Fun-Fest

Pinside rating

This game received 13 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.395 /10

7.395

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #208 in the Pinside EM Top 100.



Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.494

Artwork: 7.238

Sounds/Music: 3.231

Other Aspects: 7.438


Pinside staff rating

None of the Pinside.com staff have rated this game. Sorry, no rating from us.

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Found 12 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 12 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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9.859/10
10 months ago
I have this pin, It has a LOT of features for an EM and is really fun, plus it looks amazing under Black lights. Its one of very few pins that you can lite the Kickback in the left outlane, the Center post between flippers, and the ball save gate in the right outlane so its almost impossible to lose the ball! Plus there is a "Swing Reel" at the top. Each time you hit the top saucer you not only collect lit point value but you advance the "Swing Reel" hit it 3 times and win an extra ball. Hitting top stand ups "Freezes" the swinging target value and lites the swinging target, then you can collect lit value, one of which is the ball save gate. I like that the "Down post" buttons are off center, unlike other williams pins so you can really take advantage of the center post. Games that have the "down post" button in the middle can cause the post to disappear just as the ball passes thru the center. I had no Idea how cool this pin was as It sat broke at a friends house for 3 years till one day I noticed the flourescent paint and wanted to put it in my Black light room. So happy I kept it.
7.605/10
1 year ago
I recently picked up a Fun Fest that had lived a hard life and was a cacophony of firing solenoids when powered up initially. After getting it working and scoring properly, rebuilding flippers, increasing incline, clean and wax, adjusting playfield component contacts, I am pleasantly surprised with the speed and play. There's a gaping out lane on the left that swallows the pinball very frequently if you don't keep hitting one of the two targets to energize the ball-saving kicker. The out lane on the right has a nicely angled bumper that allows for a fair number of saves with a properly timed nudge. Also there's a gate on the right lane that can be opened by a shot to the center moving target if you enable the gate bonus (which steps through the gate bonus and various score amounts, set/selected by a shot to either left or right side bonus targets). There's a center post, activated by "up" and "down" buttons on the playfield. Five pop bumpers at the top really help to get the ball moving and can score significant points when lit for 100 points (enabled by targets at the top which are hit by ricochet off the bumpers). There's lanes at the top that score either 1000 or 3000, changing with any 10 point scoring. A saucer with kickout at the top increments the "Swing Reel" which awards a free ball at a number that can be set by moving a jumper in the head. When the ball drains, it scores the value of the center bonus target (triple bonus on the last ball).

The party theme is ok, but swing reel? Oh well, it was designed/built in 72/73. I like that there are some shots to make: two upper targets (left and right) to enable the right kicker; two lower targets (left and right) to lock in a bonus value and enable the center target; one center target rocks left and right . Miss the center target and the ball often heads for one of the outlanes or down the middle.

Overall, the game plays pretty fast for an EM. Balls don't usually last too long (at least not for me yet). I don't like that the outhole scores a bonus that is arbitrary (except when it has been locked in by one of the lower two targets). Overall a fun game.
9.660/10
3 years ago
Its a fun and fast game. Multiple ways of winning free games. I like the 70's era art work and theme of the backglasss. Playfield is bright and has an interesting layout. Fun game overall.
6.512/10
3 years ago
Meh. Got rid of this one quick.
7.325/10
4 years ago
My second EM to enter my collection... The pop up and pop, down middle ball saver is a hoot as you really never know if it is going to be there for you.... The swing target is sweet... Lots of fun to play
5.695/10
5 years ago
It was fun back then when it was all we had. It is a typical one in a dozen machine of its era. Colorful and good for a good time but not for a long time.
6.885/10
6 years ago
Fun Fest is a weird gogo-music sort of theme, with an old dude getting down with some hot and swinging ladies on the backglass and music notes scattered through the playfield and artwork. My friend who owns one has replaced the bumper lights with some colored LEDs, and it's a great look - pink and green and all those transitioning colors from the psychedelic era to the disco-pastel era. It's complete with both gambling reels (a swing reel and a credit ticker).

The best thing about the play is it has three "gimmicks", or at least features. One is a pop-up bumper in between the flippers; if it's up it blocks STDM drains, but it's useless for shot making or passing if you let the ball come to rest on it. Two rollovers send it down, two more send it back up. Managing your shot selection around keeping the center pop-blocker up is kinda tricky and an interesting challenge. The seven bumpers (five in upper playfield, two straddling the saucer at the top of the plunger exit) also add a bit of "Fun Fest" frenzy. There's also a kicker on the left outlane, and the big gimmick, a moving target in the middle that scores a value or opens the right outlane gate depending on your timing of a slowly changing indicator light. So it's got a lower-playfield-heavy set of challenges.

My quibble with it for gameplay is in its blocky symmetry. There aren't orbit shots; the left and right high playfield shots go to slings (although you can aim for a target, which is OK). There are no inlanes, although you can effectively close ALL of STDM and outlane drains (if kicker is lit and gate is open) so there's this strange dichotomy that the upper playfield feels like pachinko, and the lower open playfield has some drama to it. It's an acquired taste, and I have vacillated a little on the fun quotient as a result.

If I owned this machine, I'd be very tempted to mod this - rig something that would trigger sound samples with each major target, to get that "go go" theme going. As it is, maybe about 5/8 of a barrel of monkeys worth of fun.
8.732/10
7 years ago
Sound not like your typical em of this era, makes it more interesting. Also, multiple ways of winning free games make it more fun. Also as I have played it more, have realized how fun it is due to the fast play. Five pop bumpers that close together really gets the ball moving.
7.673/10
8 years ago
Has some cool features for its day. Stop post between bumpers. Ball save ejector on left outlane. Ball save gate on right outlane. Moving pendulum target in center of playfield and important hole at the top. A very fun game, perhaps not politically correct artwork for today. But way fun.
7.966/10
8 years ago
I used to play "Fun Fest" a lot in my youth. It is a very good pin for kids and for "the unexperienced", "seldom, once in a while playing" people. The factor "LUCK" is quite dominant - think of: At end of the play, You loose the ball and get "3 times 5000 Points Bonus" <-> get "3 times 1000 Points Bonus" - a difference of 12000 Points ... BUT: "Luck or no Luck" has no effect on "Fun" - and it is a fun game.
7.870/10
10 years ago
cool pin with a moving target,Kind of hard to get the ball to the top with the flippers due to the play field being cluttered in the middle.
7.971/10
11 years ago
Fun-Fest is a loosely veiled attempt at the name of a pinball game and the idea of sexual freedom. I'm alright with that.

The Pros:
Awesome Pointy (Poonty) People by Christian Marche. Alright I know that some of you don't like the artwork so I am going to ask the non-believers to think as compared to feel about this man's craft. I'm going to take a quote from a post that I made on RGP after I heard that he had passed on:

"No one ever produced artwork that said "pinball" at the first glance as much as Christian Marche's pointy people did.

Personally, having been a commercial artist in a previous career. I believe that this look and technique came from the incredibly short timelines that can be handed to a craftsman. This necessity may have bred this look to get the work out the door within these deadlines for production.

Christian Marche also happened to be a consumate draftsman. Space Mission/Odyssey is a shining example of his talent outside of the look that most people associate him with. Our pinball experience is better for the work that this man produced. Especially if you grew up in the 60's and the 70's playing pinball like I did.

Thank you Mr. Marche. Your art made my life better through pinball."

If you look here. He created over 140 art packages for different games in a few different styles. As you can tell, I am a dedicated fan.

On to the game itself:
Swinger plays quite well and if you set it up correctly, you can't lose the ball. This may seem unfair, but you do have to earn it. Risk vs. reward at the swinging target. Make sure that post is up! DC pops and flippers mean this game moves fast when waxed up! The guy with the pink eyes wiping his brow as he staggers away from the dance floor cracks me up!

The Cons:
You had better get those gates/returns/ posts activated or your game is over right quick. I mean 5 balls in less than 60 seconds.

The Takeaway:
A game that is more about skill than one might initially guess.
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