Warning: Bold opinion following:

My issue with new stern games is that they’re technically superior to B/W games. They have fantastic rules, strategy, their flippers feel fantastic, they’ve got a really “clean” feel to them, and as of late, have some really excellent playfield layouts (I’m lookin’ at you, Iron Maiden).

And that’s why these new games annoy the hell out of me.

They lack the “magic” that (most) B/W games have. They might be technical masterpieces, but I never feel connected to them as I play. I always feel like I’m standing in front of a wooden box completing objectives because I paid 50¢ to.

As I play B/W games, it’s almost as if I’m reading a book. I play white water, and I feel more enveloped into the story: get down the dangerous river with a cut rate tour guide. When I play MM, I’m smashing castles and cracking up from the stupid jokes. The shallow rules make the game more tangible, and the ambiguity in the themes leaves my brain to fill in the gap. It doesn’t feel like a wooden box with lights and flippers.

Now, that’s all just my punk ass opinion as none of the recent themes that stern has produced have really appealed to me. I’m sure others with connections to the recent themes feel much differently.