Found 4 ratings (with comment) on this game

Hoo boy. Disappointed is the word that comes to mind first. The rules set on this machine was not well-developed -- as witnessed by the attribution of the design to a pseudonym, it was a strange committee -- and one of the original "pinball people" prominently on the Spooky payroll completely disassociated himself with the game. The PF layout had some serious promise to it, with the three-level ascending mini playfields and the hidden shots on the right side, but it really could have used a bumper (maybe under that hidden zone) and the shot rebounds were not well tested at all. There's a lot of dead bounces and back and forth right up the middle, and as such the game sort of plays like all the shots are in a trough.

I can make no comment on theme integration for "Halloween" but I was an Ultraman fan and I really like the whole Kaiju-battle/Science Patrol theme, plus the vintage shots. So I won't be a hater on that count. But I did find the sequence for the animations and "story line" a bit odd -- there's no real rhythm to it and there's a lot of repetition of the same screens. There's other bits here that show a lack of polish from the design team; things like awkward fonts and text layout.

None of the machines I've played have had more recent code releases on them, but Spooky's willingness to release machines with only half the software developed is another nit that is becoming a whole nest of lice in my pinball hair. It's a bad trend and they don't have a big enough staff or harness to get away with it. With the Scott Danesi machines, they benefited from, well, Scott Danesi. Ultraman just felt like "oh hell, that's good enough, we're only making 500 of them."

I had one friend who got an early shipping collector's edition, a really big Ultraman fan, and he was so down on the machine I canceled my own order (and after I'd played at public shows and just been left cold after being really excited after Rick and Morty) -- and could not find a buyer, even at a discount, for my deposit, nor would Spooky make good. Spooky is thus pretty much dead to me forever more. That was a bad move, Spooky, on your part, for building long term customer mojo. I might have looked past this release as an aberration but now I'm remembering all the issues with other releases that have overshadowed successes like Total Nuclear Annihilation and Rick and Morty.

I have owned this for about a year now, while there is still some polish needed in the rules and code, it is a fun shooter. This game is certainly written off at this point but it's underrated and hopefully folks will see this sooner than later with some of the updates.

Bright, breath of fresh air and fun. Clever design, fantastic modes like the shooting of post targets left to right absolutely a blast and the left side of the PF is a sharpshooters dream. This pin doesnt just have the same shots you hit all game that have a rare insert light for super jackpot, instead they made the top playfield a rare place to shoot which also has a big cash in. This is so unique in pinball it really adds another demension of excitement not typically found in traditional layouts where you can hit virtually everything right away. Art package is beautiful and vibrant, game is fast and exciting to play.

Ultraman / Halloween is the latest offering from Spooky pinball.

The Pros:
This is the first game I've played since Gottlieb Haunted House (1982) that has 3 playfields. The shot selection on the two miniature playfields in particular is very well done. The top playfield has a spinner! I didn't get much time on this design, but I have to say that playing multiball on three playfield simultaneously is a mind-bending pinball achievement! Skill shots and multi-ball make the most of the shots on the left hand side of the playfield as well as the standup targets between them. The lighting around the edges of the upper playfield and the colored LEDs are very well done. Integration of lights, colors and guiding the players eyes to shots that need to be made is better on this game than most spooky games in the past. The rules are laid out on the screen for the modes and multi-ball for easy player access. While still not at the refinement of games from other manufacturers, spooky keeps getting better with this with every single game that they produce. With pinball has a niche audience, spooky seems to have found it.

The Cons:
Between Ultraman and halloween, Halloween seems to have gotten the more passionate treatment between the two themes. While I love the two upper playfields, the main play field does not feel as polished in terms of gameplay. In particular, the drops to the subways under the playfield to the inland kickouts, while interesting are stalling to the flow of the game. Also, it takes a few times to learn the cues that the lights on the aliens are giving you to be ready to play pinball as the ball magically seems to appear from under the playfield at the end of the flipper.

The Takeaway:
Halloween is probably going to be the more popular selling theme between the two. For me, the left hand side of the playfield is clunky and while the ramps up the middle are easily made, I am still figuring out their function. Especially getting to the upper mini playfield. Spooky is doing more and more with each game. More toys, more shots and better clarity with game rules. Shooting this game is interesting for me. Well I really appreciate the hole to the lower left hand side of the playfield, many of the other shots that are similar to it on this game feel like they are very crowded. The amount of game that resides in the upper play fields is something that I'm going to have to learn about to be able to access them at will. However, there's a lot to work with here. I'm going to look forward to see what software / rule updates come along with this game.