Nothing special,boring game

A colorful and beautiful game to look at.

The center revolving target is ever so tempting to shoot for yet ever so likely to result in a ball draining if you do. The simple goal of lighting similar colored 1-2-3 targets is not always so simple -- I need to learn better focus for just one color vs. going for all the targets!

An overall average EM that is worth playing some games on.

Gameplay:
Pretty middle-of-the-road as far as short-flipper EMs go. You kinda get locked out of your game if you get a bad plunge and miss the top button rollovers. At least, you do until your next plunge. You can make it back up there, but I don't think there's any way to do so without relying on luck. I could be wrong; let me know if you disagree.

Art:
Playfield art is pretty, but I'm taking off two points for the girl on the right slingshot. See for yourself.
Backglass is cool. Check out how the scoring reels are integrated into the architecture. Very cool.

I rated Shangri La very high - back in the late 1960ies it was my first love (pinball machine). I could buy me an Shangri La +/- 7 years ago. Most I play now are 3 inch flipper bat pins - but I also like the 2 inch flipper bats - and Shangri La is one of the best "2 inch flipper bat pins". A unique / special feature is the center target - actually four targets - the stuff rotates 90 degrees when hit. Greetings Rolf

I have owned this game on three separate occasions. The first two times I let it go, I had seller's remorse and had to get another one. Third time is the charm. Although my game is not in pristine condition, it's a keeper this time.

I grew up playing this game at a friend's house, so there's a bit of nostalgia in it for me. However, each time someone spends time with it in my game room, they come away enjoying this game.

The 1-2-3 sequences are not easy to achieve, and it's nearly impossible to get all of the red, white and blue combinations lit before draining a ball. And, once the ball drains, all of the lights reset and you have to start over. My game is equipped to award an extra ball when all of the red, white and blue targets are lit and the star target is facing forward in the center.

When all those things are achieved, it's one of the most colorful games in my collection. The game has very loud bells for the 100 and 10-point targets, but no bells for 1-point scores.

This Williams deck from 1967 is one that must have been made for the operators.

The Pros:
Good action from the pops and lots of rollovers and standups to shoot for. Getting the ball into the shooter lane gives you another go at the important to hit rollovers in the top arch that are not accessable from flipper shots. The art package is stunning!

The Cons:
This game just really doesn't have much game in it. Hit the targets, bang the high risk center standup. Now do it again, every game you play on this table. What is that upper left lane for?

The Takaway:
Shangri-La is like dating a vapid model. It looks great and gets boring quickly.