Stern

Munsters (Premium)

Pinside Rating

This game received 177 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.883 _/10

7.883

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks 1st in the game group "Munsters". The group itself ranks #102 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.645

Artwork: 8.518

Sounds/Music: 7.641

Other Aspects: 7.728

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.

7.203

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This title is part of group: "Munsters"

Munsters
(Premium)

Munsters
(Pro)

Munsters
(Limited Edition)

Found 86 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 86 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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5.757/10

29 days ago

JON

ApexGT3

Pinside member

Burns, TN

1y 20,000 6 9

This is a good-looking game but doesn't play well for me. The shots are really clunky, and the overall experience was not fun. I've come back to it a few times to see if I was having a bad day, but I had the same experience each time.
The lower playfield is especially poorly executed IMO.

6.962/10

6 months ago

MJE

Mjesposi

Pinside+ Frequent

Batavia, IL

3y 66,550 444 8 20 1

Munster's Premium B&W is beautiful to look at, but unfortunately it gets old very quickly. The shots were kind of cheesy and it did not feel like there was a ton of variety. Layer this in with the fact that some of the callouts get annoying as well and this led to the Munster's quickly moving on from my overall line-up. If you have a huge collection and the money, it is awesome to look at and the B&W artwork is truly awesome, but beyond that, it is a pass.

Mjesposi has owned this game in the past.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.352/10

8 months ago

RMR

Thor_Odinson

Pinside member

San Diego, CA

3y 44,300 325 3 7

I played The Munsters Premium on location and it was in decent shape. I felt like the left ramp shot was really difficult to hit for somebody new to the game. The right ramp felt easier to hit, but it was a bit too short and comes back pretty quickly. The mini playfield felt kind of like a gimmick, although it is my first experience having played on one and maybe I would feel that way about all of them. Overall, I enjoyed playing it on location, but it really didn't feel memorable. Also, I didn't grow up watching The Munsters, so I don't have a nostalgic connection to the theme, which appears to have been done very well. I did like the use of magnet with the up the center shot.

2 Pinsiders flagged this. 2 Pinsiders starred this!

7.373/10

9 months ago

CAM

DeputyDrain

Pinside member

Saint Paul, MN

<1y 31,400 145

The black and white seems great in execution but ends up looking very bland, especially during a lot of time spend on this machine. I have a tough time with this machine, though it seems pretty straightforward, but side drains were very hungry on the one I played. I think the gimmicks are very interesting, I did not play the bottom playfield more than once during a session, but not hard to activate and kind of neat. It feels pretty cheap, like some sort of child's plastic toy but is pretty cool and has separate flippers to control. I just couldn't find any sort of interesting flow on my time with it and left feeling very unsatisfied.

2 Pinsiders flagged this. 2 Pinsiders starred this!

8.820/10

12 months ago

MAC

Makman

Pinside+ Frequent

Gisborne

3y 23,250 1 4 13

Nice simple pinball to play it feels like it is from a time further back than when it was made . The ramps have a nice flow and most of the shots are not to difficult. Multi balls are relatively easy to achieve and fun .

2 Pinsiders flagged this. 2 Pinsiders starred this!

8.724/10

1 year ago

CDH

slimjim39027

Pinside member

Liberty, MO

2y 14,400 3 1 6

My thoughts on this machine leave me conflicted. Overall, I am always drawn to this machine. The sounds and lower mini playfield keep me coming back. The layout is a bit stale, and no shots really feel "rewarding". I will still keep coming back, but just sparingly!

2 Pinsiders starred this!

7.308/10

1 year ago

VEE

Veemonroe

Pinside member

London

3y 66,800 317 8 192

Played at Pinfest 2023.

I somehow expected this to be an easy pin like Cactus Canyon, but - for some reason - I couldn’t get a game going on the alternating ramps. There was something slightly odd about the geometry on the shots.

I did get to Grandpa’s basement, which had the weirdest design decision in history. Not only was the lower playfield tiny (so the ball was almost pin sized), but it inexplicably used a second set of flippers. Like, why? Has any other pin in history used a second set of flippers for the lower playfield (don’t answer that)? Either way, it fell dramatically short of Black Hole from 1980, which also has a lower playfield and which I also played at the venue for the first time.

Either way, I found the experience of playing this solidly ‘meh’. Nice artwork and LCD video clips though. The art package reminds me, oddly, of Stern’s Elvira House of Horrors.

Happy to revise my rating if I play another somewhere else and it goes better, although I suspect - given it was apparently inspired by Monster Bash - it will always remain ‘meh’ to me.

2 Pinsiders flagged this. 2 Pinsiders starred this!

8.219/10

1 year ago

LEW

sleepygtr

Pinside+ Frequent

14y 67,800 381 8 31

The B&W premium is just beautiful. One of Sterns prettiest to look at. Love the extra touches like the brushed metal ramps. The game is underrated because its kind of a throwback - Rules are easy to follow and I like the building jackpots. Best shots: Marilyn ramp is killer and love the Raven into the bumpers. Worst shots: Hitting Spot is kind if a bummer and can lead to a cheap drain. Not a fan of the upper and lower multi ball - its chaotic and some people love it but it too hard to do anything with really other than bang away on 4 buttons. also, MIDNIGHT MADNESS means I can never sell it

sleepygtr currently owns this game.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

8.192/10

1 year ago

DAD

BondLE

Pinside member

Nsw

1y 22,650 34 2 9

Totally underrated machine, a great layout with a flow that makes you come back for more. Long games which was great as I was paying.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

10.000/10

1 year ago

LOU

heylou

Pinside+ Frequent

4y 40,150 26 12 6

Hands down this is the most fun pin to play. Everyone wants to play the mini game!!! Spot is hard!!!! From the grandkids to the adults everyone loves it....

heylou currently owns this game.

6 Pinsiders flagged this. 5 Pinsiders starred this!

9.017/10

1 year ago

SGP

Mnstevep

Pinside member

Blaine, MN

1y 14,750 15

This game is super addicting. Getting Munster Madness 1 time will leave you wanting to just keep playing to get it again. This may be just the one I played but almost every missed shot leads to draining down the center way too frequently. Herman bash leads to center and outlane drain way too frequently as well. Slingshots also shoot to outlanes 75% of the time. Grandpa scoop is way too shallow and the ball does not stay in making it incredibly frustrating as it is a main shot and is a shot needed to collect extraball and Munster Madness. When spot comes up from under the stairs, bashing him is almost always a guarantee to drain in an outlane or down the center. The guy that voices Paul Lind did an amazing job. It's just too bad everything he says is super annoying and way too frequent. When Marilyn says "get my aunt Lily" It sounds like Lily for some reason. The animations of Lily on the screen are horrendous and look nothing like her. Eddie should have had more to do with this machine. I don;t understand how Spot has a bigger roll in this game when he was the pet of Eddie's yet Eddie doesn't have his own area in this game only an orbit.

4 Pinsiders flagged this. 3 Pinsiders starred this!

9.621/10

1 year ago

MTC

NewFloridian

Pinside member

Jupiter, FL

2y 23,300 19 2 16

I think this is one of the best games for inexperienced players. Very few unfair drains. I am not a fan of the mini-pinball basement and think the Pro is actually the better machine.

9.676/10

1 year ago

NOL

nolanjamora

Pinside+ Frequent

Gardena, CA

4y 28,400 2 6 8

The Munsters is beautiful and the B & W Franchi artwork is a standout in my collection. The Munsters theme is is great and I love the lower playfield. Such a different game and fun to play. When I have visitors this game always gets the most play. Now that the code has been updated the game is now a good home game for the good player.

nolanjamora has this game on the wishlist.

5 Pinsiders starred this!

7.816/10

1 year ago

EKS

PanzerKraken

Pinside member

Boynton Beach, FL

3y 80,550 3,482 7 47

Really like this game, the presentation and art package is just one of the best. The animations and UI though could have been better and seems a bit rough in spots, especially any CG usage is just "oof". It's a solid shooter, those ramps are butter smooth, and I just love a good bash toy so Herman shot is always satisfying. On the Pre/LE models, I even dig that stupid little Grandpa's basement mini pinball game, even if it feels like a toy and super gimmicky, it's just a fun little thing.

PanzerKraken has this game on the wishlist.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

9.936/10

1 year ago

PNP

imoknu

Pinside apprentice

Seattle, WA

1y 10,000 1 11

An instant classic. Tons of fun! Warning though...that catchy tune will be stuck in your head after playing this one.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

7.528/10

1 year ago

ZEN

Ollulanus

Pin-Tweak

6y 101K 1,980 52 3

Black and white version is gorgeous, but the game is a bit basic. Shots aren't too interesting, mini playfield is pretty meh. Fun for a bit though!

9.860/10

1 year ago

SAN

VARESQUI

Pinside member

Santo André

6y 30,550 10 5 28

A masterpiece! Guaranteed fun, new code has improved a lot, whoever played in the old code has to try playing now that the machine has become animal!

VARESQUI has owned this game in the past.

4 Pinsiders starred this!

9.560/10

1 year ago

???

TRIBUL

Inactive member

1y 12,150 7 9

Great theming and cabinet art fantastic great shooter and added shaker moter is great updates to code is great very underrated in my opinion. Machine is a keeper

2 Pinsiders flagged this. 7 Pinsiders starred this!

9.800/10

1 year ago

MEG

gruski

Pinside+ Frequent

Temple, TX

12y 40,750 4 3 8

Love Playing the Munsters!

gruski has owned this game in the past.

6.799/10

1 year ago

>>>

Polypin

Pinside+ Frequent

2y 69,800 142 28

I played the black and white premium edition. I was initially delighted to see the effort and reflecting how the show was broadcast in the cabinet and play-field, however after a while it wore on me. Not only was it visually lacking I found it difficult to track the ball well as there was little contrast between ball and play-field. The use of colored lighting helped me, but not enough.

All that said, the game itself was not that interesting, even with the lower play-field aspect. I think there was a lot of creative ideas in this unit and I credit the team for trying, but for me it just didn't come together the way I think everyone would have hoped.

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

8.740/10

2 years ago

SC

Stagio

Pinside member

Pooler, GA

5y 48,650 75 21 11

To start, I was worried about the feedback on code but willing to take the risk and try for myself by procuring it into the collection.

Have had the opportunity to play many rulesets as deep as WOZ / BM66 + simple as AFM / TNA and fortunate enough to complete the games / final wizard modes just to give you some perspective when evaluating.

Though I would say layout / feel is similar to many BW90’s machines such as MB (sitting in the top 10) I would say the code depth significantly exceeds them.

Majority of the modes could not be stacked (excluding a few) in comparison to newer games but the build up of jackpots / multipliers and constant use of the zap button (pulling your hands off the flippers) is an extremely innovative and diverse approach to gameplay that I am enjoying.

What’s more interesting is my machine sits beside a BM66 and lock bar button use is the complete opposite which really plays a mind trick when playing both.

Lower PF felt a bit like a gimmick at 1st but eventually grew on me and I really enjoy it now…. Again another diverse element executed well and not a feature in any other pin in my collection.

Art package, theme, sound, lighting, and animations all good as well. I did select to add stadium lighting to which it really helped make the B&W PF art “pop”.

Overall, great pin for a 5-10 pin collection no doubt if you are looking for a good mix. Shots are nice and open with orbits being a pleasure to shoot for. Kitty shot to keep multipliers going can get fun as well. Family and anyone stopping by tend to gravitate to this pin.

Shall try to update in a few months on lastability but a relaxing pin to decompress after a long day.

Update #1

Going 1 year+ and I’m pleasantly surprised with how pretty / interesting this game looked. I purchased thinking the lastability would be limited.

With that said, this will be a very hard game to let go. When I roll up to my collection that currently sits at 15-20 pins this one is usually my go to.

Fun game to flip on for a quick game and longer journeys are just as exciting throughout duration of gameplay.

I’ve been to Munster Madness 4 and GC sits at 1.6 Billion in standard settings. Ironically, it still feels like I’m working my way through parts of code I’m still learning to maximize scoring value (specific to each character / mode).

IMO, it’s the perfect mix for a non-pinhead to walk up to and flip to get to Munster Madness… and for a player a game you can continue to develop / learn the deeper you get into the specifics of gameplay.

No ball save is a killer and a nice traditional / nostalgic touch to the older machines (in default setting). Has made for some quick games.

Kudos to the development team!

Stagio edited previous rating on August 09, 2023.
Stagio has owned this game in the past.

6 Pinsiders starred this!

6.821/10

2 years ago

WUF

wolfy

Pinside member

Winston-salem, NC

14y 80,850 1,088 14 113

I love the theme of this game and the look of the game. Some of the shots are very fun but it falls flat on overall gameplay. Of all the newer turns it is near or at the bottom.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.668/10

2 years ago

PIE

SilverballGamer

Pinside member

5y 64,150 29 5 91

Well well, I used to be overly harsh to this game. Sure, it’s far from the best new stern, and it has flaws, but it definitely doesn’t deserve to be ranked under Super Mario Bros.

Pro’s:

Layout is a solid fan layout, with excellent use of the lower playfield.

Artwork and lighting are excellent, and really need to be seen to be believed.

Coding has gotten MUCH better since I played this game back in the day.

Con’s:

The game still falls into the hole of having code that is too simple for a modern game, that (and I’ll say it again) copies the code of games like Monster Bash.

Spot seems less dangerous at this point, though still not a shot you want to aim for.

The animations are a little dodgy and not up to par with other stern games, but they aren’t terrible either, and there is clearly effort shown.
Pro Exclusive Complaints: the use of the Grandpa targets is kind of ridiculous, as making a whole mode rely on hitting stand up targets to light shots is (IMO) frustrating.

Overall, while it takes coding elements from other games, it’s far from bad and is actually, overall, a decent game!

10.000/10

2 years ago

ROB

Desertflower

Pinside member

Goodyear, AZ

2y 37,000 2 8 7

Super fast pace, and a best to play. The black and white is the best looking out of the three.

Desertflower currently owns this game.

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

9.760/10

2 years ago

DTG

goldsmid

Pinside+ Frequent

Chester Springs, PA

3y 40,900 48 16 14

Great game. Amazing theme. Fantastic code update and now fun with IC.

goldsmid currently owns this game.

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