Pinside rating

This game received 198 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.754 _/10

7.754

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #106 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game design: 7.97

Artwork: 7.755

Sounds/Music: 6.859

Other Aspects: 7.874

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 9 of us have rated this game.

7.773

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Ranking history

An overview of this machine's ranking over the last years. Lower is better.

Rating history

An overview of this machine's rating over the last years. Higher is better.

Found 80 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 80 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 4.

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Ratings sort order Type of ratings to show in list Exclude ratings flagged as "bogus" Keyword or username search

8.492/10

8 months ago

LXL

Isochronic_Frost

Pinside member

4y 144K 3,216 50 1

The Pat Lawlor OG

6.585/10

11 months ago

???

tkur85

Pinside apprentice

Collinsville, IL

1y 11,750 3 11

Quite the unique machine. I felt the ball drains too quickly on the back box.

7.773/10

1 year ago

ECW

Ecw0930

Pinside member

Fredericksburg, VA

1y 40,900 142 1 75

Fun game. Novel idea. Vertical board on backglass is both cool and hard. Then put in pretty pointless (from what I could see) and the game loses its mojo after that.

8.784/10

1 year ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside Moderator

Rockwall, TX

2y 242K 6,491 11 260

Such a quirky design...how could you not love it? System 11, motorcycles, and more pinball!!

These have climbed greatly in price, so it is tough to pull the trigger on one unless you like the rarer/oddball stuff.

Daditude edited previous rating on August 22, 2020.

7.735/10

1 year ago

DWD

Graysonsdad

Pinside member

Hamilton, ON

3y 79,600 2,530 5 73

Once you figure out what to do this game is so much more fun than just trying to get into the upper backboard area

8.223/10

1 year ago

SHO

Bigshow

Pinside member

Watertown, SD

1y 27,750 1 6 17

A very unique pinball, challenging but as others noted not as much replayability as you would think.

6.376/10

1 year ago

ADM

PinDoctor82

Pinside member

1y 74,050 278 5 102

I realize that this is a unique game due to the vertical playfield section, but I really didn't enjoy this game. I felt fairly bored with it after just moments, and that's not normal for me. I wasn't feeling the flow of the shots, and none of the shots in particular felt all that good to hit. I'll give it another go if I come across another and maybe it'll grow on me.

9.726/10

1 year ago

SMT

shadski

Pinside member

Burnsville, MN

3y 28,650 18 2 6

To me, this game belongs firmly on the list of top 15 pinball machines ever made. 30 years have passed and very few games have met or surpassed the ingenuity and creativity that went in to this game, despite numerous major technological advancements. If it wasn’t for start ups like JJP, I think it’s safe to say we never would have seen pinball machines start to push the envelope again in terms of what is possible. The original theme, the awesome music, the difficult and unique sequence required to become the King Of The Hill; It is the perfect blend of everything. You can pick up on the objectives of the game easily and intuitively without reading a novel of rulesets. This was the first game I hunted down for my personal collection, and it will never leave!

shadski currently owns this game.

9.196/10

1 year ago

???

plinde1

Pinside member

Jackson Twp., OH

9y 29,650 81 15 26

Banzai Run is a the most unique designed game other than Pinball Circus. The game plays super fast if dialed in, especially if you are lucky enough to have one with upper and lower xR7 playfields. The challenge of defeating racers, getting laps and heading up the Banzai Hill makes each game memorable. Everytime I hit start, I know I am playing something special. It stands out in any collection and shows how Mr. Lawlor, even on his first attempt, pushed the limits of pinball forward. Innovation, beyond measure, a true motocross race under glass, start to finish. In my opinion, when locked in, this game holds it's own against the legendary wpc titles.

plinde1 currently owns this game.

3 Pinsiders starred this rating !

7.966/10

2 years ago

CUZ

mcuzz

Pinside member

5y 107K 382 130

Unique gameplay, fun to play . The extra play in the backglass is memorable, and fun.
Dirtbike race theme is cool.

8.537/10

2 years ago

BAD

TheHueManatee

Pinside member

3y 126K 3,585 2 96

Pro's +

Unique game
Music/Sound package is cheesy but great
Really fun

Con's -

Gets repetitive
Not much staying power

TheHueManatee edited previous rating on June 23, 2019.

10.000/10

2 years ago

SEE

FLASHBALL

Pinside member

Mulvane, KS

7y 55,050 402 10 6

Favorite pinball machine out there. No comparison!

FLASHBALL has this game on the wishlist.

6.762/10

3 years ago

SAS

stavio

Pinside member

3y 81,050 287 13

The back glass is tough and unique. I like the dirt bike theme but like a video game I also like (enduro racer) it doesn't seem like many were made or around. I would still buy this pin if priced right.

7.213/10

3 years ago

WXW

Lawlor_and_Order

Pinball 518

4y 78,650 28 102

Ah, yes, the most unique pinball machine between Black Hole and Safecracker. From a collector's standpoint, if you were making a museum of pinball, this would be on the must-have list. The vertical pinball takes the mechanical back box animation to its ultimate logical finale, a call out to both pachinko and bagatelle, and is tons of fun. The major flaw of the whole design is the rules and scoring and playfield challenges aren't balanced. Jackpots are incredibly hard, relative to payoff, and the lower playfield (ahem, main playfield) is simple. While I always dig the originality of Lawlor's theming, and the dirt bike maze is well thought-out, I still think that somehow if there had been a different thematic hook to this machine other than another racing game it would have had more staying power. It's a player's machine in that it's not particularly easy to master, but not in the sense that it rewards a balance of skills, and it takes a lot of plays consecutively to get into the game successfully.

I think the analog to this machine isn't, say, No Fear or even Safecracker or Haunted House, but Hercules -- a novelty machine so wonderously weird you really have to put it on your checklist of machines to play, but not one you're likely to pine for when you haven't played it a while. A bucket list machine, not an obsession.

That said, when I start my Pat Lawlor Museum, this will be on the list, for sure.

8.348/10

3 years ago

NMS

Natemsmith04

Pinside member

North Ogden, UT

3y 36,650 1 20 15

So I’m not sure if I’ll ever buy the game, as there’s not enough variation in modes and objectives but this game is fun to play. The top playfield is challenging at first, but quickly gets easy. Still always satisfying to make a cliff jump. Fun to beat racers and move up in the standings. I’d have to play this game a lot to get better at it. It’s good, but not great.

Natemsmith04 has this game on the wishlist.

6.576/10

3 years ago

ROB

Robertstone0407

Pinside member

Marysville, OH

4y 113K 2,826 18 64

Cant get into the gimmick

5.726/10

3 years ago

MNO

MNO2pin

Pinside member

Rotterdam

3y 19,000 4 9

Great, unique pinball. Rules are kind of shallow and if you got it finally up it's pretty hard....
Nice try from Lawlor. Don't need this in collection I think it's a to heavy. classic game

7.648/10

3 years ago

IAN

icallison

Inactive member

Seattle, WA

8y 22,750 1 101

Unique, but I get bored pretty fast.

9.368/10

4 years ago

KPH

Sorcerer

Pinside member

Loup City, NE

9y 23,450 12

One of the best system 11 games out there.
It's a challenge to beat the game.

7.760/10

4 years ago

AJR

guymontag451

WedgeHead

Portland, OR

9y 81,300 1,006 26 120

Crazy first effort from the legend Pat Lawlor. Although this isn't his finest design (but to be fair, he has 10 pins that made the top 100), this is great fun built around a very unique gimmick. The vertical playfield, whilst a nightmare to keep running, brings an entirely new dimension to pinball. Super fun. Great Pin.

3.572/10

4 years ago

TRG

TomGWI

Pinside member

9y 134K 10,866 151

One trick pony game.

3 Pinsiders flagged this rating/review.

8.287/10

4 years ago

DEF

DefaultGen

Pinside member

Morrisville, NC

8y 120K 2,806 10 166

Banzai Run is 100% kick ass and probably the best gimmick-centered game of all time. It blows away games like Champion Pub, Orbitor 1, Hercules, and all those other one trick ponies because it's actually a fun pinball machine. I love the different colored standups to light the racers. I love that the ramp dumps the ball back at your flipper rather than safely returns it. I love how ABC doubles your cliff jump value on the upper playfield. I even like the stupid little cannon on top of the left slingshot

If I had one criticism it's that I would make it a little harder. The rider standup targets are all clumped together so lighting a rider by flailing in their direction a couple times isn't too hard. Also once you get the hang of the cliff jump it's a little too easy. I wish there was more motivation to actually play the upper playfield each time rather than dumping the ball directly into the cliff jump with 2 shots. Even with these complaints I think it's a very satisfying game to play.

7.271/10

4 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

8y 104K 2,234 161 2

Banzai Run has quickly become one of those pins that people will spend more than they should on. Yes the design is absolutely unique; there's absolutely nothing else like it! Unfortunately, I just don't think it's a great game (i.e.: there's a reason there aren't any other vertical pins like this).

The bottom playfield is really not laid out all that well. Without the top part, it would be a terrible game. The game really relies on the top portion, which just feels weird. It's a cool gimmick but not something I would want to stand around and play for hours on end.

Because I have a limited pinball budget, whenever I think of buying/trading for something, I always think of "is this game worth what it costs?" If BR was a $2000 game, maybe it would be worth it. It's no $4500 game though. Pass.

7.271/10

4 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

8y 104K 2,234 161 2

Banzai Run has quickly become one of those pins that people will spend more than they should on. Yes the design is absolutely unique; there's absolutely nothing else like it! Unfortunately, I just don't think it's a great game (i.e.: there's a reason there aren't any other vertical pins like this).

The bottom playfield is really not laid out all that well. Without the top part, it would be a terrible game. The game really relies on the top portion, which just feels weird. It's a cool gimmick but not something I would want to stand around and play for hours on end.

Because I have a limited pinball budget, whenever I think of buying/trading for something, I always think of "is this game worth what it costs?" If BR was a $2000 game, maybe it would be worth it. It's no $4500 game though. Pass.

7.271/10

4 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

8y 104K 2,234 161 2

Banzai Run has quickly become one of those pins that people will spend more than they should on. Yes the design is absolutely unique; there's absolutely nothing else like it! Unfortunately, I just don't think it's a great game (i.e.: there's a reason there aren't any other vertical pins like this).

The bottom playfield is really not laid out all that well. Without the top part, it would be a terrible game. The game really relies on the top portion, which just feels weird. It's a cool gimmick but not something I would want to stand around and play for hours on end.

Because I have a limited pinball budget, whenever I think of buying/trading for something, I always think of "is this game worth what it costs?" If BR was a $2000 game, maybe it would be worth it. It's no $4500 game though. Pass.

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There are 80 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 4.

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