(Topic ID: 257301)

What are the all time best themes for pinball

By rai

4 years ago


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  • 34 posts
  • 24 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by o-din
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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    #1 4 years ago

    I’m specifically not asking for what your favorite theme is, I don’t care if you like Thin Lizzy. I’m asking what are the absolute best themes ever with universal popular appeal to the most people.

    I’d have to say:

    1)Star Wars
    2)Harry Potter
    3)The Beatles
    4)Lord of the Rings
    5)The Simpsons
    6)Avengers
    7)Wizard of Oz
    8 Star Trek
    9)Fast and Furious
    10)Indian Jones

    #2 4 years ago

    Ghostbusters
    Jurassic Park
    Indiana Jones

    #3 4 years ago
    Quoted from KozMckPinball:

    Ghostbusters
    Jurassic Park
    Indiana Jones

    Can’t argue with these.

    #4 4 years ago

    Jaws
    Back To The Future
    Goonies
    Tron
    007
    Gremlins
    Stranger Things
    Led Zeppelin
    Labyrinth (w./ David Bowie)
    Walt Disney World: Under Glass (based on theme park rides and attractions)
    Never Ending Story
    Princess Bride
    Space Balls
    Die Hard
    Harry Potter
    Beetle Juice
    E.T.

    #5 4 years ago

    Disney World, my wife would buy that one for sure. Have to get a fast pass to start an attraction.

    #6 4 years ago

    Mustang
    Oktoberfest
    World Poker Tour

    #7 4 years ago

    I think you are going to have a heard time separating general themes (rock groups) with specific pins (Aerosmith) for example.

    #8 4 years ago

    I think a Pat Lawlor JJP "Saw" pinball would be a match made in heaven. With all the physical traps etc., would open up plenty of unique ideas for his genius design.

    #9 4 years ago

    I think some people have understood the topic of this thread differently than I did.

    #10 4 years ago

    Movies and comics seem to work the best, although companies are really pushing rock n roll band themes a lot the last few years.

    #12 4 years ago
    Quoted from Fizz:

    I think some people have understood the topic of this thread differently than I did.

    Yep, Labyrinth, princess bride, never ending story and Goonies are not major themes.

    More something like Mario Bros / Nintendo Land.

    #13 4 years ago

    Probably not popular on pinside, but ya would have to add....

    ABBA

    #14 4 years ago
    Quoted from rai:

    Fast and Furious

    Have not played that one yet, but am looking forward to it.

    #15 4 years ago

    Those are all licenses!

    The best themes for pinball are

    fantasy (mm, bk, bk2k, D&D, Got, ect.)
    Space (afm, ect)
    Superheros. .....you get the idea

    #16 4 years ago

    I wish somebody would make an Outer Limits as a companion to Twilight Zone. It would be a great theme. Sorry if that's off topic.

    #17 4 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Have not played that one yet, but am looking forward to it.

    Mission Impossible (Tom Cruise) would be great also.

    #18 4 years ago

    Dragonball Z baby gimme Goku gimme Vegeta

    #19 4 years ago
    Quoted from rai:

    Mission Impossible (Tom Cruise) would be great also.

    I could see a Smart Bomb button on that game.

    #20 4 years ago

    Poker
    Pool
    Space
    Everything else...

    #21 4 years ago
    Quoted from rai:

    Mission Impossible (Tom Cruise) would be great also.

    No way dude. Original TV cast

    Unknown (resized).jpgUnknown (resized).jpg
    #22 4 years ago

    Star Wars
    Indiana Jones
    Back to the Future
    James Bond
    Jaws
    Jurassic Park
    Lord of the Rings
    MM and AFM are great original themes
    Guns n Roses
    ACDC
    The Beatles
    Led Zeppelin
    The Rolling Stones
    Twilight Zone
    TWD
    Avengers
    Tron
    Spiderman
    Star Trek
    Stranger Things
    Monster Bash
    Terminator
    Die Hard
    Tombstone
    Rocky
    Mission Impossible
    Alien
    Batman
    Simpsons

    #23 4 years ago
    Quoted from rai:

    Disney World, my wife would buy that one for sure. Have to get a fast pass to start an attraction.

    Incorporate the 4 major Disney World theme parks *excluding the water parks (rumored soon to be 5)
    -Magic Kingdom
    -Epcot
    -Hollywood Studios
    -Animal Kingdom

    From each park highlight some of the major attraction / rides:

    MAGIC KINGDOM elements
    Cinderella CASTLE - BALL LOCK
    Main Street USA
    Space Mountain (playfield gets all starry spacey / changes with LED / Lighting)
    Splash Mountain (white water type ramp while the song movin' along comes on songs of the south etc)
    Big Thunder Mountain (can be riding on two rails habitrail with train sounds and western voice call outs)
    Haunted Mansion (background haunting ghosts song 999 room for one more call outs)
    Skyliner (takes ball upper area / different area similar to the flying monkey in WOZ)
    Monorail or People Mover (physically have it transport / move the ball)
    Small World theme song with dancing dolls in all languages as pins are global gotta represent.
    Carousel of Progress - can have it turn / spin and reveal different scenes utilizing Batman joker toy from dark knight
    Alice in Wonderland Mad Tea Party the Tea Cups can be the pop bumpers or spinning pop bumpers ?
    Walt Disney World Railroad - Outer loops
    Enchanted Tiki Room - just have a interactive mechanical bird with that theme song
    Under The Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid - can be achieved with LED lighting
    Dumbo the Flying Elephant magnet attaches and lifts the ball up
    Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - Hi ho song playing where a million LEDS..... SHINEEEEE
    Jungle Cruise - LCD Mode need to escape trader sam
    Tomorrowland
    Adventureland
    Tron Coaster - loops / light cycle

    EPCOT elements
    Around the World Showcase (different music from different areas of the world)
    Soarin' Back box / LCD can have some cool flying through the world clips
    Test Track - Spinner speeding up the car
    Frozen Ever After -MODE song / defeat snowball guy (Marshmallow)
    Journey Into Imagination With Figment - Little Spark song, he can be drop targets randomly appearing as he does that on the ride
    Spaceship Earth - BALL LOCK
    The Land
    The Seas with Nemo & Friends
    Guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind

    Animal Kingdom
    Tree of Life - BALL LOCK
    / Tough to be a bug LCD game save the ants ?
    Expedition Everest roller coaster
    Kilimanjaro Safaris - Save animals from the poachers, SIMBA 1 SIMBA 1
    Avatar Flight of Passage -LCD flying scenes / floating rocks
    Dinosaur - Mode safely transport baby dino back, crazy LED red lights as it ends

    Hollywood Studios
    The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror- Ball drop on the back glass
    Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith inverted loop
    Toy Story Mania!... have this as an LCD / Backbox game
    Fantasmic! - LED sorcerer Mickey on LCD
    Star Wars flying in millennium falcon
    Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway

    CHARACTERS
    Mickey
    Minnie
    Pluto
    Goofy
    Donald Duck
    Daisy Duck
    Jiminy Cricket
    Winnie the Pooh
    Tigger
    Stitch
    Woody
    Jessie
    Buzz Lightyear
    Mike Wazowski
    Figment
    Chip 'n' Dale
    7 Dwarfs
    Snow White.... & all the princesses
    Hitch Hiking ghosts

    FOOD!
    Mickey Ice cream bars
    Dole Whip
    Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake

    They have an insane amount of material to work with

    #24 4 years ago

    Not my personal favorites, but the games I feel have the best overall theme to appeal to the most pinball fans. I only went with games that were actually produced, but if I were listing games that haven't been made I'd include Harry Potter, The Matrix, Scooby-Doo, Grimms' Fairy Tails, H.P. Lovecraft, and several of the Nintendo licenses; Zelda, Metriod, Castlevania, Mega Man, Pokemon.

    -MOVIES-
    Ghostbusters
    Indiana Jones
    Jurassic Park
    Lord of the Rings
    Star Wars
    Terminator 2

    -TV SHOWS-
    Flintsones
    Game of Thrones
    Jetsons
    Simpsons
    South Park

    -COMICS-
    Avengers
    Batman (all)
    Iron Man
    Spider-Man
    Superman
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    X-Men

    -OTHER-
    Dungeons & Dragons
    Harley Davidson

    -Unlicensed-
    Attack From Mars (Aliens)
    Cactus Canyon (Western)
    Medieval Madness (Middle Ages)
    Monster Bash (Monsters)
    Wrath of Olympus (Greek Mythology)

    #25 4 years ago

    Judging by all the machines ever made, and assuming the companies generally are in tune with what sells, wouldn’t the list look more like this:

    Billiards
    Carnival/fair/circus
    Rock bands
    Sci fi
    Magic
    Sports
    Anything in which drawings of boobies, butts, and crotches fits in

    #26 4 years ago

    Interesting that for all of the rock band/music themed pinballs out there that there are relatively few mentioned here. I think a big reason for that comes down to story.

    The vast majority of the titles listed ultimately have built-in stories/bases for stories that many people are already familiar with. The designers play off that story and the images it invokes to create an immersive, integrated experience for the player to participate in.

    Music, OTOH, from the average person's perspective, is a passive activity: most of us just listen to music that has been created; we do not get to participate in creating music for an AC/DC or an Iron Maiden or a Guns N' Roses. The closest we come to interacting with a band is at a live concert. So while we rock out to the music while playing, there is no inherent story accompanying the game which players are already familiar with so the designers must create a story/goals for the game. I humbly submit that's it's much harder to do this. I also acknowledge that when done well music games can be just as great as the best movie/TV show licensed games with pre-existing stories. And as we've all seen, games of each type can also be huge disappointments regardless of their license.

    Tommy was a rare example of music that had a built-in story. Even if it did not have the huge pinball connection, there was a story in the music and I think that made it easier for folks to relate to a game based on it.

    But it is interesting to see the relative lack of music/band-themed games showing up.

    #27 4 years ago

    Card games/poker.

    #29 4 years ago
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    #30 4 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    No way dude. Original TV cast[quoted image]

    Although you really need Peter Graves in the cast.

    Gord

    #31 4 years ago

    Playing card games
    billiards
    rock/metal bands

    #32 4 years ago

    Anything with Sly Stallone.

    #33 4 years ago

    Nobody mentioned BINGO yet?

    #34 4 years ago
    Quoted from GRB1959:

    Although you really need Peter Graves in the cast.
    Gord

    If you want to go that new, it needs Spock, the Coors dude from Lebowski, and Barney talking jive.
    p7895802_b_v8_aa (resized).jpgp7895802_b_v8_aa (resized).jpg

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