Williams

Banzai Run

Pinside Rating

This game received 229 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.889 _/10

7.889

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #104 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.128

Artwork: 7.871

Sounds/Music: 6.908

Other Aspects: 8.004

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 8 of us have rated this game.

7.719

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Found 100 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 100 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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9.432/10

8 years ago

EMD

Stashkid13

Pinside member

Cherry Hill, NJ

9y 39,700 70 29 15 1

Awesome game!

BANZAIIIIIII!!!!!!

Stashkid13 has this game on the wishlist.

8.021/10

9 years ago

DEW

I own this game - and it has lasted in my collection while I have sold many other titles. Why? Because it's awesome! This is Pat Lawlor's fastest playing pin by far. The goal of the game is to win a virtual motorcycle race. You start in last place and have to work your way to the front. You do this by hitting all the targets for one of the competitors - then you have to make the shot that will take you to the vertical playfield. Up there, you have to make a specific shot in order to "pass" that racer and move up in the race. if you don't drain while up top, you can attempt the cliff jump and get a satisfying "Baaaanzaaaaiiiiiii" call out if you make it. In order to take the lead, you'll have to lock one of the balls during multiball, then make a very difficult shot on the upper playfield. It's a challenge and very rewarding when you finally achieve it. Williams actually lost money on this title, so it's super rare...but highly recommended if you can find one!!!!

8.463/10

9 years ago

CNY

TheCnyPinGuy

Pinside+ Addict

Sherrill, NY

11y 123K 3,593 10 54 2

I love the playable backglass playfield

Pat Lawlor is my favorite designer for always pushing the boundaries of the silverball

7.646/10

9 years ago

YOS

Yoski

Pinside member

Sebring, FL

9y 88,150 456 17 133

A tale of 2 machines. The main play field is a pretty nice pinball in itself. Decent layout and flow combined with a relatively target rich environment. Fun game to play.
The upper field is pretty silly. It adds absolutely NOTHING to the game play. Actually it is mildly annoying.
Still, overall a fairly attractive and fun to play game.

6.887/10

9 years ago

GIL

Imagineerie

Inactive member

10y 44,550 7 190

After all of the hype around this machine- what a letdown. I'm sorry, just because you implement play elements into the backglass, does not mean that this game is somehow better. I have absolutely no interest in playing it again.

Imagineerie edited previous rating on August 09, 2016.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

6.153/10

9 years ago

RAP

RyanStl

Pinside member

Fenton, MO

9y 134K 12,057 1 108

First off, while not very important, the name doesn't ring dirt bike. The pin looks like it should be a ton of fun, but maybe it's my skills, but this one was not exciting.

7.508/10

9 years ago

EDH

TigerLaw

Pinside Moderator

Jennings, LA

14y 224K 20,099 24 240

Very fun and fast game. Love the back box play. Suffers from a bad art package and not many call outs but that is due to the era it was made. I'd have one in my collection if I had room.

TigerLaw has this game on the wishlist.

8.029/10

9 years ago

ARS

thedefog

Pinside member

10y 93,350 5,673 72

Bad ass game all around. Crazy unique backbox gameplay, great ruleset, great layout, and music that is reminiscent of Double Dragon. Not much to complain about here except lower quality sounds and speech. just a solid unique game that will keep you coming back.

8.756/10

9 years ago

WAM

Aicfuel

Pinside member

9y 26,400 8 3 16

Had a chance to play this at NYC Pinball and was surprised how fun this one was to play. The added back glass playfield is great and a quick play. Play this one when you get a chance.

9.424/10

9 years ago

JVE

Jappie

Pinside member

11y 106K 1,069 56

To me, Banzai Run is the cream of the crop when it comes to system 11 pins. Quite frankly, that means I think it's among the greatest of all pinball machines.

The greatest power of the game is of course its one-of-a-kind layout: the second playfield in the backbox makes it stand out in any crowd. In originality, the second playfield puts it right up there with games like Haunted House and Orbitor 1.

The cool thing is that Banzai Run has got great gameplay to go with its original layout. The goal is simple: defeat the 4 racers on the playfields, then go after 'the King' and get to first place. But it's very difficult to achieve this goal when the game is dialed in right. The game has a great 'just one more game-vibe' to it.

The music on the machine is awesome. It's perfectly synchronized with gameplay. During the course of the game, the music builds up to a fantastic climax. Just the drums playing while you try to beat the King creates a big extra pressure to this part of the game. Awesome work, Brian Schmidt.

Also a great plus is the spectacular flasher show. This works together perfectly with the synchronized sounds.

Speaking of working together perfectly: that is what all the elements of this game do. Gameplay, artwork, sound, theme: it all blends into a highly original and fantastic gameplay experience you won't forget easily. A great first entry for Lawlor.

Jappie edited previous rating on August 18, 2019.

8.734/10

9 years ago

OMO

marble

Pinside member

Espoo

13y 58,550 24 11 70

The unique backbox playfield is surprisingly well designed: it has meaningful and difficult shots and overall you don't spend too much time there to get bored or making the game too 1-dimensional.

Great use of upper playfield in multiball too, providing one of the most satisfying million shots ever.

If you find the shots, you could only go for 2x200k hill climbs over and over again making the game a little boring, if you are only going for the grand champion score.

9.380/10

9 years ago

ALA

aladinice

Pinside member

Menton

12y 47,650 2 71 71

awasing oinball I have it, I sold it abd it miss me too much that I buy another to keep it always ! sound game play and challenge to reach the banzaiiiiii ! ! ! !

aladinice currently owns this game.

8.680/10

9 years ago

DXV

chadderack

Pinside member

Sandy, UT

10y 108K 2,851 15 43

Really unique. Played this in the tournament at Lyons; and even though I only got to play it twice, it made me want to play it again. Super challenging shots in the upper playfield (a TRUE upper playfield--lol). Once you go over that top jump, you'll feel a rush... trust me.

Might actually buy one in the future.

7.532/10

10 years ago

ROB

RobKnapp

Pinside member

Colorado Springs, CO

13y 110K 3,116 13 183

unique and fun

9.380/10

10 years ago

JPF

Pinballwiz45b

Pinside member

10y 46,400 264 24

This is one game you shouldn't miss. Great soundtrack, great design due to the second playfield, and one of the most critical shots in the game. I can understand why it seems so gimmicky, but Banzai Run, being the only game of its kind with the vertical playfield, shouldn't be a miss at all.

Pinballwiz45b edited previous rating on September 01, 2016.
Pinballwiz45b has this game on the wishlist.

8.653/10

10 years ago

DAN

BeaverBrewing

Pinside member

Beaver Falls, PA

11y 80,150 289 7 282

Is there a better gimmick for the backglass? Love the gameplay, very balanced scoring as well. Tough to get a super high score. AWESOME MUSIC!

BeaverBrewing edited previous rating on March 17, 2014.

7.403/10

10 years ago

NIK

mufcmufc

Pinside member

Uk

14y 63,550 665 19 43

As something different, this game is a stand out piece and as a game the rules work well, for longevity their needs to be a little more to the rules as they can get boring. Sounds are a bit muffled, music is great. As an overall package, it really works a fun game and right at the top of the system 11s

mufcmufc has owned this game in the past.

7.966/10

10 years ago

YAW

Lethal_Inc

Pinside member

Westminster, CO

11y 88,300 4,933 7 34

Unique back board with the king of the hill and other flipper targets. Playfield is just ok but is a fun machine to play. Loved this pin back in the day but still has validity today due to the unique bask boar play.

8.745/10

10 years ago

JJC

JamesCreelman

Inactive member

Providence, RI

10y 15,750 1 14

I love the second playfield gimmick. I know its not even that great and a little annoying to make the shots, but I don't care. A+ for originality. If I owned this game I probably would get sick of it after a while though.

7.991/10

10 years ago

KEN

pinballrebel

Pinside member

11y 75,900 408 37 59

Great game.

6.959/10

11 years ago

JOR

Jor0822

Inactive member

Sunrise, FL

11y 20,150 66 1 27

This game is one big gimmick. I do not find the backglass play field very fun after a few times. Everyone should play this at some point though. The initial excitement of making the upper play field is special. If you take the gimmick away you have an average pin.

9.083/10

11 years ago

KGB

Overkilll

Republic of Pinball

Belas

11y 28,000 24 26

WELCOME RACE FANS TO BANZAI RUN

I'm so crazy for this pin that i have 2 and i the past i have the goal to reach 5 in my possession.
The vertical playfield is astonishing, unique and very hard to play.
I don't understand the classification of this pin at TOP100, this is 1 of the 10 better pins even maiden, and all collector should have this pin in own collection.

BANZAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Overkilll currently owns this game.

8.760/10

11 years ago

JDM

pinballhunter

Inactive member

Chicago, IL

12y 27,400 8 14

This is one of those games that puts Williams in the top of the pack as far as pinball machines. 2 playfield's, fine soundtrack, easy rules to understand, fun to play, lots of lights. As far as an 80's classic, it's the best of the best. A top 5 for that period. With an interactive backglass that has not been repeated since, it's different than the average game. That's what makes it so good. It's good to have a manufacturer not scared to try new things and keep the games fresh and not repetitive. That's why this manufacturer made the best games in my opinion.

7.848/10

11 years ago

DEL

SealClubber

Pinside Moderator

14y 127K 11,060 246

I used to play this at the arcade as a teen. Haven't seen one since. My buddy Todd just got his working. Man, it brought back some good memories. Fun game. Best of the bike themes. Best of the interactive Backboxes too. OK variety of shots on the regular PF. Can't wait to play it some more.

SealClubber edited previous rating on May 26, 2015.

8.370/10

11 years ago

TPK

Kneissl

Pinside member

12y 126K 3,866 7 121

My buddy up the road got one and i'm glad he did.. this game is a ton of fun. I typically shy away from lawlor pins in general, but this one is very unique. The whole package works very well as a system 11 pin. Banzai call out never gets old. The lower playfield is brutal, lots of satisfying shots.

Kneissl edited previous rating on May 09, 2017.

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