Williams

Tales of the Arabian Nights

Pinside Rating

This game received 886 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.499 _/10

8.499

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #30 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.454

Artwork: 8.731

Sounds/Music: 8.095

Other Aspects: 8.512

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 9 of us have rated this game.

9.051

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Found 491 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 491 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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9.220/10

7 years ago

ALX

achtungboyy

Pinside member

El Paso, TX

11y 75,150 252 98 131

Finally got to play one. Great game, great flow and just flat out lots of fun to play.

achtungboyy currently owns this game.

7.305/10

7 years ago

???

Top20

Inactive member

Malmö

7y 4,250 2 6

Wasn't as fun as I remembered it now when I really played it in DK a few days (with new Sterns around it). But WMS/Bally sure could make pins!

7.906/10

7 years ago

CAM

OakleyPinball

Inactive member

Discovery Bay, CA

11y 23,650 18 1 26

Fun easy to follow game. Hard to find our on location so if you do drop a roll of quarters on it

9.164/10

7 years ago

DAN

DanTheGlassMan

Pinside member

Independence Charter Township, MI

8y 51,550 367 2 7

I wish i could afford to own this machine. I find myself playing this game on pinball arcade more than i do my actual machines sometimes. Sound is excellent and the genie and spinning lamp are fun toys

9.760/10

8 years ago

ECT

Havoc

Inactive member

Thornton, CO

10y 36,650 67 10 27

should be in the top 5 in my opinion.

Havoc has owned this game in the past.

8.532/10

8 years ago

JCD

dmbjunky

Pinside member

Odon, IN

8y 96,400 6,791 91

A beautiful pin. All of the art is some of the best. The sounds and music are top notch. I love the bonus count down. The shots feel alright but the lamp adds a little bit of randomness to the playfield. It also blocks the shot to the Genie which is a shot you will have to repeat often. The ramp feels good and with the diverter, makes it feel like more than one shot. Not much depth with the modes and code but still a fun game for awhile.

8.140/10

8 years ago

MAL

mal7887

Pinside member

Tampa, FL

8y 33,300 30 5 20

A Williams classic for sure. Great original theme that will never get old for me. I hope one day that I will get to own one.

mal7887 edited previous rating on March 25, 2018.
mal7887 has this game on the wishlist.

8.166/10

8 years ago

CAD

retrotilt

Pinside member

Prosper, TX

10y 103K 67 12 58

This is a stunning game to look at. The backglass art is good but the playfield and cabinet artwork are amazing. Great dots, a good light show, and interesting callouts round out the package. This machine nails the theme and it has one of the best art packages out there. For overall look and sound, this is easily a top 5 machine.

For gameplay, this is a really fun machine that loses its luster a bit too quickly. Getting to and beating the wizard mode is much easier than it is on most machines I've played. I'm a mediocre player at best and I have reached the wizard mode many times. Also, the machine has lots of fun shots, but the rules are a bit shallow and the modes lack variety. Overall, this is a really fun machine with great artwork, a great theme, and fun shots. However, it's hindered a bit by a shallow ruleset and by being a bit too easy.

8.036/10

8 years ago

MWG

lockislit

Pinside member

Essex, ON

8y 38,150 52 4 20

Solid game.

lockislit has owned this game in the past.

9.520/10

8 years ago

DTY

libtech

Pinside member

12y 82,650 1,958 42

Great game, very fun to play; and gorgous.

8.940/10

8 years ago

TMK

tk-the-jammer

Pinside+ Addict

9y 101K 379 12 109

Overall a great game. Challenging even at an intermediate level. Not too overwhelming for beginners. You got to get good at your shots on this game to get through it. Completing the missions to earn enough jewels to put the smackdown on the genie. Shooting stars a cool way for ball saver. Although it's a cool part of the game the lamp just always seems in the way. Nice artwork, good sound and great gameplay!

10.000/10

8 years ago

MBS

billyrjse

Inactive member

Rio De Janeiro

11y 21,650 12 4 15

Beautiful machine! Gameplay, sound and theme are perfect.

billyrjse edited previous rating on June 29, 2016.
billyrjse currently owns this game.

8.540/10

8 years ago

SBC

castlesteve

CCA

Lexington, KY

11y 40,650 953 15 13

Really enjoy this game for all of the same reasons

castlesteve currently owns this game.

8.308/10

8 years ago

JAM

jroakland

Pinside member

Oakland, CA

13y 60,050 106 7 111

i do like the game alot..i have played on location many times i score well on it.. play forever on couple bucks great play, lamp ,genie the captive cage ball all is very well done .(sweet) ..incorperated nice for the theme ,nice flow but missing something for me i jus dnt like it much ,girly colors ? ..i dnt find them in the wild anymore so i dnt miss it. but if u see one play it..it is fun..

8.412/10

8 years ago

ROB

aerobert

Inactive member

8y 57,800 489 2 57

Very nice game and theme, excellent callouts and music. Rules are also nice. But VERY dark with bulbs, get LED's quickly. Highly recommended for all ages.

aerobert edited previous rating on January 20, 2017.

10.000/10

8 years ago

CON

ApolloPete

Inactive member

Calgary, AB

8y 17,900 1 5 10

TOTAN is an excellent game. Number 1 on my list

8.152/10

8 years ago

TBK

xTheBlackKnightx

Pinside member

8y 128K 4,097 137

Yet one more of John Popadiuk's overrated pinball machines by new players whose rating is skewed on PinSide.

^^^^
See EXAMPLE of another pinball chuckle house nimrod above with a "10/10" experience.

Simply put this is "Theatre of Magic v2.0".
It is the same game, same tricks, same layout with different artwork and sounds, and a *slightly better* ruleset but still is very shallow, although the modes are at least entertaining in terms of theme.
It even uses the same magnet design and essentially the same dot matrix animations (especially MB windup)!
Compare this yourself, and prepare to be "surprised".

Cirqus Voltaire at least is more slightly more creative.

Don't get me wrong, this game is a STUNNING and FANTASTIC piece of artwork.
Absolutely one of the most beautiful pinball machines ever made.
Theme integration is exceptional, especially with the lamp, genie, and "princess in the bottle".
Linda Deal, "saved the deal".

However, artwork does NOT make a PERFECT game, pinball "experts".
CFTBL makes TOTAN look like it is wearing its "$#% for a hat".

Again, if you own the game, you WILL eventually get tired of it, and sell it off hopefully for equal or more than you paid for it in the first place as the prices rise to pass it off to the next new collector, and then the cycle begins anew. It has been that way for 2 decades with no sign of stopping. History proves me right for this title as well. "The dollar is strong with this title". If you keep it, it is because you have plenty of space in your game room, or cash to burn, which is never a bad thing I suppose.

Send me a PM when you figure out what I just said, and feel free to donate to my pinball fund after you make a profit from selling the machine. Don't do a Bill Engvall with "Here's your sign".

A great game for an occasional play after you have owned the machine for less than two weeks, and phenomenal for "party guests". It is "fun" if you have no idea what you are doing and "learning" the game. This only takes a few games for now what $8-10k of fun? Seems a little steep...

I base all said above opinions on the fact, I have owned TWO.
Once for 3 years, and once for 2 years.
The second time round, I kept beating the game with ONE BALL!
I had to disable the bazaar scoop, so I COULD NOT collect jewels and make the game harder (but their really is not much you can do based on the limitations of the ruleset software).

xTheBlackKnightx edited previous rating on January 13, 2016.

10.000/10

8 years ago

DAD

rdbronko73

Inactive member

Vacaville, CA

9y 50,050 302 12 11

I just got this game 3 weeks ago. This is now ranked second amoung my collection. TZ, TOTAN, TSPP, TOM, and JD. I can't understand why it's not ranked higher. It has everything you can want for a pinball. Great theme,great playfield layout, great music and great flow. I'm proud to own one and will only let it go if they start selling for $10,000.

9.080/10

8 years ago

KS

faultline760

Pinside member

Bullhead City, AZ

10y 52,000 23 25 31 1

Got game month ago had time to play and over all a great game. Getting hard to find at price i got it for. On to the next mach.

faultline760 currently owns this game.

8.640/10

8 years ago

PSG

PeterG

Pinside member

8y 88,300 2,144 65

I really like this machine. The theme and shots are great. And if you get this with Led's it is just gorgous. The music is nice but a bit old fashined, but good for that era. Beautiful artwork and theme. The skill shot is not my thing but is ok. Once you get your ball on the playfield, then the fun starts. Great gameplay. I really like to own one someday, should be a great addition to my collection.

8.927/10

8 years ago

ROG

Rogier

Inactive member

Zürich

8y 14,900 8 2 6

Love throwing the fireball back :-) Lamp can be in the way sometimes, which can be annoying when you try to shoot for the genie. The missions based on 1001 arabian nights are well thought through and fun to do.

8.096/10

8 years ago

YPS

cooldan

Inactive member

London

13y 54,800 129 5 53

TOTAN is a beautiful game, a work of art like Creech or Cirqus. the music is also exceptionally good, with all the sounds like Aladdin playing in a whorehouse casino. it has at least three great playfield toys - the funky lamp you bash to spin, the big blue genie whose magnet takes the ball into the playfield, and those wonderful things over the outlanes that save a ball by throwing a circle of 20 metal spikes around it.

then there's also the big doughnut-shaped magnet exactly like on the Tiger saw from TOM (also by JPop) and a couple of captive balls to wail on to raise the multiplier - once you realise that the scoring is heavily weighted towards the bonus, it becomes clear that a good score needs a shitload of lamp spins and a high bonus multiplier.

so, lots to aim for, and it looks and sounds fabulous. so what's missing? well not much tbh, the rules are fun - there's modes and multiballs and a story (rescue the princess then battle the genie) and it holds its own in any lineup. it's a top 20 title and seldom comes up for sale - i had to wait on my buddy's dibs-list for 4 years before i grabbed mine. it's fun, and also difficult to score well on.

cooldan has owned this game in the past.

9.080/10

8 years ago

JMB

jmb

Inactive member

Pittsburgh, PA

8y 12,000 4 1 6

I really love this machine. Yea, the gameplay is a bit simple, but it never gets boring. Completing the modes requires some skill to hit each of the various shots and can be a lot of fun. The lamp and the genie are great toys and the sounds/callouts incorporated with them are fantastic.

The artwork is great all over and theme is very good. The game has a wonderful story line that pulls through the entire game.

This is a machine that I will never get sick of and I would love to have it in my collection.

jmb has this game on the wishlist.

9.080/10

8 years ago

???

stef34

Pinside member

Béziers

9y 40,300 335 7 7

This is the most beautiful playfield artwork ever,first time seeing it it's just wouaaaaaa!i'm relly lucky to have mine and i will never sale it.
The theme is just magic! and really transport you back to the arabian nights.

stef34 currently owns this game.

7.191/10

8 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

TOTAN has a beautiful art package with rich colours and a lot to look at. Neat ideas and toys that are well integrated to gameplay. However, this game is an exercise of style over substance. The phrase “The game is too easy” may be overused in his climate, but it absolutely fits here. I guess a positive, is that it makes bad players, like me, feel good to walk up to it and reach the wizard mode on a regular basis. Jewels are given away far too easily. If you are looking for eye candy, this game is it. If you are looking for a game that can provide long term challenge, this isn’t a game for you. (And at the price it commands, you can get two or three challenging games that would work better in the home environment.). It's a great game...for your friend to own.

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There are 491 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 8 of 20.

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