J-Pop games are a funny thing. They're pretty unique layouts that have lots of hidden quirks and features on them. You either click with the game, or you don't. I think ToM and WCS are absolutely amazing games, and I quite like TOTAN. CV, however, is repellent to me. I've tried hard to like CV, but even playing pristine HUO examples, I just can't get over how bad the layout feels to shoot or how the code does nothing for me. The Ringmaster is a cool looking toy, but it's not fun to shoot and wait on all the dang time. I don't like the video modes. I don't like the ball on the playfield. I just don't like the game, but I recognize that it's a beautiful piece of interactive art.

So yeah, J-Pop games can feel like the most amazing experience to one guy only to be the most aggravating thing to another due to their non-standard nature.

I had an absolute blast playing a Popeye at Expo a few years back. It was the only one I had ever seen and I couldn't get over the fact that it was the same game that gets ripped on so much. Sure, the layout was strange and some shots hard to see, but it was very unique and fun. I would really like to spend some more time on one...especially in a home setting where it is set up and working perfectly. I wouldn't say no to one if it fell in my lap either.

? Really

"What I really admire is someone who could make a "turd" enjoyable. Adjust a game, bend the rules and the ones with the worst rep can be become great games."

I enjoy this aspect of pinball as well. In my own collection I have one of the early Sterns that was widely disparaged as too easy and no fun - Galaxy. Now there are several of us that enjoy this title immensely due to a few simple tweaks that made it much more challenging.

Back to the OPs topic: Rescue 9/11 is probably the least fun post 1990s pin I've encountered, and played a fair number of times, so far. My limited number of games in the Gottlieb Premier line suggest that they are every bit as bad, albeit for slightly different reasons.

-Steve

They were pretty bad. You can enjoy some of them, but they don't compare well with any other manufacturer.

Sure has been a long month! lol

Bugs Bunny Birthday Bash. Tried and tried. Hate is a difficult word to use, but I truly hate this machine. I love this thread, however, because it shows to each is own.

High Roller Casino! Hated it! Mine was HUO too! Got tired of "W" yelling JACKPOT, JACKPOT, JACKPOT!!!

I am getting a big laugh at people actually saying TOTAN is worst DMD since 1990. This game is one of the smoothest fastest flowing games ever and some guy called it clunky. These people are either joking or jealous because they can't afford one. I think SS and AFM are over rated but the worst game since 1990 , not even close.

I still give that award to Sega's Star Wars Trilogy.

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Bash: Ideal board doner machine and firewood.

Freddy: Just hate this game with a vengence!

Seeing lots of mentions for BBBB, and I can't disagree. That and South Park are literally the only pinball machines that I've walked away from with balls left to play. SP is one that I have tried multiple times, and it's never worked out for me. BBBB I have only played once, but 2 balls was enough to make me go.

Tales from the Crypt is brutal!

Of the games I have owned, and can honestly say I gave a large amount of time on, my vote is for Avatar. Beautiful looking and the sound was great, but could barely make it through a 3 ball game without going to the fridge to grab another beer.

I like TOTAN, but I wonder if people saying its clunky are referring to the Make A Wish shot (whatever its called). It stops the game dead in its tracks for a few seconds regardless of what you're doing.

Agreed, I had to play this turd in the Pinwiz tourney......I couldn't bring myself to play it more than a few times, I had as many opportunities as I wanted to improve my score, I just couldnt play it again.

Only one person said that TOTAN was clunky. That makes me think they were playing a poorly shoped, badly beaten game or for the reasons Wolfy quoted.

Matter of fact, I can't think of any 90's game made by Bally/Williams that was clunky. TOTAN runs smooth, fast and fun.

Kim

You're crazy!!! TFTC is one of the best pins for the money these days.

Agreed. All of my B/W games are smooth as butter.

Honch, your collection is awesome! Love the monster theme you got going there!

IJ4 100% IM/RS aint far behind

Enjoyment is like pain. You can't render it invalid. If you're feeling it, then it's real. If perceived popularity is making a game 'artificially' fun, then it doesn't make the enjoyment any less valid.

Cactus Jack is possibly the most boring pin I've ever seen or played.

I liked Gladiators when I first had it. It was my first DMD pin, felt like a lot was going on. But it did not take long to just get boring. Easy to beat. I sold it after I was playing it one night with friends well past the point of being to drunk to legally drive and I was still able to slay the dragon. That was when I decided it was just to easy to be kept in my very limited space line-up.

The only thing I miss is how bullet proof that pin was, never broke, never needed adjusting.

+1 Gladiators is a very fun game great choice for someone on a budget!

Thanks. I've always been a horror fan.

Price may be a bit high, but shipping would kill the deal anyway. "A sane driving distance" (who ever coined that phrase...thanks) from SE WI would be best.

This thread.

I played Sega Viper. What a stink.

avatar without a doubt. the trash can in my gameroom takes up better space than AVATURD

IJ4. An insult to pinball enthusiasts.

Brutally excellent!

You know you miss that shaker.

Yeah, I liked the game as well, but it was way too easy (the one I played). However, I'm not sure it can't be set harder: hardware (outlanes?) and software, for I played someone elses game. I think quite a lot of games are set too easy by default: I'm no pinball wizard, but I'm not bad either, so I need a challenge. I own(ed) some games that I didn't really like until I had set them harder. I think Gladiators could be way more fun when it'd be harder.

For the worst pin since 1990.... that's not easy. I think I played and got bored of BBBB once, but that was a loooong time ago, so I should play it again to verify. Junk Yard I don't like at all, don't care for the open area in the middle: I'm not against games without pop-bumpers (I like JD, Shadow), but in JY I think something is missing on the playfield. I'm sure though there are worse pins than JY to be found. I must say though that I like most Premier-games more than Junk Yard. But than: I'm sure I can find some pinballs that I'd like less. (TMNT I remember not being that fun either). And sometimes a pin grows on me... I haven't had very much playtime on a JY, so maybe my opinion would change.

IJ4 is a low one too... I just played one again on location.... it has some nice things in it, but I think it's boring as a total package. Maybe some different software (P-ROC?) could fix the game.

JY isn't too bad. The wide open PF, overpowered video modes, and random ball returns from crane shots combined with brutal outlanes are pretty big flaws. There is some interesting strategy and progression in collecting various junk items to construct different things. It is tough to play right out so if you enjoy it there's lasting value there I think.

You're right the PF does seem a bit wasted, feels like there could have fit some BOP-style pops under the back-right corner.

JY was the first pinball game I was exposed to on Free Play and played the crap out of. I very much enjoyed it as a formative pinball experience

1) Stern... Austin Powers. This game should be awesome by all means and the theme is lighthearted and fun. That is where the good ends and the awful nature of this game rears it's ugly head. Horrendous graphics, crummy sounds, unbalanced rules and a little person spinner that... does... not... spin... This game just beats you down when you play the best that you can and it just sucks the pin-life out of you the longer you play it. A true silver-ball vampire if I ever met one.

2) B/W Championship Pub. The pinball game that isn't. This deck is a series of novelty toys with a set of flippers at the bottom of the PF. Why work on your pin-skills when you can just: "jump rope", "punch the bag", or... "work the video mode". Then you can double your KO award 7 or 8 times and have a 250+ million point score after your first fight. I don't even qualify this pin-bomination as a real pinball game. CP is a jackass prank of a deck and the joke is on the person pressing the flipper buttons. RUN AWAY! RUN THE HELL AWAY!

I love your reviews!

Me too - I do not always agree, but always a delight to read!

+1 to pistol poker..when I played it I was shocked to find it was made in the 90s. The dmd is the dead giveaway though...

I'm a fan of maverick and I have a Freddy and when I first played Freddy I didn't like it but its actually a really challenging pin with a lot of shots, great audio and dmd animations, some of the best out there. It's pretty stop and go play wise. Big fan of the theme too. I guess everyone defends the machines they own.

I really enjoy playing CP. It's a ton of fun.....seriously. Now I've never owned one and my feelings might change if I did, but to play on occasion it's a total blast! I think the gimmicky little mini games are fun as hell. I loved trying to go for the jump rope champion score and the "punch the bag" was also fun. Walked away with a huge smile on my face. CP had people waiting to play it at Dayhuff's last party.

I do agree. It may not be good to have as your only pin, but is super solid in a lineup of a few pins. It's a nice change of gameplay style, i like that.

If you included 1990, i would say funhouse.

just kidding, i love that game.

Knowing that people enjoy my pin-rant/reviews... makes my day. Thanks guys!

twister. can't believe TOTAN is even mentioned on this thread.

T3 just above the worst IJ4

Just a let-down!!!!!

South Park - Played at Cedar Point had to walk away without even finishing a game

- It has a toilet on it for a reason!

"buttpipe" callout by itself saves it from the worst classification for me.

X files

Teed Off and BBBB to me are pretty terrible. So is South Park. Yea, a 3 way tie.

My sentiments exactly.