This is one of the best pinball machines ever made, if not THE best. Keith Johnson’s code is a masterpiece and is much better than even his widely-praised is LotR. It’s like you’re playing four games of LotR quality in one. The layout is genius because it somehow combines an adventurous widebody loaded with toys with a fast-paced shooter with great flow. The upper flipper is integrated incredibly well, and the wonderful flow is largely a result of this. The upper playfield is by far the best upper playfield in pinball. It is fun, beautiful, and most importantly - it’s actually skill-testing and not simply the tiny-flipper-basher you often see with other upper playfields.

The only points I took off were for music and playfield art. It’s obvious that the music would be better if it included original music from the movies, but it is still great. Playfield art is solid, but floating head art isn’t exciting, and I can’t give this a perfect score when pins like Ghostbusters exist.

The only reasons I can imagine people don’t rate this pin higher are 1) they are cranky they didn’t get the prototype disc and chest or 2) they don’t like deep games because they are too complicated to figure out for the first time at an arcade. I’m tired of hearing the comaplaints about the prototype toys. I get that it was initially disappointing on the day of the announcement, but once you get over it you realize that it has some of the best toys and innovations in the hobby already without those features. For those who dislike deeply coded and complex games... To each their own, but I think it’s unfortunate that JJP machines get consistently knocked down for having superior code. It’s a legitimate comment that a pinball newbie could be overwhelmed by this machine in an arcade, but I don’t think that’s appropriate rating criterion when anyone who gives a lick about pinball would rather play a deep and interesting game than not.

This game is what is wrong with LCD pinball as it took away from the gameplay rather than add anything. Whoppie, you flip through characters from the movie then you get stuck getting distracted by this shitty map The game play really is fair at best. Nice effort with the rocking ship but the dumbed down the game and removed the second spinning magnet. Forgettable table

Pirates of the Caribbean by JJP is a fun game, however it is a bit overwhelming with so much going on. I've played this quite a few times and still really don't have a grasp on what I should REALLY be going for. I'm not crazy about the middle lane on the left being the outlane. In fact, that drives me crazy. Also, when you plunge the ball it shoots right towards the drain unless you use the upper flipper. With an almost non-existent ball save, it's a real annoyance.

Plus side, the rocking-ship mini playfield thing is cool. There's a lot of action and even without really knowing the ruleset, it's a fun game to play. Would have been cooler if they would show clips from the movies on the display, but that's not a big deal.

Fun fast flowing widebody with great shots.
Really like the chest ball lock, the lighting, the cannon shot and the upper flipper.
Don’t like the theme, the center button or all the floating faces in the artwork.
This is a very fun game to play and would be great in a home environment with the volume turned up. The lights in the outlane telling you how many tilt warnings you have left is a great feature. Well done jersey jack!

Played this game on location several times and at a few expos now. Early code with locked characters helped simplify the games ruleset so you know what you are doing. This game is DEEP in rules and modes, home use is probably the best way to really master it. The lighting while a little dark is very vivid with color. The artwork is also very well done. Even with the single disc (played both versions now) I think the upper playfield and having so many other shot options make this game a keeper if you have the money for it. I know JJ got a lot of heat with the changes from the prototype, having not personally put money down on one yet I would prefer a reliable machine vs a feature that would break all the time. I think over time with code releases this game will shine.

Wow this game is really getting beat up on. If we rank this game and compare it to WOZ or HOBBIT its a let down because it doesn’t have all the movie clips. But if we compare this game to say Iron Maiden which for some ODD reason is ranked 6th then this game should be #1 all time. THis game is better than Deadpool or Iron Maiden and everyone knows it but its not as good as the previous JJ games. I think they made this game way to hard, and lastly they should have not done a theme where they couldn’t use the movie clips. WIth all that being said can the artwork be any better? Can the programming be better? I mean c’mon.

The depth and features within this game are definitely overwhelming to start with. Some very clever mechanics, and layout options give this pin a unique playing experience (although I guess this is pretty standard for JJP).

I had the privilege to try out the prototype with working 3 level spinner and chest. A real shame the 3 level spinner is not in the regular production units, as it definitely had a feel to it which goes hand in hand with the theme. Very solid a beautiful both inside and out.

Flipping around on this game is fun, but to be honest it is a bit overwhelming. This game would be ideal in a home environment where a player can spend more time exploring for better understanding of the rules. I appreciate the attention to detail and the animations are superb. Even if you just like a general pirate theme it would be a fun game to own.

A lot of potential here, just difficult to grasp in a couple of games.

Couple of approaches to playing the game - 1) start chapters, collect super jp's and win movie wizard mode 2) collect gold, start locks, start mb's and plunder often 3) maximize your multipliers at every stage of game and collect sjp's. Fun exploring the game.

(disclaimer - ranking based on the prototype with 3 rotating disks)

I was underwhelmed by this game. Lighting is relatively bad - but this should be an easy fix. My major beef with Pirates was the layout which I did not like at all. The ramps are not fun, and the upper PF is of limited interest.

on the plus side, choosing a character is fun - Dr Who's style with lots of possibilities. Display is really nice.

Pirates of the Caribbean (JJP) is the 4th game from Jersey Jack and their most ambitious to date.

The Pros:
The layout, artwork and sounds are brilliant. A great design from a new pinball designer is something to be celebrated. The animations are the best I have ever seen in a pinball game. The characters are well balanced from the get go and I'm sure that this game will only get better as software is updated. For a widebody game, this game does not feel wide. It feels like it shoots very well. Some of the game's shots are incredibly well put together and the flow of this table is incredible. There is a lot to do in this game. You may need a vacation away from everything else to really get this game down.

The Cons:
The risks taken with this design will have to stand the test of time. The tri-spinner and the chest have already been "reduced" in their complexity (and rightfully so). The rules are so deep and complex, that the only way to really get to know this game is to own one. Most pinheads do not have tens of thousands of dollars sitting around. Dialed In got the gameplay balance right. Would someone please reel Keith Johnson in (I admit it, I'm STILL trying to figure out how to play WoZ)? Thank you.

The Takeaway:
I got the chance to play the proto and the chest and the tri-spinner are not working as they should. While some may complain, I believe the JJP team made the correct decision to go with reliability as compared to flash. Will this game get better, yep. My sincere hope is that the balance of the game's rules and the reliability of it's mechanisms will become refined as well.

Update:
After a bit more mileage on this design I have a few things that I have noticed about this game. First off is that the shots take a bit of getting used to. This is a widebody design and that means that even though it may not look like it (it really seems narrower to me), the shot selection is wider on this layout than on most. This is especially true for the left orbit\return lane and the shot through the pops. The second thing is that this game has a lot of stackability. A lot of stackability. Between modes, wizard modes, playfield multipliers and this can all be done in multiple ways. I have been able to get 4 out of 5 wizard modes going at once. Hooooooweeee! Gotta get all 5 now. With all this in mind this means that there is a lot to do to set up your big whammy scores. This takes time, effort, planning and solid play. Scores altered accordingly. Keith Johnson is the thinking man's pinball programmer par excellence!

Played it at golden stste, I liked it the most of all new games, asked my distributor about it and he said he not carrying it to many glitches, I will pass on it for a few yrs, very fun , a keeper if it's not breaking down or having codes issues?
I want to rate it higher on looks and play but didn't get enough time on it

I recently got to try it out at a show. It looked amazing and played great! It was kind of loud there and hectic, and I'm very much a noob. So bare that in mind. But I really enjoyed it.

played at the museum of pinball in banning, CA. very disappointed in this jjp.

i figured with this theme they would hit a home run, but i was wrong. the upper right playfield is nonsense, the lighting is so-so (terrible compared to WOZ), the ramp shots are poorly designed and non satisfying, and the slingshots are too large, preventing the wide angle shot from each flipper.

unfortunately, this game is NOT a move forward for JJP, especially compared to DI and WOZ. i wanted to love it, because who doesn't love Disney and pirates of the carribean, but ultimately, this pin would have been better as a non licensed pin with a pirates theme, because that's what it feels like.