(Topic ID: 253658)

What are your top 5 Pat Lawlor games?

By SantaEatsCheese

4 years ago


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  • Latest reply 3 years ago by gliebig
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    There are 90 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 4 years ago

    At the York show I got to play EarthShaker, Whirlwind, and FunHouse for the first time, and they were awesome. After doing some more research, I figured out that these games were all done by Pat Lawlor. While at Bally/Williams he did, in order, Banzai Run, Earthshaker, Whirlwind, Funhouse, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Road Show, Safe Cracker, and No Good Gofers. His work at Stern includes Monopoly, RolleCoaster Tycoon, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Family guy, and a few others. Now he is at Jersey Jack with Dialed in and Wonka to his name. With the exception of a few duds at Stern, the man has a solid record. I am now on a quest to play every game on his list. In the long run (not yet), I’d like to have an example of an Alpha-Numeric Machine, DMD, and LCD game. I think a Fun-House, Twilight Zone, and Dialed in would be hard to beat. (never played Wonka).
    https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/pat-lawlor
    My top 5 Lawlor Pins are:
    1. Funhouse
    2. Twilight Zone
    3. Dialed In
    4. Addams Family
    5. Whirlwind

    What are yours?

    #2 4 years ago

    For me personally, in order: Whirlwind, Ripley's, Road Show, TAF, Earthshaker.

    #3 4 years ago

    1. Ripley's Believe It Or Not
    2. Twilight Zone
    3. Addams Family
    4. Fun House
    5. Dialed In

    #4 4 years ago

    Earthshaker
    Ripley's
    Nascar

    Sorry, I ran out after three.

    #5 4 years ago

    1.) Twilight Zone
    2.) Funhouse
    3.) Dialed In
    4.) No Good Gophers
    5.) Addams Family

    #6 4 years ago

    Twilight Zone
    Funhouse
    Road Show
    Addams Family
    No Good Gofers

    #7 4 years ago

    Wonka LE is awesome so many shots! I've had whirlwind and now own a Funhouse. Funhouse is a classic that I'm keeping long term. All his B/W machines are top 100 machines so you can't really go wrong with any. If you want to try most of them fire up pinball arcade or maybe they will be on Pinball FX soon.

    #8 4 years ago

    1. TZ
    2. RBION
    3. Whirlwind
    4. Dialed In
    5. Banzai! Run

    Bottom 5
    5. Earthshaker
    4. FGY
    3. RCT
    2. Monopoly
    1. CSI

    #9 4 years ago

    Funhouse
    WWind
    TwilightZone
    Addams Family
    Earthshaker

    Funhouse is the only one I'd like to own again.

    #10 4 years ago

    TZ
    WWind
    NGG
    Roadshow
    Funhouse

    Also enjoy Dialed In, Ripley's and Banzai. All great games. Haven't played Wonka much.

    #11 4 years ago

    1. Twilight Zone
    2. Dialed In
    3. TAF
    4. Whirlwind
    5. Funhouse

    #12 4 years ago

    1) Addams Family
    2) Twilight Zone
    3) Banzai Run
    4) Wizard Blocks
    5) Whirlwind

    I obviously prefer the early stuff.

    #13 4 years ago

    Wonka is FUN to shoot with an A-list theme. Appears that some of you have not sought one out yet.

    1) Addams Family
    2) Wonka
    3) Twilight Zone
    4) Funhouse
    5) Safe Cracker

    #14 4 years ago

    TZ
    Wonka
    Addams family
    Dialed In/Funhouse
    Family guy

    #15 4 years ago
    Quoted from Neal_W:

    Wonka is FUN to shoot with an A-list theme. Appears that some of you have not sought one out yet.

    #16 4 years ago

    1) Family Guy
    2) TZ
    3) Banzai Run
    4) Dialed In
    5) Addams Family

    Haven't tried WW yet. Theme goes a long way and Family Guy is a good one

    #17 4 years ago
    Quoted from fusion:

    Haven't tried WW yet. Theme goes a long way and Family Guy is a good one

    (Family guy)Theme is good, great to some- but the gameplay is different and I enjoy the diversity.

    Whirlwind is fun too, hard to find a lawlor game that isn’t.

    #18 4 years ago

    I'm not an expert and haven't played all his machines yet. But, here are my current top 5 of his.

    Fun House- its an amazing theme. A bit creepy. A bit funny. Great shots, and nice difficulty.

    Adams Family- I know some people think its a shallow game. But, I think it plays how a pinball should. Unique layout. Nice ruleset. Is it the deepest no. But, it doesn't need to be. It shoots great, and it has one of the best all time MB callouts of all time "SHOWTIME!" Also has other goo callouts. I like the Malmuska personally. Always fun. And the toys still hold up to this day.

    Dialed IN- I hate the theme. The theme does nothing for me. But, man this machine is just pure pinball. Smooth shooting game, so fun as well, it just flows. Won't pretend I know too much of the ruleset. I know shot the guy to power the phone then shoot the phone. So much fun this game is. And while I hate the theme. The animations and modes fit the game to a T. And it truly is a cool concept. Just not a theme I like. I like babes, monsters, and ROCKERS!

    Twilight Zone- I've only played a twilight zone about 20 or so times. Galloping Ghost has one and I shoot it a few times when I go there. I love the theme. Love the midi Golden Earring Twilight Zone song. Got great callouts, amazing toys. Really nice animations. Its a bit brutal for me. But, I've put up a few decent games. Love the powerball. And the power playfield while frustrating. Is just so neat. Love the evil doll giving you an extra ball. That to me is one of my favorite eb animations.

    Whirlwind- For me it was close between this and No Good Gofers. I played Gofers more than Whirlwind, but I am a bit of a better player on WW. I like that layout. Fun game to shoot. Nothing too crazy with it. But, I would recommend wearing a jacket if you're going to play this game... or Play it if your ac goes out. Just a fun shooter... Gofers has a bit more pep, as it has more amped up callouts and has cool dmd animations. But, for just the joy of shooting, I'm going with WW.

    Please note I've only played 2 games on willy wonka. I played it at the MGC and again. Only got 2 games on it. One was short. While not being wowed by Wonka. As a world underglass it just underwhelmed me, and the art package while amazing. Just felt to me flat... Again, its a theme I enjoy, not love. So that might be the reason why I was fist pumping like a madman when I saw it in person. I like a lot of the stuff I see in it. The gobstopper lock is really cool. So I look forward to playing it more in the future.

    #19 4 years ago

    Addams Family
    Dialed In
    Funhouse
    TZ
    Whirlwind

    #20 4 years ago

    TAF, TZ, Funhouse, and Wonka are four of my top 10 of all time out of around 300 machines tried. Ripley's is close.

    Earthshaker, Whirlwind, Road Show, Family Guy, and NGG are all very good to me, better than many, just not on that legendary tier above.

    Banzai Run is certainly unique, but I didn't love it. Same goes for Safe Cracker.

    Haven't yet played Dialed In, Monopoly, or Roller Coaster Tycoon. Well, I think I have played the latter two, but briefly. Not enough to get a good feel.

    Pat is a genius.

    #21 4 years ago

    Twilight Zone
    Dialed In
    Safe Cracker
    Addams Family
    Funhouse

    #22 4 years ago

    TZ
    TAF
    WW
    DI
    FH

    #23 4 years ago

    TZ
    FH
    TAF
    WW
    SC
    I have 3 of them. Would like to get a SC.

    #24 4 years ago

    1) TZ
    2) FH
    3) WW
    4) AF
    5) FGY

    #25 4 years ago

    Twilight Zone
    Dialed In
    Whirlwind

    Everything else ties with Shrek in enjoyability for me including the Wonka I sold

    #26 4 years ago

    My five favorites are
    1 Twilight Zone
    2 Addams Family
    3 RBION
    4 FH
    5 Whirlwind.

    #27 4 years ago

    1. TAF
    2. DIAL
    3. TZ
    4. SC
    5. FH

    #28 4 years ago

    1. Dialed In
    2. Twilight Zone
    3. Whirlwind
    4. The Addams Family
    5. Family Guy

    #29 4 years ago

    My top three would be NGG.

    #30 4 years ago

    Road Show
    Fun House
    Safe Cracker
    Whirlwind
    NGG

    #31 4 years ago

    Twilight Zone
    Dialed In
    Fun House
    Whirlwind
    Road Show

    #32 4 years ago

    Wreck'n Ball
    Good Morning America
    Grand Prix
    Earthshaker
    CSI

    LTG : )

    #33 4 years ago

    I sincerely LOVE Lawlor pins except Dialed In is just crap to me. Dont like it at all.
    I'm also surprised to see almost everyone lists Funhouse and not just that but apparently they like it more than TAF?! And yet TAF has always been an (A) list game and Funhouse always. (B) LIST? That's just crazy! Oddly enough I cant stand whirlwind and it shares a lot of similarities with TAF. Regret selling Earthshaker. That game as shallow as it is, is just damn good fun! TZ is a pure masterpiece, timeless really.
    Roadshow is fun, but it felt like a (funhouse 2) approach and kind if turned me. Funhouse is way cooler.

    #34 4 years ago

    Have owned most and
    Wonka
    Di
    Tz
    Ww
    Taf

    In that order 1-5

    #35 4 years ago

    I’ve come to the realization that I just don’t like Lawlor games. It is what it is........

    #36 4 years ago

    I think if RCT was a different theme it would be right up there flow wise with all of the big boys.
    Having owned RCT and Wonka I believe they are very similar.
    Based on shots only not theme.

    1. WW
    2. RCT
    3. Wonka
    4. FH
    5. ES

    #37 4 years ago

    Always thought Grand Prix an monopoly are extremely underated..

    #38 4 years ago

    The Addams Family is both the greatest game of all time and the most important game of all time for many reasons. It's truly The Beatles of pinball. Sure there were machines before it, but after Addams, everything changed, and every game since TAF has been influenced by it in some way. It ushered in the modern game (28 years ago!). No longer would there be alpha-numeric displays and simply playing for points. Because of Addams, games would actually tell a story with modes and things to do with interactive toys on the playfield.

    And let's not forget that the game is just fun, fun, fun and funny. It's got character. It's campy.

    Bottom line is that Addams set the standard that few games have truly approached. People underrate it perhaps because it's overexposed. Well, that would be just like saying that A Day in the Life by The Beatles is a bad song just because you've heard it 1000 times. It's not the song's fault. Well, it's not the game's fault in this case either.

    #40 4 years ago

    Whirlwind
    No Good Gophers
    Funhouse
    Wizard Blocks
    Banzai Run

    #41 4 years ago

    Addams
    Banzai Run
    Funhouse
    Earthshaker
    Whirlwind

    #42 4 years ago

    Only 3 out of 41 posts mention Nascar/Grand Prix. It's basically Gofers without the wonky rules and trick shot. I think the modes are pretty fun and the shots are smooth.

    #44 4 years ago
    Quoted from HOOKED:

    I think if RCT was a different theme it would be right up there flow wise with all of the big boys.
    Having owned RCT and Wonka I believe they are very similar.
    Based on shots only not theme.
    1. WW
    2. RCT
    3. Wonka
    4. FH
    5. ES

    I like Rollercoster Tycoon. Won't lie. The theme is very meh to me. As I've never played the game. But, I do like some of the callouts and animations. And I love all the ramps.

    But, I guess its the code where this game fails. Its too easy to manipulate to get big points and so tourney players hate it. But, since I play for fun. I've always enjoyed shooting a few games of this when I see one at an expo.

    #45 4 years ago
    #46 4 years ago

    in order of production (top 6)

    Banzai Run
    Addams Family
    Twilight Zone
    Nascar
    Family Guy
    Willy Wonka

    #47 4 years ago
    Quoted from Agent_Hero:

    Only 3 out of 41 posts mention Nascar/Grand Prix. It's basically Gofers without the wonky rules and trick shot. I think the modes are pretty fun and the shots are smooth.

    NGG and Nascar layouts are extremely different - almost no similarity. Are you sure you meant to say Gofers?

    #48 4 years ago

    Funhouse
    Funhouse
    Funhouse
    Funhouse
    Funhouse

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    #49 4 years ago

    1. TAF
    2. TZ
    3. Funhouse
    4. Banzai Run
    5. I like the rest equally ES, Whirlwind, Ripley's,etc..

    #50 4 years ago

    I like all his games minus a few but best are:

    TZ
    FH
    TAF
    WW
    did I mention FH?

    There are 90 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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