internet troll (resized).jpg

TSPP
MET
Tron

my only question is.... out of all of the great games mentioned in this post, how did someone manage to sneak in monopoly???

Out of what I’ve played..
TSPP need to get one of these
LOTR

Star Trek
Metallica

Tron
AC/DC

Tron #1
GOT/pre/le Why doesnt this game get more love? Its got so much going for it.

Also I dont get the love for TWD, doesnt make a top 10 for me.

AC/DC and SM

I haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but third on my list might be POTC.

no love for WPT?

Here's another vote for MET

Tough to list top 2 as there are probably 5 or 6 really close in the running to be the best. A lot of it depends upon your tastes and what you like/ want out of a pin.
So art package, rule set, shoot-ability, and theme integration all play in.
So that said:
#1 LOTR
#2 IM

I love WPT. Maybe a top 5 game for me, but not quite top 2.

For me it’s SM and MET, followed closely by GOT.

LOTR
ACDC

AC/DC
Aerosmith
I love Rock pins!

I absolutely agree, glad to see the TWD votes. That might have to make it in my collection.

I'm a WPT fan too. Definitely in my Top 12. Maybe Top 10.

man I see a lot of ACDC. Been thinking about that one but already have MET....thoughts on why ACDC brings enough to the table?

LOTR LE, SW, ACDC/MET

My guess would be each song basically having different rulesets, providing a lot of ways to approach the game.

I am setting aside all the confusing Prem/LE ect. considerations. Certainly open to debate because people just list their favorite games and most people's experience with a game is confined to their pinball circle, myself included.

1st
Metallica just never gets old. I am confident that Metallica is Sterns best design up to this point in the company's history but that could always change. I have around 2500 plays on that game.

2nd
As an overall whole, I would say that LOTR was certainly Sterns best game UP TO THAT POINT in the company's history. The company was on the edge of bankruptcy back then and they really pulled out a gem. After playing it hundreds of times, it begins to become a grind where your hands and arms get tired. Once you can get up to 200 mil on that game, for me it loses it's excitement factor. But, it's still #2, even if you can't stand it.

Reasoning for other games that are not 1 and 2:

I know a lot of other great games have come out in between those two and I have owned and played the hell out of a lot of them, but you really have to wait about 4 years on a title to see if it shakes out as "the best". If you are asking about why, just say to yourself, "I should wait until there are no more major code updates, then wait a couple years for everyone to re-asses, then make an informed decision about "the best". So, roughly speaking ~ 4 years from release date.

GOT: Needs some more time but I'd say it's further up the chart on depth than most people even realize. It's just not an adventure style depth, it's more of a points vs. rule exploitation and recognition depth. In some ways, it reminds me of a choose your own adventure video game where you don't mind playing through it again and again because you can approach it a million different ways.

Tron was great but it's really difficult for a new person in pinball to step up to and experience more than a couple minutes of play. And the depth in that game is just not there and was not meant to be there. It's designed for short ball times and that is just never going to appeal to everyone. Iron man, same things.

Star Trek: Certainly some unique things but it's a very safe inside the box design and the callouts are bad, especially if you are not a fan of the newer movies. It think you have to play this one a lot and once you get close to the billion point range, and you've played through all the modes three times, the game certainly does begin to tire. I personally like this game more than GOT, Tron, and LOTR for different reasons but set those opinions aside when contemplating "the best".

AC/DC: The sound is probably the best done in the history of pinball. However, the risk reward is there but there are other design issues that force great players to only follow a couple different paths in the game. Under utilized lower PF on the Prem and over emphasis on VIPs and other things hold it back.

-Spiderman is great and has not been mentioned. I think it's a great game but suffers from some of the same monotony of LOTR after hundreds of plays.

Regarding TSPP, I have played it 1,000s of times. Thousands, not a typo. It's a good game but after you play it for years, you begin to see it's flaws and that it is an early Stern that has some issues regarding design, overall flow, risk/reward and callouts missing from the female characters in the show.

-WPT is great but certainly has some issues that really only bothered me after playing A LOT of games on it - artwork aside...

If you go strictly by Stern sales #'s I am fairly certain it goes something like:
1. ACDC Prem
2. TSPP
3. POTC

So there is CERTAINLY one person who thinks those are the best Stern machines... his name is Gary Stern.

TWD and MET

Star Trek LE
Tron LE

They didn't hold back on these two!

These are my two picks as well.

LOTR, GOT, TRON

TSPP & Tron.

LOTR, ST Premium, Sopranos

Too close to pick just two...

Clearly not enough people have spent enough time on IM.

#1 IM
#2 Tie between STLE, MET & Tron.

And I owned a LOTR for eight years. Great game...but the ball times killed it.

for me, TWD gets the #1 spot by a mile. It is so good. Then MET and after that there is a bunch of solid games lumped together. LOTR, ST, Tron, ACDC, GB, TSPP.

TSPP
TWD

Going strong to the top is BM66

#lord-of-the-rings
#game-of-thrones-le

Havent played enough #star-wars-stern-le or #ac-dc-(le) or #metallica-le

If I had to narrow it down to 2, I guess I would go with TWD and ACDC.

Metallica - Best dots on a Stern game ever, cool 'original' theme and toys (meaning feels the least like a license), hand drawn art, great rules, lots of ways to play. Really complete package that doesn't have any glaring flaws. I have the LE, the mirrored backglass makes me happy.

Tron - Best simple 'one more game', best integration of music and theme, just feels good to play, and with the fiber optics (LE or aftermarket) and sound and atmosphere it just transports me into the right mood. Bonus for having the arcade cab mod, it might not be stock, but it's one of the coolest add-ons for any game.

Games like LOTR and TSPP are very cool, but at the end of the day I'm not a Keith ruleset person, I just don't like the super long quest style games. Amazingly done, but too involved. I don't want to have to feel like I need a really long game to get somewhere. So not for me. I just sold my ACDC, don't miss it. Metallica and Tron would be a lot harder to get rid of.

LOTR and TWD

They are nothing alike other then both games play songs from a band. Both are killer games. I always feel more score and jackpot driven when playing ACDC while on Met I'm trying to advance through the multiballs to get to crank it up.

Perfect explanation. Two completely different games.

LOTR
TRON

+1

TWD........MET.........

There just isn’t that many of them.

it just is not liked very much/ is not a very good game.

It does not do well on route, has linear competitive strategy, and has some supremely stupid light show gimmicks that detract from the game play itself.

I like it a lot. It's also one of the least linear games made, during tourny's people just play it safe. The light show is awesome, maybe to much for others but I think it's killer.

MET & ACDC

1. LotR
2. TSPP or MetLE (depending on how much you value variety)

but really...

1. Jaws
2. Iron Maiden

I'm certain of it

1)Twd
2)Lotr
3)AC/DC
4)Met
5)Tron

GoT is great. I get how you can be less than excited by just going for Martell every time, but the shots are great and it's pretty dang fun cranking up that multiplier during a good mode/multiball stack. I don't know that I would put it in the top tier of Stern games, but it's a lot of fun.

What day you about Aerosmith and Ghostbusters?

TSPP
Metallica
LOTR