my second round on spiderman, sold my original few years back before I well and truly played pinballs by the rules intended, now a brand new one, its understandable, fun, fast, wizard mode is achievable , leaving you pressing for "maybe this time"

I didn't hate it, but I didn't care for it all that much.

Why do we need to recycle worn out themes over and over again? Is it impossible for Stern to come up with a decent original theme?

I can't imagine why anyone would give the Vault a bad rating except for those that are in their original versions for too much and can't upgrade to a Vault without losing their shirts. Better in every way.

Stay with original buy a HOU one and save a few grand. This is a bad copy and can't believe it was produced in this fashion. Come on Stern. They could have done so much here.

"Check fire, check fire, check fire" Stern enthusiast fanboys.
Over 50% of all ratings have NO COMMENTS, but rate the game 9+?
WTF?
Have these people even PLAYED this version of the game?
Most do not own the game either.
The number of released units of this game is SMALL, and not readily available for review.
I have played it via special invitation.

This is the same game as the original with marginally increased quality coding and DMD animations.
Artwork is a step down in my opinion with better plastics.
Toys are partially improved and partially worse.
The rest of the game is the same, and the score should reflect these equivalencies.

Original review:
One of modern Stern's "savior titles" from the pinball drought of the mid 2000s.
If it was not for this game, LOTR, and TSPP, Stern might not still be making machines.
Very well playing game with smooth ball flow.
Overall modes, ruleset, and game play are excellent.
The game has enough depth for experienced players to come back and continuing playing, and easy enough for new players to just bat the ball around and enjoy.
This game actually set the standard in terms of Stern's pinball design "layout" until this day, meaning two flippers, two ramps fan layout, bash toy, 3 bank target, magnet use, etc.
Music and speech is average.
DMD animations average.
Artwork is average, plastics are poor images, especially the slingshots.
A worthwhile addition to any pinball collection, especially if you can find a SM Black with its real backglass and side armor.

Wow was very impressed by this new and improve SM played the original a lot back in the day and this was is better!!

Animations, sounds and voice are horrid on this newly revamped version....Stick to the original!!
Goblin toy looks awful, as do most of the other toys. The sandman does look slick, however. Just hate the cut scenes/ pauses in the dots.

SM is a great pin with fun layout, well designed rules, speach, sound and art. SMVE is a hot mess. Many do not like this style of artwork including myself, and the arts, sounds and dots on SMVE are not as good as SM imho.

Hated what Stern did to this machine to make the Vault Edition. When I heard the rumors, I was really pumped because the digitized scenes from the movie are the weakest part of the original, and if Spidey was getting a retheme, then that meant new hand-drawn dots on the display - and a lot of them!

Unfortunately, while the dots are indeed great overall, the artwork of anorexic Spiderman isn't great, and I'm not a huge fan of the speech bubbles on the backglass. The toys were also cost-reduced, and you lost some modes from the movie, too. But the WORST part, BY FAR is the new speech. It's atrocious. Terrible lines voiced terribly overall. There is SO much wrong with the voice it completely ruined the experience. I highly recommend finding an original run Spiderman from Stern if you want the machine. Yes, the dots are weaker, but everything else is stronger, and the voice in general is MUCH stronger.

Stern Spiderman is a great playing game. I was just not as into it as much as other Stern gmaes. Upon recent review... this is changing. The more I play this game, the more I like it. As Martha would say... "It's a good thing..." and this is a really good pinball.

The Good: Artwork and theme are very well implemented. Bonesaaw! Great shot. Full on Steve Ritchie PF design! The ball does not stop moving until you get to the final wz mode. This game has FLOW! The integration of the theme is one of the best I have ever seen. Stack your modes and THEN hit a multiball for maximum playability. Double and Triple scoring shots are way sweet! This game is a players game and there is lots and lots to do. Stacking is king here and to get your first mode and then your Doc Oc... you pretty much need to hit every shot in the game from the start. The LE version has a rumble motor and the spiderweb flipper guards are perfect for this table. Kudos to Lyman and Co. for the revised (and revised and revised) code. Gary Stern... give this man a raise. Lyman and his like make your good games GREAT GAMES!

The Bad: Sounds are tinny and thin. Maybe turning up the sound will help. Or maybe upgraded speakers? Considering SR did World Poker tour... I thought the Green Goblin would have had drop targets. Movie clips on the DMD are muddy. Hit Doc Oc over and over and over.... The ramp from the upper right flipper either is super smooth or I just can't seem to hit the damn thing.

The Takeaway: A great design and a real players table. It took me a long time to "get" this game. Playing with some other pin-heads who I respected made me see even more great things about this deck. Sometimes the games can be long, but that's not always a bad thing. The best Stern games in my eyes: TSPP, LOTR, AC/DC and then Spiderman, WPT, Tron , Ripley's, after that, a bunch of games lumped together including: Monopoly, Family Guy, Iron Man, Avatar and X-men. The rest... I forget.

Update:
The more I play this game, the more I like AND respect it. This deck is a true player!

Update v2:
At the world championships I witnessed Jorian Engelbrektsson (Former PAPA champ and current world champ for 2014) utterly destroy this game with over 400 million on the first ball by hitting Doc Ock over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... This qualifies as an exploit to me and after having played this game with that strategy (and having found it successful), I have to significantly reduce the scores on gameplay and longevity. This is a good game, but not a great one and because of that, it joins the ranks of Medieval Madness and just about every game JPop ever produced. It's a damn shame too. Can I still play this game for fun... yes. But when the win is on the line... I'm shooting for Doc Ock again and again and again and again and again and again...

So disappointing. This game is off the wishlist.

VE Update:
I stepped up to the "new" version of this table and for a game design that is 10 years old, it plays really well. The comic book art package looks spot on and the only gripe that I have with the "new" game is that when I hit the right ramp, I have had the ball knock on Sandman's left elbow and head back down the PF towards the flippers. A plastic shield over the top of the ramp should do the trick. The wider magnet in front of Doc Ock looks and works great and keep the PF wear down to a minimum. The new animations look great and the callouts and muzic are spot on. I like this version of the game BETTER than either of the previous ones. Now that I have gotten over myself and played more of this game, it's great when you play the entire game. Can you still Doc Ock all day? Yes. But double/triple the right ramp and hit super hero... big points! This PF design just FEELS right. I still wish there was more to do with the shot under the upper right hand flipper, but man... it is really hard to find much fault in this deck. I like this game a lot and have re-upped my scores on it's rating.

Spider Pig!
Spider Pig!
Does whatever a spider pig does!
Can he swing from a web?
No he can't
He's a pig
Lookout!
He is the spider pig!!

- Homer Simpson

Comic book art is classic. Play field layout and flow speaks for itself. A must have pin for anyone that's a Spidey fan.

This game is a perfect update to the original.
Less movie, more comic and plays great. the modes and updated and the animations and toys are better than the originals.

Top 15 pin for sure, great code and the new art is fantastic. It is a beautiful game.

I love the new art package. The original is a great game but I really prefer this one. I liked the sounds and speech better in the original, but the new animations and art package gives this one a slight edge.

I've played the original Spider-Man many times. Always like it, never loved it. I always felt the Spider-Man movie trilogy theme held it back. Spider-Man, in my eyes, was born as a comic and will always remain a comic. For full disclosure, when I was 5 (1983), one of my bedroom walls, was covered with Spider-Man wallpaper. Last night, when we opened the box, all of us were just blown away by the artwork. Just looking at the game, we can see it was transformed from a time piece to a timeless piece. Once it was setup and we were playing it, it brought the whole package to a new level. Words can't describe the DMD animations. They were that great. Lighting on the game is perfect. The game plays fast and smooth. IMO, it plays better than the original. For instance, the Doc Ock shot was reconfigured. No more rejections from that shot. The game was bulletproofed with Cliffy's already installed. The VUKs are metal instead of plastic. The whole package comes together on this. The art + DMD + sounds + gameplay = perfect 10. I am very happy that I decided to purchase this game. It will never leave my collection.

Stern updates a classic with hand-drawn comic art from the Ultimate Spider-Man library, and it looks great! The updated dots are a nice touch. More kudos for the update to the often worn Doc Ock magnet with their new, larger magnet core. Stern also includes a bunch of protectors in areas that were easily damaged on the original Stern game.

However, IMO the new sounds & speech just ruin the VE for me. The script writing is terrible (i.e. "I'll never look at a sandcastle the same way again"). The tone in which most of the new lines are delivered are a big turn off, especially Doc Ock when he's whining about his arms. The callouts are just bad & cheesy (not in a good way). This is similar to how I felt about Stern's X-Men & Avengers sound and speech packages. I like playing my games at a decent volume, and it doesn't take long for games like these to get annoying. While the original Stern Spider-Man may not have the flashy art package that the VE does, the original definitely comes out on top in the sounds and speech department.

These VEs are priced in the ballpark of $6.5k. If the extras aren't worth it to you, save $1k-$2k & purchase a nice original. There are aftermarket slingshots & Back Alley mods that can help eliminate any of the original movie's artwork plastics if that stuff really bothers you.