet below Evil Genie catches ball and throws it around. Then catches pinball and pulls it under the playfield to start Multi-ball. Kick-Ass innovation !! Thanks John Popadiuk. Jr. Tales of the Arabian Nights is a Masterpiece.

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It doesn't suck.

You got that right! Thread title should be changed.

I think it's overrated, but that most certainly doesn't mean that it sucks. If I thought that, it wouldn't be on my wish list.

I love my TOTAN. Out of all my machines, IJ and totan were the most popular last night during my pinball party.

Great theme integration, unique playfield, great toy in the lamp, unique ball effects with the Genie magnet and the outlane cages, great sounds and art. Super all-around package.

I think a lot of people dump on it because they get to the wiz mode easier than on other games (by wishing away tale after tale) so they've "beaten" the game. ToTAN can be set up tough for shorter ball times which is necessary imo.

Only changes I'd make are software related. The final battle should be shots to the Genie, not the gold symbols, you should need to collect the ruby to light "collect jewel" on the wishes, otherwise random choices here as other have mentioned, and I'd toughen some of the tales by requiring a few more shots on some of them. Nonetheless, solid title by Jpop and a 90's classic, as is proven by the price it commands.

I'll tell you why it SUCKS!
Better yet I'll show you!

Check this out:

That could probably be solved by making the leaf switch gap larger so the pop bumper is less sensitive.

Not my machine just posted it for a laugh!
But thanks for the info. I now what to do when it happens to me.

How do you score more by not beating it?

YOu shoot for the Harem and keep building the bonus.

My problem is in Wizard mode two balls keep getting jammed in the shooter lane and I lose my game : (

From what I understand the main problem is that Harem scoring is imbalanced making the best strategy to be nothing but shooting Harem all day.

It's an enjoyable and fun pin to play if you ignore that ie aren't playing in a tournament

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This is an issue that I had as well. My Plunger spring over all these years seemed to get weak. Install a stiffer Plunger spring. All I had was a spring colored RED. It fixed the issue. I still can not beat the Evil Genie. Due to game set on hard. Note: If you install a Red Plunger Spring you need to snip off a few coils of the spring. Otherwise It will launch pinball so hard that it hit the Playfield glass. As I stated Red spring was all I had on hand at the time. Good luck!!

The Harem exploit is different than the "don't beat the Genie" exploit. When you are in the wizard mode and start to get close to beating the Genie, drain a couple balls on purpose, sending the Princess back toward the Genie. Don't win, but don't lose. You get wizard mode points the whole time, and there is no risk of ending your game since it's an infinite multiball. Ask DCFAN how well this works.

The ramp is very pretty but IMO it's a terrible design. On route, the moment the flippers get even a teeny bit weak, the collect jewel shot becomes impossible and you can't progress through the modes. And since they brilliantly made modes carry over from ball to ball you can't even purposely end the ball to get it out of the way.

To make it worse, you can't stack modes, or start another after one is begun.

The end game has some bad bugs.

Obviously not issues for collectors, but I typically avoid this game if I see it on location.

Totan's reminds me of the one in DE Hook.

For me TOTAN is like the other Popaduik games. Strikingly beautiful, original, unique and cool looking inside and out. When I first saw it years ago I fell in love with the looks, playfield toys and the sounds immediately. After several games I just lost interest. Not a bad game by any means, but the game play is not in the same ballpark as the A-list Sterns and WMS DMD games. Many, many times over the years I have returned and tried to see what others see in this game (ToM, CV, WCS too) but I just don't.

WRT Totan, I agree, but all the rest are pretty fun to play. WCS is easily the best to me, and it's very affordable, so I bought one.

These threads are lame.

To each his own some hate it some hate AFM and MM.

Its in the top 10 and to those who think its to easy set it very very hard and 3 balls and wack away.

It like music its all preference.

So the strategy isn't to lose. It's to drag it on as long as possible? You get. 20 mil once you finally beat the game so it seems to be beneficial to beat it.

Correct. You want to win, but not quickly.

So you are saying you want to do it, but keep prolonging the ending...

Only Stern is allowed to have prolonged games

What's that song lyric again? "Like STTNG I'm tantric..."

I'd rather play "Hook"

I should have said by not beating it quickly. You want to play it as long as you can. Herg nailed it.

CV has the same issue with Ringmaster Battle. Keep two or three of the inserts lit, but don't defeat the Ringmaster, but don't let him defeat you. In other words, when you take a lot of his strength, stop hitting him for awhile to let him regain strength. Keep going to score huge points.

That might leave chafing.