I stopped out Schwoegler's in Madison for an hour today and played 10 games so figured i'd give some quick thoughts. My first few games were lousy but once I got a feel for the shots I started doing better. I think my last 3 games were all above 600K with my final game high score being just over 850K. I figured that was a good note to leave on since there were other people waiting to play the game which is a good sign for a Sunday afternoon in the middle of Summer.
The layout and gameplay gets a 10 from me. Great mix of easy and challenging shots, and a number of unique shots from each flipper. This is Pat Lawlor's best layout and is probably his best game overall.-and I've owned games like TZ and a Collector's quality Whirlwind. It's his best flowing game yet. Rules seem solid and not overly deep or complex which I think is a positive. Ball times are shorter than games like Hobbit or JPOTC and the rule-set seems to match up well for the layout. The game is more about making strategic choices and getting the right stacks in place. I still have a lot to learn as far as the rules go as I prefer to discover stuff as I go vs. seeing it on a video or reading about it.
I got to play at least a few of the modes and saw at least 4 different multiballs (Slugworth, Gobstopper, Kid, Oompa Loompa?) I had the third lock lit for Wonkavator MB but couldn't hit that shot cleanly for the life of me! I wasn't even aware that there was an Oompa Loompa MB but i reached it a couple times. I thought the light show was awesome, I really like the Gobstopper mech as it is really fair and doesn't give many rejects. The 6 mini playfield magnets did mess with the ball a bit and add some randomness but they were pretty subtle overall. The game's audio is probably one of the game's only weak points but i didn't think it was bad by any means. I certainly wouldn't stop me from ordering a game. It just isn't up to the standard of other JJP games like WOZ, Hobbit or JPOTC.
Overall though I think the game is great and will be a big hit for JJP. The only thing holding me back from selling a game and calling Kingpin Games to order one is that I will have at least 3 of them to play on location and have several friends' ordering the game as well so I will have plenty of opportunities to play it. I hope JJP continues selling their Standard models for $7500 as I think the game has a lot of value for the money. I really don't think you are missing that much going down from the LE. The Wonkavator lock shot isn't something you have to hit that often and I think the game looks full enough without it.-it doesn't seem lacking to me and I would be 100% happy with a SE. I think as people play the game more and more the reviews will get better for the game. For a game that's only been out for a week the game (and code) is very good and should continue to get better!