I have both and love both. TZ is harder. Ij is really fun also. Me I say tz first.

I own both and they are both great examples of their respective genres.

IJ plays great for a wide body, some flow there, lots to do and never gets old...had mine since 2005.

TZ has ten times more stuff to accomplish but lots of stop n go, little to no real speed.

Both!

Agreed, get both if you can.

Both are similar in price and both are great pins. Can't go wrong with either.

Seems like a lot of us like both and so have both. I'd hate to part with either. I'd say get whichever you can find first in reasonably good shape and at a reasonably good price. You'll likely end up buying both eventually.

I just picked up a TZ and am loving it. Before I knew how to play it I thought it was way over rated. I recently got a lot of time on it and love it now. Indy is the same with me right now. Haven't had enough time on it, but what time I have had I just can't get into it. Love the theme though. I think both are great games when you are hitting your shots, but quickly can become clunkers that are hard to love when you are not.

IJ has more actually. There are 12 modes, none of them being extra balls, or points or flat out awards. TZ seems like it has a lot, but TAF actually has more playable modes than TZ. TZ isn't the deepest game of the 90s like many seem to think.

Having said that, that doesn't take anything away from it. It's my second fav, and it's greatness comes from the implementation of everything.

For me, TAF first, TZ second, and the rest of my top 5 comes with IJ, TSPP and LOTR, but it's hard to figure out that order.

Like everyone else who have both there's a reason we do. I can't image parting with either. But hold me to one and it would be TZ. Because I love being able to stack modes, and I can get into the wizard mode which I almost never do on IJ. That being said, every time I crank up the IJ after letting it sit for a while I renew my love of that one as well. Absolutely cannot go wrong with either.

IJ is my grail pin. I love the TZ theme and hate the pin. IJ gives me a thrill and gets my heart pounding and makes me hit the start button over and over. TZ makes me want to put my fist through the glass.

Get a Well of Souls multiball, or the main multiball shooting for jackpots, and tell me your heart rate doesn't go through the roof. Classic stuff.

had 3 TZs and 2 IJ's.
TZ all the way. IJ has better sound as it's on DCS, but that is the ONLY category it leads in.

I have both and feel the same way beelzeboob does. Ironically I picked up my TZ 1st and fully restored her then scored my IJ and fell in love. I named both of them as grail pins while in pursuit. I don't know if I can ever let TZ go even though sometimes I want to smash it. The only way IJ is leaving is if I find one with a playfield as nice as Pinster68's. Almost everyone has to play TZ when they come over but all wind up the evening on IJ.

I regret ever getting rid of my TZ. It does have a lot of stop and go, but it is just such a unique game that it never really got old for me. The powerball adds a faster experience to an otherwise slower paced game that gives it variety.

The IJ is a great theme with fun modes and even a few video modes. Some people don't like video modes, but they all tie in well with the theme and are well done. And opposite of TZ, the video modes tend to slow down a relatively faster paced game.

IJ will never leave and I will own another TZ down the road. I guess I didn't really help with any decisions Can't go wrong with either one.

I have had 45 pins in 7 years and these are #1 and 2 and I do not think any collection should be without either one. I consider IJ a hair ahead of TZ but just a hair.

I have both and like both. but I would get a tz first then as fast as you can save up the money get an ij. and both can be had for well under 5k. just tell yourself that cabinet faid dosn't matter and you'll be fine.

PinballSound is fixing that issue. TZ upgrade from them sounds fantastic!

Yeah...but not with the IJ reorchestration. It STILL wins over TZ!

I would say TZ is up for sale less. *IF* you have to choose, I would say get the TZ now if both are available. IJ's come up, and you want to search out a nice one, as they are prone to some of the worst cab fade and large insert wear of any machine.

I'd say go with whichever theme you like the best. Both games have a lot of stuff going on and will keep you occupied for quite some time. Also both can be a pain until you get them all dialed in. My advise is that whatever your decision, do a full strip and clean of the playfield and replace any damaged parts and adjust it properly. Neither title is fun when you can't stick the mode saucer, mini playfield doesn't tilt correctly, clock is hosed or balls keep getting stuck in the gumball machine.

No need to strip these down unless there is a problem. These playfields are fairly complex, and that's a lot of work to do a complete strip down and put it all back together again.

IJ is not a complex playfield at all. I had mine stripped, cleaned, waxed and reassembled on a Saturday. TZ is complex, i'll give you that. It's better to have it freshly shopped and adjusted than to have to pull the glass off every 5 games or so to retrieve a stuck ball. I prefer to do it right upon acquisition and then enjoy playing it instead of hunting Gremlins for 6 months.

TZ but I'm bias cause it's my favorite TV show

TZ, but IJ is right behind it

Indiana Jones. (My first game ever, and all time favorite).

Both are very good, of course. Do you prefer one theme over the other? (That's an easy tiebreaker).

IJ has one major flaw IMO - the scoring is too imbalanced and the MB is too easy to restart.
If you are competing or trying for a high score you simply do one thing...

- shoot center to lock 3 balls and start multiball
- play MB for Jackpots and Super Jackpots

I personally found that this "issue" made the rest of the modes somewhat irrelevant.

TZ does not have this issue, as scoring is very balanced and high score opportunities require an equivalent level of execution to get to.

Yeah? So what's the problem with that?

And you can't get to Eternal Life MB if you don't complete all the modes. The ability to consistently hit that mode hole shot is essential...and it's a bitch.

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I play pinball for fun and not score. This is in response to the post above mentioning a way to get lots of points on Indiana Jones.

I'm going to start a thread on this.

IJ and TZ are both great. Own them both or pick the one you like the best Cannot go wrong!

If you removed scoring from pinball, it wouldn't be much fun at all
Try it and see -> block all the scores with a piece of tape and see how much fun it is playing.

The scoring IS one of the most important parts of the fun.

Have both- both are great- but would have to give the nod to TZ- I find TZ to actually have more flow. IJ tough hitting those ramp shots narrow opening if miss ball clunks around.

Yea I like tz better theres something about ij that idont like but id still like to own it oneday

IJ would still be pretty fun advancing through the modes.

Unless your machine is sert up on the easy side, continually wacking away at the center targets can be dangerous...although the software helps with hop-overs. Hard to pass up a chance at a cool billion points.

had IJ

have TZ

TZ hands down - not even close

This is also a little iffy to be honest. We always talk aboot home vs tourney play, and that's got everything to do with scoring.
If someone owns a DW for example, they'd be a pretty bored owner just banging out sonic booms all day etc

TZ by a long mile. But hey... that's just like my opinion, man.

Yes - you're right in that you don't want to just throw away the rest of a game to only focus on the highest scoring opportunity. That can totally make a game "not fun". That's kind of my point, in that a game isn't as fun when it has imbalanced scoring.

I really enjoy IJ, and to overcome the imbalance we will agree at the beginning of a game to "no super jackpots". With that one simple rule, we can play/compete (for fun) without turning the game into a one dimensional multiball quest.

Two of my fav shots in pinball. Number one being the captive ball in IJ, goddamn do I LOVE that shot. I don't know why, just feels like such a sweet shot, like picking off the death's star's thermal exhaust...ahhhh.

I also enjoy the camera shot in TZ, and raising the upper left flipper to shoot it with the upper right. Very cool thing there.

Fair point. Always better when it's perfectly balanced so the issue never comes up.

TZ everyday of the week and twice on Sunday

I own both of these games. They are very different. In terms of just overall fun, I would give the nod to IJ. The frustrating part of IJ is the mode shot: lots of bounce outs and backs. TZ is much more cerebral: the thinking person's pinball. People who don't know much about pinball gravitate toward IJ (familiarity with theme, sound,). My daughter used to dislike TZ when she first started playing: "too boring". Once she learned some skill shots and an appreciation of rulesets, TZ became a favourite. She rarely will play IJ. You really can't go wrong with either game, all said.

What...am...I...missing?

This is the most frustrating thing in pinball for me. Intelligent people who know what they're talking about love TZ. I love the theme (I have every episode on DVD!), but every time I play the game, I hate hate hate it. It's so frustrating because I want to like it badly (I feel the same way to a lesser extent about ACDC). Even when the rules were explained to me, I couldn't take to it.

I must be wired wrong.

Diff'rent strokes man.

No contest here. TZ is a modder's dream pin.

Hmmm... some people don't like modding (raises hand). So I wouldn't count this as a plus. But then again, it's the buyers opinion that counts!

The op said,

I agree, to a point. I'm not big on modding out my pins, but even I know that TZ is the #1 pin for modding in the entirety of the pinball hobby.

I own both, I've owned them for close to 15 years. Neither are leaving. I would give TZ a slight edge.

Buy which ever one shows up first. They're easy to sell / swap later.

KR