Not an EM.

It's just fun. It looks like a crap layout when you first look at it, but then you play it and the oddness grabs you immediately - it was in my group at pinburgh ?2012 or so and I'd never played it either. Just a fun little game. Of course, you ignore the 4 bank of drop targets which isn't great either, but it definitely surprised me. I'd buy one given the chance (and the space)

Yeah Argosy is max out your bonus by shooting the spinner (worth 100 or 1000 alternating on/off based on 10pt switches), hitting some advance bonus roll overs, hopefully getting that top center lane for some progress and to open the gate, then the tricky double bonus saucer. Drops aren’t worth going for until you double a max bonus and the spinner is not lit

You can alley pass open the gate in lieu of hitting the top rollover

Solid rules for an EM game

You’re right, it doesn’t advance bonus. But the path from the spinner to the upper left sling goes over advance roll over spinners. I didn’t explain it clearly enough.

Gold Rush, Strato Flite, Hot Tip.

Olympic Hockey is a blast, especially with 2 players.

Space Mission/Odyssey also another good one.

Wait until you max your bonus/double bonus, then go for the targets and the spinner when lit. love the sound when you rip the spinner.

OXO is a blast and I am a pointy people fan. I often recite this write up of the OXO backglass art to vistors as it is so spot on:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/carnality-as-depicted-in-the-backglass-of-oxo-or-why-oxo-was-misnamed

Hot tip on high tap. The best of the best.

1. I know there are a few of us who really like Hot Tip EM. It’s my favorite EM I’ve ever played, and I’m an EM guy. I couldn’t get enough of it two years in a row at ReplayFX, so I searched til I got one. It’s the only EM with drop targets, spinner, and captive ball in the same machine. Also, the consensus seems to be that the EM ruleset is better than the SS version. I actually limit myself playing it for fear of neglecting my other pins.

2. Grand Prix. I don’t know if there’s any better spinner-ripping pin out there from any era.

3. Big Deal. I’ve never actually played one, but I’ve watched enough video to like it already. If I must have played it, it would probably be OXO. I really like the fast pace and the tic-tac-toe aspect.

At one point, I was looking mainly at Gottliebs, and I’m really pleased with the ones I have, but I’ve become more and more of a Williams EM fan. I think the quality of most Williams late EMs shows that they were ready to take over during the SS era when Gottlieb dropped the ball.

BTW, great topic, chuckwurt .

The SS/EM rule differences are subtle on Hot Tip. I believe the differences are most values are 10x on the EM version except some rebound rubbers being 10pt on EM and 500pt on SS, the spinner on the SS advances the bonus every 5 spins, and the max bonus on the SS goes to 19 and not 10. Also the lite over the saucer strobes after a ball is served to the player until a switch is hit.

So the max bonus is higher on the SS but is a bit easier to advance the bonus.

The power is also a bit different. The slings and pop are stronger on the EM version (24VAC that is DC rectified), the SS has slightly stronger flippers (28VDC)

Two things that make the EM ruleset exciting to me are 1) that all the drops down for the first horseshoe lights the spinner for 1,000 points (not 100), which makes the risk of trying to hit all the drop targets more worthwhile (I really like ripping the spinner for all those points if I can get there), and 2) the top kickout can light the captive ball (which I call the “sucker shot”) for 30,000 (not 3,000), also reducing the risk/reward ratio for that shot.

Yeah, Hot Tip EM is stingy on advancing bonus, which makes trying to go for the drops first more risky.

OK, I know this is an EM thread, but which has better rules or are they basically the same: Hot Tip EM or Hot Tip SS? This game is on my search list officially and I want to know which to look for hardest.

Edit: Sorry I missed Treybo discussion of this very question a few posts above

How about Wizard! ? I played it in my youth, some 40+ years ago and remembered liking it. Anyone play it recently? Feedback? I am keeping an eye out for one and would be interested if it is as good as I remembered. Great topic, thanks!

It's a Bally, not Williams.
O.K. game. I'd buy one at the right price.

Doh! Sorry about that. I appreciate the feedback though.

Soccer/Super Soccer- one of the few EMs that you can collect your bonus during play, makes for real fun.

My Space Mission

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Wow, that’s really sharp.

Holy Cow! Who did that restoration? Unbelievable.

I did. I enjoy the detail.

Is this what you were seeking? :

1) List of EM games that have the word "magnet" as a Notable Feature:

https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?gtype=EM&ft=magnet&sortby=date&searchtype=advanced

Note: This searches for any occurrence of that word. A game may say it has no magnets or uses an anti-magnetic ball.

2) List of EM and SS games identified with a Doodle Bug or similar feature (ignore Klondike):

https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=doodle.bug&sortby=date&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#2238

Damn that looks fantastic. great job

Silverstrwk02 must have the nicest Space Mission/Odyssey on the planet.

My votes go to Klondike, Spanish Eyes, and Super Star. I’ve also owned Argosy and Rancho but sold them. I have owned a Hot Tip for years but Magically Erased a spot on my original playfield. I’ve been too pissed off at myself to finish the restoration after my mistake. Fortunately a friend has volunteered, for a fee, to swap out that playfield. Be careful with those feckin’ Magic Erasers, boys.

It shows. Also, I think I like the yellow pop bumper caps better than my blue ones. They really do pop.

Are Spanish Eyes owners trying to manipulate the market?

Wild Card, fantastic game with multiple strategies

I play it a lot more than the MM that sits next to it and my guests play it a lot compared to my other EMs. Seems to be wild and crazy enough that people who normally turn their noses up on an EM actually play it every time they come over.

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I have a Spanish eyes in need of a major overhaul. It has not been shopped out in 35 to 40 years. It has some, what I thing is mold on the playfield. Backglass looks good. Will need to move it to the head of the que if its that good. I played it in a amusement park in Omaha somewhere during the 70's. Remember loving the horseshoe and the pop bumper between the flippers. Found it in a warehouse downtown with several other games. If I remember right they where $100 each. Loved the old days.

I don’t own it, but Spanish Eyes is a wholly unique and addicting game. Every time I see it I have to play it. Artwork is marmite but I happen to like it. I’ll round out my picks with Argosy and Big Deal, but Grand Prix and Hot Tip are fun as well. Truth be told, most of these pins are a lot of fun to play.

Your Spanish Eyes game is beautiful, but they need sunglasses with those LEDs.

As said before Olympic Hockey is an absolute blast to play with 2 players head to head. Scoring goals and hearing the buzzer makes it feel like an actual 'game'. I mean... have you ever heard friends and family cheer when a goal is scored in pinball??

This will always be my favorite though...
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-Paul

Camera makes it look brighter than it is in person. Those are Comet Sunlight LEDs which has a nice semi warm color and zero flicker or strobing. Usually I don't do full LED on any of my EMs, but made an exception on this one to keep the heat down because it has a playfield protector. All of my other EMs don't have LEDs in the GI lights. This game does play great in a fully dark room and as mentioned above, it draws in people who don't normally play any EMs the whole time they are here.

It's just a matter of time before the #44 and #47 suffer the same fate as the 455's.

Nice. I once got an EM with cool white LEDs already in the head and I replaced them with #47s because the reflection made it harder to see the playfield (I’m probably concerned about reflection more than most). Warm whites would probably have worked just as well. (I put the cool whites in my Jet Spin playfield, I think they look great there).

Comet Retro LEDs are a lot less bright; about as bright as a regular bulb. They work great behind a normal backglass to keep the heat down without adding reflection. For BGResto backglasses, they are not as transparent as the OEM backglasses, so you can use a regular 1SMD LED behind them without creating reflection off the playfield glass.

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Warm white LED club

Same, Comet warm white retros.

If anything I have been reducing the brightness in my games backboxes by running the dimmest LED's I can find and in some cases removing bulbs all together in strategic areas.

my holy trinity are klondike, doodle bug and spanish eyes.

have always thought that doodle bug/love bug are the hardest pinball machines to complete the sequence - lighting to the highest payoff on the 'doodle bug' - then keeping it there, while not being able to trap the ball.

notable mentions go to super star and blue chip

Exactly why Doodle bug was on my WMS EM 70s top 3 list. Along with Aztec and Honey.
I think I only got to a bonus of 1000s once,
and was not able to capitalize on it.
10,000 bonus, no way, only in my dreams.

also love the five pops up top.
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Always liked "Granada". Aside from the artwork, it's completely different from "Spanish Eyes" which is also a great player. Williams made so many games which were great players, but not terribly attractive looking. "Super Star"/"Big Star" is a great example.