Um, none of the 80s games had DMDs, and nearly all of the 90s games had DMDs, so this basically boils down to "what are the best pins from the 80s?"

I've done quite a few threads with similar topics. What I've seen is that in the non DMD SS machines you have basically 2 schools of play with a few pins are that kind of in the middle.

First you have the what I call the "Old School" Pins that basically have flat playfields, no ramps, no toys, and are usually single ball (no multiball). They also usually have basic sounds and no voice. They are pretty much an extension of the end of the EM era but with some advancement in scoring capabilities. My favorite in this category would be Skateball. It has drop targets, 4 flippers, a spinner, lane change, pop bumpers that have a purpose, and a great bonus collect multiplier rule set. My second favorite would be Blackout. It has many of the same attributes as Skateball but the rule set is not quite as good.

You also have what I consider the "New School" category. These are very much the same as what we see in the DMD machines except they don't have a DMD!. These pins will have toys, ramps, multiball, music, voice callouts, often with a fan play field layout, loop shots, and most of the attributes that are familiar to games even offered today. I personally do not like this style of play so I don't have any favorites.

Then you have what I find to be some of the more interesting pins of the 80's. Pins that are sort of a cross between both schools. I would like to call these the "Middle School" pins. These pins still maintain some of the really good "Old School" traits such as upper roll over lanes with lane change, pop bumpers that play an important roll in ball play and scoring, play field layouts that keep the importance of target shots along with bringing the ball back to the top for the lanes and pops, and good multiplier and bonus scoring schemes. But along with these traits they often will add some "New School" features such as music and voice call outs, multiball, loop shots, and maybe a ramp and or some sort of toy. I'm just now doing more research regarding these fascinating "cross breeds". My favorites so far are Sorcerer with it's simple ball lock ramp for 2-ball multiball and sound and voice call outs. And also Road Kings with a bit more advanced music and voice call outs along with 2 ramps in which one of them raises and multball. I also like Andromeda. Pretty much an "Old School" Pin with 2-ball multiball.

The non DMD SS Pins truly offer a wide diversity to choose from. "Old School" to "New School" and everything in between. It's unfortunate that this was also the time of heavy competition from the new electronic arcade games and the pin manufacturers had a very difficult time to survive. I can just imagine what sort of incredible pins may have been produced during this time if the arcade games never existed!