American Pinball
Hot Wheels Pinside Rating
This game received 199 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.907 /10
Hot Wheels
Score breakdown
Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:
Game Design: 7.756
Artwork: 8.035
Sounds/Music: 7.456
Other Aspects: 8.055
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.
Found 98 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 98 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 4.
List options
5.420/10
42 days ago
Saint Paul, MN
For the first time in a long time, I was already done with this before I got to my last ball. The theme does as much as it can hot wheels, but the animations are so flat and the machine does not feel great by any means. Really boring pin with almost nothing to excite me or encourage another go around the track.
6.251/10
3 months ago
I was not a fan of this game. Not sure what there really is to talk about because there wasn't any mechs or toys except a car that spins in the air. Something just did not click with me on this. I mean Hot Wheels could have been done a lot better and was not a fan of all the orange.
9.160/10
5 months ago
Great flow, machine is very smooth shooting, unlike other titles from American (legends, you suck) the lighting is downright gorgeous, much like Halloween, the theme is well executed and it’s a machine you’ll want to keep. I don’t understand how it’s rated so low. Wish list machine for sure and I will have one someday.
9.660/10
8 months ago
The ruleset is what makes this pin great. We all are familiar with a fan layout. Races require specific shots across the pf. Modes are like modes in any pin with varied shots/targets required. Red Line Mania is a lot of fun. I have played many games just going to repeated Red Line Mania. I have yet to complete 4th gear. Stacking multiballs, and knowledge of turbo-boost is A MUST for those high scores.
This is not the most complicated game, but it is a lot of fun. This pin is well suited for location play, although it could use better direction on how to play it for casual players.
This pin sits next to my other favorite from API: Houdini.
This is not the most complicated game, but it is a lot of fun. This pin is well suited for location play, although it could use better direction on how to play it for casual players.
This pin sits next to my other favorite from API: Houdini.
5.903/10
9 months ago
Every time I play this game I think there's something I don't understand. I hit some shots, and nothing much seems to ever happen. No matter where the ball goes it doesn't seem like I ever get many points or advance the game in any way, and eventually the ball drains. I walk away thinking, "what was the point of that?" Pinball is supposed to be fun, but this one does nothing for me.
8.836/10
10 months ago
Great fan layout, shots are all smooth, no steep difficult ramps, fast enough to be punishing if you brick though.
Rules are straightforward and you can build up a score quick in a longer game. Easy to get multiballs and red line mania is a cool unexpected mode.
Rules are straightforward and you can build up a score quick in a longer game. Easy to get multiballs and red line mania is a cool unexpected mode.
Curitiba
8.552/10
1 year ago
This machine is so much fun. I'm newer to pinball and I traded in my TMNT for this and I have no regrets. There's so much to do! Red light mania is a blast as are the other modes you can start. The rules are easy to learn. Love that the machine isn't too easy as a lot of the shots are pretty tight to hit.
I could use some more toys/gimmicks, but even without them it works really well. My kids all love this game too.
I could use some more toys/gimmicks, but even without them it works really well. My kids all love this game too.
6.481/10
1 year ago
The game has a fun theme but the shots are difficult for a 'fun' themed pin. Balcer learned from the Houdini disaster but the shots are still both angled non-ideally and have smaller than standard openings making the game a brick-fest. And when you do miss a shot, the penalty is harsh, often flying directly through the left outlane. In fact, the left outlane drains are remarkable because the opening isn't very wide and yet the ball is constantly flying through it (I wanted to see the % of drains that are to the left outlane but the game inexplicably doesn't track this(!). Another big oversight is the right ramp, which a short shot returns straight down the middle every time. This is caused by a poorly fixed ramp guard on the right side.
The rules are well thought out and make sense but the 10x boost thing is a cheat IMO and not implemented well. For something that can give an amateur player a billion points in the right mode, there's little fanfare when achieved and the 15 second countdown isn't prominent at all. Also, the ramps have optos near their entrances but don't use them to play a ramp entry sound like every other pin with switches at the entrance do. Weird.
During the couple of months I had the game I encountered countless software bugs due presumably to inadequate testing. Some of the bugs were catastrophic, such as when locking multiple balls in the track VUK during Red Line Mania. This effectively shuts the game down because it will do just 3 ball searches (which won't clear it) and then completely stop trying. I have never ever seen any machine waiting for balls to not perform a significant number of ball searches before stopping. Not a location worthy game for that reason. Additionally I encountered a bug where the magnet locks on permanently, and backend operator settings not quite working as intended. We usually never even think about this stuff because WMS and Stern do such a good job of testing and programming for all possibilities. But it was constantly coming up during my play.
The rules are well thought out and make sense but the 10x boost thing is a cheat IMO and not implemented well. For something that can give an amateur player a billion points in the right mode, there's little fanfare when achieved and the 15 second countdown isn't prominent at all. Also, the ramps have optos near their entrances but don't use them to play a ramp entry sound like every other pin with switches at the entrance do. Weird.
During the couple of months I had the game I encountered countless software bugs due presumably to inadequate testing. Some of the bugs were catastrophic, such as when locking multiple balls in the track VUK during Red Line Mania. This effectively shuts the game down because it will do just 3 ball searches (which won't clear it) and then completely stop trying. I have never ever seen any machine waiting for balls to not perform a significant number of ball searches before stopping. Not a location worthy game for that reason. Additionally I encountered a bug where the magnet locks on permanently, and backend operator settings not quite working as intended. We usually never even think about this stuff because WMS and Stern do such a good job of testing and programming for all possibilities. But it was constantly coming up during my play.
8.052/10
1 year ago
The theme and lack of a true "loop" shot made this is tough sell. Additionally, the shots are pretty tight and the rules are not intuitive, so it's not a game that's likely to win someone over on first play. It took me a lot of playing this in competition before I finally began to enjoy this game, and now I really like it! The rule set isn't very deep, and it's sort of like a BSD layout with an extra ramp level (though far more forgiving). Red line mania is an amazing mode, it's very risky to go for all out, but changes the game if you get it, especially on ball 1.
Pros: Really solid medium difficulty game. You very much get what you shoot, the mode-building is thoughtful, and while it's necessary to know the rules (and especially how it bonuses), those are pretty easy to get and once you have a strategy, it becomes a matter of making tight yet fair shots. I think it's a perfect competition game, and the animations are super fun. It plays like an updated 90s game more than a game with the newest features in a good way.
Cons: Long games start to feel repetitive, the battle modes are pretty simple in how they work, doesn't have the depth of most newer tables.
Pros: Really solid medium difficulty game. You very much get what you shoot, the mode-building is thoughtful, and while it's necessary to know the rules (and especially how it bonuses), those are pretty easy to get and once you have a strategy, it becomes a matter of making tight yet fair shots. I think it's a perfect competition game, and the animations are super fun. It plays like an updated 90s game more than a game with the newest features in a good way.
Cons: Long games start to feel repetitive, the battle modes are pretty simple in how they work, doesn't have the depth of most newer tables.
Conception Bay South, NL
7.231/10
2 years ago
I am a hot wheels fan and collector, also a member of the exclusive Red line Hot wheels club.
I will approach this review from two perspectives.
The Hot Wheels collector, and a pinball enthusiast.
As a collector I feel they missed the mark.
Pinball machines are super expensive, adults with money are buying these fun boxes. They should have designed the hot wheels theme around the red line design for the hot wheels enthusiast.
Black and red would have been really nice.
The opportunity to offer super exclusive cars for the inside of the machine would have been really cool perk for the hot wheels collector.
As a consumer we are already spending a pretty penny to buy this, having exclusive treasure hunt cars or exclusive cars from the red line releases would have been amazing.
Also having some of those exclusive cars drag racing each other as the art for the cab would be icing on the cake.
Including speedometer, tachometer and turbo gages as back ground art behind the cars drag racing would be a nice touch.
As for the videos for the code I’m ok with American pinballs choice on this part.
Inside the cab going with a more upscaled look to match the red line theme by replacing the orange ramps that look like hot wheels track with orange anodized steel ramps would make it pop.
Really this is just the collector in me whining when I first approached the machine. (Collector review over)
As a pinball enthusiast this game is HOT!!
Fun, bright, oh look a hot wheel pinball machine! No way….cool!
The light show is on another level it’s mesmerizing.
Really one of the best for modern pinball machines and that’s saying a lot these days.
The game plays pretty nice, it’s a lot of fun but I feel like I’m playing a kids toy vs a high dollar pinball machine.
Also contradicting my first part of the review I feel the cars are just too small in scale. They should have gone with a larger scale and also more iconic cars from the hot wheels line.
Also since they chose the more kid oriented theme why not pull in some of the cool toys hot wheels has already designed for the play field? Chomping sharks or the Dino car crusher! Go big or go home! The opportunity to add some really cool toys to this machine could have taken this pinball machine to another level others could not achieve and it would have made since with the lore of hot wheels.
Gotta go fast…really fast they could have also aimed at trying to be the fastest playing pinball machine of all time. This would have been the theme to do it with.
And lastly real fire aggressively blowing out of the top of the pinball machine as a topper when your in multiball mode could have made this legendary.
Review over….starting to red line and the engine is getting too hot.
I will approach this review from two perspectives.
The Hot Wheels collector, and a pinball enthusiast.
As a collector I feel they missed the mark.
Pinball machines are super expensive, adults with money are buying these fun boxes. They should have designed the hot wheels theme around the red line design for the hot wheels enthusiast.
Black and red would have been really nice.
The opportunity to offer super exclusive cars for the inside of the machine would have been really cool perk for the hot wheels collector.
As a consumer we are already spending a pretty penny to buy this, having exclusive treasure hunt cars or exclusive cars from the red line releases would have been amazing.
Also having some of those exclusive cars drag racing each other as the art for the cab would be icing on the cake.
Including speedometer, tachometer and turbo gages as back ground art behind the cars drag racing would be a nice touch.
As for the videos for the code I’m ok with American pinballs choice on this part.
Inside the cab going with a more upscaled look to match the red line theme by replacing the orange ramps that look like hot wheels track with orange anodized steel ramps would make it pop.
Really this is just the collector in me whining when I first approached the machine. (Collector review over)
As a pinball enthusiast this game is HOT!!
Fun, bright, oh look a hot wheel pinball machine! No way….cool!
The light show is on another level it’s mesmerizing.
Really one of the best for modern pinball machines and that’s saying a lot these days.
The game plays pretty nice, it’s a lot of fun but I feel like I’m playing a kids toy vs a high dollar pinball machine.
Also contradicting my first part of the review I feel the cars are just too small in scale. They should have gone with a larger scale and also more iconic cars from the hot wheels line.
Also since they chose the more kid oriented theme why not pull in some of the cool toys hot wheels has already designed for the play field? Chomping sharks or the Dino car crusher! Go big or go home! The opportunity to add some really cool toys to this machine could have taken this pinball machine to another level others could not achieve and it would have made since with the lore of hot wheels.
Gotta go fast…really fast they could have also aimed at trying to be the fastest playing pinball machine of all time. This would have been the theme to do it with.
And lastly real fire aggressively blowing out of the top of the pinball machine as a topper when your in multiball mode could have made this legendary.
Review over….starting to red line and the engine is getting too hot.
You too can add your own comment by rating this game! Click here to rate this game!
Over the years
Visualizing this game's rating and rank over the years
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
