My personal favorites include Fire Queen, Eight Ball Deluxe, and Maverick with honorable mentions to El Dorado and Flash.

Any Bally game with in-line drops is going to be instantly high on my list.

Should Firepower count if the vast majority of players will never play a version with drops?

That's ok. It's worth a mention anyways. It's kinda interesting because it was designed for drop targets but changed to standups, and there are pros and cons to the change.

I also love the way Black Knight uses a timer and sound effects to make clearing a bank incredibly stressful yet rewarding.

It's interesting to see it worded this way when the only major difference in drop targets is the three bank in the upper left corner. (But I do agree it's very much inspired by Flash)

I’ve only played The Hobbit a few times a couple years ago. I don’t remember anything in particular about the drops being particularly noteworthy, but a lot of people are pointing it out. What is it about the drop targets that are so good on it?