But the flippers are powerful enough to break one ball in half that is impressive. haha I'm just joking, I know what you're saying. I'd love to play it sometime though.

I for one am glad that Data East pins are looked down upon by the William's snobs - more affordable for me!

As far as the best of the best from their lineup... I would go...

I'll preface by saying this is the pins I played before.... so here's my list
Tommy
Tales from the Crypt
Last Action Hero
Phantom of the Opera
Star Wars
Laser War
Batman - So many good memories for this one!!!!

You'll notice I didn't put Guns n Roses in there; I despise that pin!!

Tommy FTW

what about the simpsons

Definitely surprised no one mentioned that pin, also the same with Checkpoint.

Tommy
GNR
TFTC
JP

that is my top 4 and by the looks of the chart it is most peoples top 4 DE games.

Oh man that game is painfully bad for my tastes.

GNfR for me.

Yeah, at least a better Simpsons pin was made.

I liked my Star Wars. Gone now in a trade for LOTR.

I think the DE Simpsons is the most annoying game on the audio side for me.

LAH for sure..i have had alot of DE games, and this was my favorite...

TFTC was OK..Just OK ....compare to LAH to me....

there are more toys and gadgets in LAH than most any other game by any manufacturer out...

It was light years ahead of its time, and really still is.

Star Wars
Jurassic Park
WWF Royal Rumble

Haven't played Tommy or GNR yet, so it's TFTC for me.

WWF
TFTC
JP

I've had a LAH and Rocky and Bullwinkle. I like both but they are no bally/Williams.

LAH plays better but Bullwinkle has much better art. Actually I think Bullwinkle has the best art of any Data East. Between the two I would say Bullwinkle. It's still in my collection now

What, no love for Secret Service? LOL

-_O .... you're not allowed to post ever again.

/end playful sarcasm

Star wars for me

Laser War and Secret Service all the way!

I've played a bunch/owned JP, GNR, Tommy, and LAH. GnR might be the 'coolest' game of the bunch, but Tommy is the best game of the bunch by a pretty decent margin. JP is also a great game to own, wouldn't mind owning one of those again. GnR gets old after a while, LAH just never really grabbed me, for all the stuff it has on it there is a lack of cohesion in the game it seems to me.

GnR all the way....!!!!

Had a LAH which i just sold for another Williams, Gotta laugh at the flipper coil sizes between DE & Bally/Williams DE looks like a C size battery the others a D size.
I never had any issues with the LAH though.

Star Wars

Robocop

Batman

WWF

The Simpsons

I dont think tommy should be in the top 5, Thats a hype game.

I've never played GNR so I put JP firmly in the top spot. TFTC is okay, but none of the shots on that game feel "good" to me. The Simpsons is right up there. South Park puts a smile on my face but it's not very good as far as game play goes.

GNR is the best in my opinion and here is why. Slash was actually on the design team. Because of this they spent a ton more money on the game than they normally would. The result is a game that feels like a Williams game of the same era. Not just "shoot the ramp" like a lot of the DE games are. Runners up are JP and TFTC (I'm not a fan of the TFTC theme but the game is good). Star Wars is OK as well (I actually like the soundtrack), but not even in the same league as GnR!

And really, The Simpsons, and BTTF, and Hook, and any other early DE games are completely linear and have really weak rulesets. I have owned or shopped all 3 of these and they are fine for casual playing, but the question WAS which was the best.

And I'd like to add: I'm not a fan of Guns n Roses (The Band) - it's just a really great pinball machine.

I've only played 3 DE games.

1. Time machine - Great songs and sounds. Easy to understand concept and brings back memories from playing it in the arcades back in the 80s-90s.

2. Laser War - Awesome light show and sound design. Simple to understand rules and has a fun factor that keeps you coming back from more. Definitely looks awesome with a proper LED kit installed.

3. Tommy - I only played once at TPF and a few at an auction. Seemed fun to me, but without seeing the movie I didn't quite understand any of the callouts or references. Still kinda neat breaking through the mirror multiball.

I have played them all and have/had many of them, so here are my picks that get consistent play from myself and visitors.

Tommy, GNR, DE:StarWars, JP, TFTC

SW,JP and TFTC are the best bang for the buck machines
Tommy is a bit more, but worth it.
GNR is fun but overpriced.

GNR

I really loved LAH

The game is just fun! Look at ipdb and look at the highest rated games based on fun and LAH gets a 8.4 which is the highest or tied with the highest ratings of other games

Baywatch wish I still had mine !!

On another note de/sega seem to play a lot slower then b/w games idk if it's just me or if others feel this way as well ??

Ive played a few but the one DE I own is SW.

My first pin and has a special place in my heart.

In my house its generally just referred to as the "Mens Tee" because of its harshness and lack of a relaunch makes every move count compared to my CV ("Ladies Tee").

TFTC and Tommy are two of my other DE favorites too.

Tommy...

I think Tommy would get a lot more love from people if it was based on the movie. I just don;t like the feel of it, but it has some great ideas. The blinders blew my mind when I saw them.

What exactly is overhyped about it? They use it in the finals of major pinball tourneys, that should say something about the game. It's hard, very balanced scoring wise, has a lot of modes, has stacking, etc. There really isn't a weak point in the game (which is why it's a great tourney game). I'm not even sure if it's possible for a DE game other than GnR to be overhyped, lol, they're all $3k and less other than GnR.

Well PAPA just selected not one, not two, but three (out of eight) DE games for their A Division qualify bank. Tales from the Crypt, Godzilla and Goldeneye. Quite interesting.

Not played GNR, but spent a LOT of time on Tommy and TFTC. TFTC is best IMO.

Yes and the Goldeneye you guys will be playing there was mine that i sold them a few months ago....

I hope all you guys enjoy it..

glad i was able to find another to fil the spot..

I wont be letting go of this one.....

I personally love Data East Games, I have TFTC, SW, LAH, and BTTF, those games get the most play out of all the sterns and Bally/Williams games, really want a Tommy bad, been looking for a while, for Sega my Starship Troopers will never leave the gameroom, that game is amazing

Chris

There was a sample Tommy at California Extreme for sale...

The sample was sitting side by side with a Production tommy..

I love a lot of data east games and dare I say it, I even prefer them above a lot of B/W titles.
My personal top 5

1 Tales From The Crypt
2 Jurassic Park
3 Lethal Weapon 3
4 Rocky & Bullwinkle
5 Star Wars

Guns n Roses. If you hate the music, then its Tales from the Crypt. If you hate GNR music, and hate blood and guts, then Tommy.

I think for me it goes:
1) GnR
2) TFTC

that's all. Tommy just wasn't fun. I shopped one out and had it in my house for 2 weeks. Hard to explain. TFTC might be ranked better in my opinion if there wasn't that super ultra annoying laughing going on and the upbeat rock music. JP I owned and it just wasnt very fun either - sold it a couple weeks later.

Some people may not realize but Data East, Sega, Stern = same line of products only company changing name. GnR is primarily a John Borg game. In fact, I asked him about it just yesterday and he confirmed it.

Indeed. I was also refering to all at PAPA a line up as DE's.

However, I believe it is worthwhile to speak of Sterns on their own. Due to the fact, that the change to Stern happened at the same time as Williams closed. And some employies went to work for Stern. Also, from WPT and later, Stern has used a newer platform.

But spaking of all this. The current Stern has nothing in common with the 70's/80's Stern. That, on the other hand, was old Chicago Coin.

I agree TFTC is the game I am looking to purchase in AZ if I can find one and is my favorite and great DE game for not being a widebody game. GNR would be my second or first as a widebody for DE game. I started playing Star Wars which is fun but lacks the 2 ramps like the other two games I mentioned. JP just does not do much for me.

My votes go to Tommy and Rocky And Bullwinkle.

Last action hero

GNR ,,,,,,,,,,,, LAH isn't Bad either ,, TFTC , Tommy etc..