I believe the code is pretty complete. Not as deep as TSPP or LOTR. I am a sorry excuse for a pin player so I have never reached either wizard mode. Although the last time I played I came close with only needing 1 or 2 villains to complete.

I would save $1500 and buy a nice one over NIB if I could.

As far as opinions on the game it seems to fall into that love it or hate it category that Transformers is in. I would say go with your gut, and hell if you don't like it sell it. Another reason to buy used if possible.

I just picked up one myself last weekend. It's a very fun game, and a real bargain compared to other LEs. The code is solid. It could have used one final update to fix a couple bugs, but it is very deep and satisfying. I think the game offers the perfect amount of depth. I can't see myself defeating all the villains any time soon. If you can get the game for a good price, I'd highly recommend it. How much are they asking for the NIB? Is it a Wolverine or a Magneto?

The game got a lot of hate early on because the code was absolutely horrible. Because of this, a lot of people completely wrote the game off and never gave it a fair chance. It also has some cringe worthy callouts that some people simply can't look past.

Just so we have a frame of reference, how much does a NIB GoT LE cost over there?

If you do get an LE make sure it has the updated AUX board, if it don't just contact Strrn and say the Nightcrawlers are acting up and they should send you a revised board.

I think it's deep, many modes especially Villian modes.

I like it more than SM

X-men LE is loaded with features and the code is really well done and deep. Yes it got hammered hard early on due to initial coding.
Has some of the best DMD animations going.
I don't believe it's as deep as TSPP or LOTR but it would be a waist if it was because ball times are shorter on X-men.
I haven't gotten close to beating the wizard modes (let alone getting there) without cheating
Mine was still in great shape when I bought it at 350 plays, keep your money and buy the used one.

Its a great game and I miss playing it out on location

I've had my xmen from day dor and love it now it would be one of the last machines I would let go from my collection too!

It's a great game. I have LOTR and tspp. Unfortunately, while xmen is a great game, it's not in the same league as those two games. However, it is worth owning. It has some of the best flow of any game, rules are fairly deep and interesting and it's a difficult game.

X-Men is a great table...

The initial code was really very badly executed, but in the meantime - great!
Take a look at this...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RXQg7NEYahyzLrrT-E3WXAmhKNtT-eVfqc5GEWZdHL0/edit#heading=h.gca79vh2ek4
Cool combination of short modes (X-Men), longer modes (villains), four multiballs and two wizard modes.

From my personal point of view... even a pro is good enough. Go for the HUO, because after opening the box your NIB is HUO and you instantly lose 1.500 €. If you sell it someday, it does NOT matter, if there are 400 or 800 games on the counter.

In terms of challenging... I have been in Valinor (loose tilt settings, EB for replay)... and it was fun, but not overwhelming (except of the feeling of accomplishing it finally). Danger Room (X-Men completed) can be done from time to time. Dark Phoenix is (for me) harder to achieve and it's rewarding. If I remember correctly it is like Encore (AC/DC)... having again three balls to complete the mode (I failed each time).

I had a pro and it was great, only wished I had the night crawler pop ups, rest was fine.

But the nightcrawler came up only for easily getting the eb after finishing three? x-men (getting in on pro is much more difficult) or as a random very rarely used mystery award... other than trolls on MM not very well integrated.

I really enjoy having a LE X-Men. I've only played the Pro a few times, but I think the extra cost is worth it for the LE features. The code/rules are great, very challenging. Not that I'm any good, but it seems pretty deep. The variety of shots is nice, although they can take a little getting used to. The code could really use one final polishing pass, but the issues do not really effect the game play.

I don't see this game ever leaving my collection.

LE for me, the NC, the spinning disc and the mirrored backglass, art package and color armor and legs are great. Only negative might be the ramp which can be disabled. But I don't disable it because it's still cool. Is the moving ramp perfect? No. Is the moving ramp cool? Yes. Could I live without the moving ramp? Yes but can I live with it? Yes.

All in all, the LE is by far my choice.

Just sold my X-MEN LE Magneto and was one of my favorite to play. It had some very tough shots and I found the call outs to be good - example - When Deadpool says "Who was I supposed to kill again? Ah, it doesn't matter."

Add a shaker motor and COlorDMD - it makes a huge difference!

The LE pop up NCs are amazingly well integrated in Danger Room and in Dark Phoenix modes.

The integration of the pop ups in Danger Room to purposefully block shots as Danger's "shields" and to simulate the pop-up gun turrets on the DMD is some of the icing on the cake that makes DR my top pick for best overall Wizard mode experience in pinball.

I've been to DR *one* time and drained in about 15'seconds (typical).

I absolutely love NC even in regular play and to me are one of the coolest toys in pinball, and while I prefer Tron overall (and IM as well) I'd say XMLE holds its own and might be underrated IMO and probably underpriced for all the features it has.

Getting a color DMD for Xmas.

Mine should be arriving in the mail sometime today Can't wait to install it. This game is just begging for the ColorDMD treatment.

We have one in our collection. In Australia there was many problems with the AUX board that was never really resolved until over a year after the machine was first sold (we have the same AUX board as fitted in ACDC). This put a lot of people off in Australia including us when the title was released. If you are going to buy NIB please make sure the AUX board fitted to your machine is the correct one for your country. X-Men LE was the first and will probably be the only pinball we will ever buy used. Our other 4 pinballs were bought new.

Once we overcame a few issues, this machine is one of our all time favourites. We love it and it is staying in our collection. Latest game code is great! If you liked playing a few games you will love playing lots of games at home. I would buy new and buy the LE. We feel that this is one of the most under rated pins ever. Remember there are only 550 of these games worldwide as no premiums were ever made.

Have fun!

I'm glad OP started this thread, I've been considering an LE myself. I played this for the first time about 6 months ago and I was shocked at how much fun it was. Is the reason this game gets a bad rap sometimes on the forum only because people played it early on with incomplete code?

I had an LE, sold it but would definitely consider buying one again. Excellent game.

I love my X-Men. One of people's biggest gripes is the Wolverine figure. If you find it annoying, you can get the newton ball from MezelMods. I know I am biased, but I believe it makes this good game into a great one. Just wish there was a 2.0 firmware that fixed the "no reset" issue with the heroes and villains.

Interesting comments, I had a line on a few but passed. I have room for one more pin, and am not interested in selling another for room, with the talk of VE's and GOT's it makes the decision tough. Hmmm.

LE prices are down in the low 5k area, excellent price for a really good pin

You forgot one question.

Q: Does the game suck balls?
A: YES!

Yes...the original code really sucked. And since they only made 550 LE (250 Magneto and 300 Wolverine) games many people have never seen or played them. The last update made a huge difference. Another huge fun difference is adding Orange Hemi's lighting mod to the Nightcrawlers. Stern should have built them with lighting that goes on when they pop up. It makes that much of a difference in the game.

Where can i see this orange hemi mod youre talking about. Id love to see it.

Thanks, good to know! I had the same experience with TWD when it first came out which turned out to also be an amazing game.

Is the issue with Wolverine that it breaks or because it's too big or something else? I've read complaints about it but never knew what specifically the problem is.

Anyone have a list of the differences betweent the pro and LE? I couldn't find a comparison sheet of it on Stern's website.

I've only played an LE, never seen a pro in person, but the only difference I notice in pictures (besides art differences) is the lack of the Iceman ramp on the pro. Personally I think the Iceman ramp is a dumb add on and wouldn't want it, and I also think the art is much better on the pro, so I really don't see any reason to go LE with this one.

Iceman ramp cleaned up well function wise in the last code update, villain mode lighting is absolutely awesome in the LE, spinning disc for magneto multi is pretty sweet, I always enjoyed the pop up nightcrawlers

"Try it you'll like it"

Had mine from day one and hung on and it was well worth it

This is correct! Rcade... many thanks for your awesome work on the rulesheet.

But I have another plus for the pro (beside pro being 3k less expensive than the LE - at least in germany)... the beast shot is quite a bit wider than on the LE version. This also means the Professor X shot is quite a bit tighter. From my very personal point of view, it seems to me at this time better balanced.

But this here is not or should not really be a pro or LE discussion. X-Men (Pro/LE) is definitly an awesome player - software is very nicely executed.

I have a very nice Magneto for sale if anyone is interested.
Listed in Classifieds.

Bill

Especially on the LE, the Beast shot becomes very difficult. On both the Pro and LE, the paint wears down and the plastic eventually cracks and breaks from ball hits. There is a belt guard MezelMods makes to protect it which only makes it a little wider and also tries to turn Wolverine on the LE to face the magnet.

The newton ball makes the Wolverine target much smaller, the magnet grabs the ball more, the other shots are more fun, and it is closer to the original whitewood before they added a magnet in front of Wolverine. The magnet addition is why they needed to move the newton ball. The newton ball bracket allows both to fit in the small space provided.

He's referring to this mod ...

http://pinballrefinery.com/store#!/NightCrawler-Pop-up-Mod/p/20218919/category=4783418

Nightcrawler_mod.jpg

I installed the illuminating night crawler mod, along with most everything else Gio and Hemi make for Xmen LE, on a client's Magneto. Looks great in person!

Great info, thanks!

X-men is awsome , mine will never leave , I have a pro an totally love it, so I'm sure with the extra add ons on the LE it would make the game even sweeter. Totally recommend it. True player!!!

I think the best thing X-Men has going for it code wise is that you can select the villain mode you want to play. This gives you a lot to see in a non linear way that most games don't have. This design choice was much better than having the villain battles in a certain order.

Yes, code is finished and No, it doesn't get old. In fact I had both LOTR and XM... I kept XM and sold LOTR because I felt LOTR got old. Buy HUO and save the cash.

yeah I cant split LOTR an XM there both rated 10 for me, totally love them..

this game is definitively a masterpiece. Was ready to sell it as long as i didn't manage to understand rules. but when you do, you say: "what an awesome game", rules are really deep, mods are really differents and challenging, shots are smooth and some are tough.

Totally agree, once you work out whats going on, you realize how special this game really is..

I may be in the minority, but I prefer XMLE to LOTR and SM.

I have XMLE and LOTR, and am borrowing a SM for several months. I end up playing XMLE a lot more frequently. The other two are fantastic pins, but can get stale (where I need a break from playing them for several weeks). Overall, I was a bit meh on XMLE when I first got it (it was my wife's choice), but it has grown on me by a huge amount. It is fun for casual play and it is fun for concentrated play. LOTR and SM are two games that lack the casual play fun factor. When I play them, I am trying to get to Super Hero or Valinor (both of which still elude me), and nothing else.

I just hope, if it does not exist yet, a mod that aims the ball falls properly from the iceman ramp in the inlane.

How often does your ball miss the inlane? On my machine, it seems to land perfectly in the inlane 99% of the time.

I don't know yet, i have just noticed this problem. It dépends on the ball speed in the ramp. Too fast and the ball goes on the slingshot plastic or elsewhere but in the inlane. Have lost the ball between the flippers 2-3 times coz of this problem.

I don't know why the metal tip of the ramp does not have a return piece to close it