Williams
Whirlwind Pinside Rating
This game received 599 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.138 /10
Whirlwind
Score breakdown
Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:
Game Design: 8.335
Artwork: 7.897
Sounds/Music: 7.381
Other Aspects: 8.413
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 8 of us have rated this game.
Found 332 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 332 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 10 of 14.
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8.080/10
10 years ago
Redmond, WA
This game, for whatever reason, seems to draw me in every time I see one on location. It's really fun, with a well-chosen theme, and it represents it well.
8.232/10
10 years ago
Wonderful Pat Lawlor design. You really can get into the flow if hitting shots. The three spinning discs in the middle of the playfield add to the challenge, but don't seem annoying like other games with discs. The game can be rough if you brick shots on the left side since they are pretty close to the flippers. I would say this is one of Lawlor's best games.
9.300/10
11 years ago
What can i say that everyone else hasn't? Things spin around and a fan blows on your face, wheeeeee. Love it.....kicks my ass many times, then gives me a great game.
8.362/10
11 years ago
Great machine. One of Pat Lawlor's best creations of the 80's. Earthshaker was good, Whirlwind was better!
Considering the limitations of the time compared to todays high-tech, DMD machines, Whirlwind was a great machine to play, and play again.
The best thing you notice is the backbox fan that activates during ball locks and multiball. The next thing are 3 spinning discs on the playfield which activate with the fan, this is what simulates the "Whirlwind" or tornado. The discs can send your ball wherever they can if your timing and accuracy is off!
Sound is good for the time. Music gets repetitive and somewhat annoying after some time, but its not the worst I have heard. Speech is good, and sometimes funny in a "redneck" sort of way, especially when you get the super cellar mega-door bonus.
As the first machine to use an increasing bonus gimmick, the super cellar door bonus is really nice. Most awards are kinda lousy, but the goal is to get to the end where you get one huge payoff.
Multiball is cool, jackpot shots are tricky to a novice, but really easy to an experienced player. This game can be difficult to keep a ball in play with 6 pop bumpers, really powerful slingshots, and fast paced gameplay!
Recommended to anyone looking for an earlier Williams title. Anyone who knows Pat Lawlor games (Funhouse, Addams Family, Earthshaker!) and enjoys his tables should look for this one!
Considering the limitations of the time compared to todays high-tech, DMD machines, Whirlwind was a great machine to play, and play again.
The best thing you notice is the backbox fan that activates during ball locks and multiball. The next thing are 3 spinning discs on the playfield which activate with the fan, this is what simulates the "Whirlwind" or tornado. The discs can send your ball wherever they can if your timing and accuracy is off!
Sound is good for the time. Music gets repetitive and somewhat annoying after some time, but its not the worst I have heard. Speech is good, and sometimes funny in a "redneck" sort of way, especially when you get the super cellar mega-door bonus.
As the first machine to use an increasing bonus gimmick, the super cellar door bonus is really nice. Most awards are kinda lousy, but the goal is to get to the end where you get one huge payoff.
Multiball is cool, jackpot shots are tricky to a novice, but really easy to an experienced player. This game can be difficult to keep a ball in play with 6 pop bumpers, really powerful slingshots, and fast paced gameplay!
Recommended to anyone looking for an earlier Williams title. Anyone who knows Pat Lawlor games (Funhouse, Addams Family, Earthshaker!) and enjoys his tables should look for this one!
Lille
8.581/10
11 years ago
Fantastic game, lots to shoot at and with music that never get old. Only gripe is lack of reliability with the Williams system 11.
9.540/10
11 years ago
This has to be my favorite pin I own. I can play this all night long! Play shots are all over the field, the story is great, 3 spinning disks on the playfield makes the ball unpredictable. The fan is a really cool effect. If you can grab one, do it!
7.732/10
11 years ago
This was my 1st pin. I like it pretty good. Theres other out there I dig better but theres a reason it's ranked in the top 100. Many things to do, action is there. Its fun, drop the coin & play anytime you find one..
8.944/10
11 years ago
One of the more fun pinballs out there. I love the fan, the "Storm" feature, the multiball, really nothing is lacking in this one. The spinner can be annoying but keeps the game fresh. Would love to own at some point.
8.292/10
11 years ago
23 things I look for in a pin:
* Asymmetry: Excellent. Lower and upper PF are asymmetrical.
* Backhands: Very good. Yellow cellar you can shoot backhand, same with under the ramp off the right flipper.
* Ball Control/Hazards: Excellent. Fail a cellar shot, and you post into the outlane
* Ball Time: Short. tough game. Many long balls go top and return center post, and you have to use the force a lot.
* Drops (Sweepable): Very good. Center bank, can only hit with right flipper sweep.
* Flasher Blinding: Poor. Game lighting is really designed to blind you. I can't stand it.
* Flow/Stop n Go: Poor. Cellars are quick to return the ball, but it's quite the action killer. Ball trap under ramp is ok. Two sets of pops doesn't help get you a ball any quicker.
* Fun/Lastability: Good. Game takes a lot of focus and feel with the spinning discs, and VERY tough outlanes.
* Inlane Flow: Fair. The design is the worst of any pin I own, the edge of the playfield hovers over BOTH lanes, which makes it tough for any outlane nudging and it means the ball doesn't "zoom" into the inlanes very often.
* Lateral movement/Nudging: Good. You'll want to nudge every collision to wrestle control again in the lower PF.
* Multiball - entering: Very good. Takes 3 good ramp shots.
* Multiball - enjoyment: Poor. Not a very fun multiball. Cramped PF means there's not much room. (Thanks Lawlor!) Cellar, Ramp, and Pops are your detains. Goal is get ball set up for upper flipper. Not much else to do.
* Orbit Shots: Excellent. Both directions. Right to Left sometimes gets held up in the pops. Nice 3-way combo to be aware of.
* Originality: Excellent. Weather theme with a fan. Are you kidding me?
* Outlane save-ability: Poor. Metal outlane guides with really bad angles. Worst I've seen.
* Ramp/Orbit Re-entry Speed: Good. Ball comes back off the upper ramp shot.
* Pop bumpers: Fair. Top set is one of the worst in pinball. Hits the ball up towards nothing. Sometimes scores the drop for you. Left set is worthless.
* Scoring Balance: Excellent. No stupid system 11 jackpots here.
* Skill shot: Perfect. Best of all time in pinball. Huge risk for big rewards. OR you can go for the loop if you want.
* Sound/Callouts/Voice: Excellent. Funny callouts, and great music.
* Spinners: Very good. One for upper right orbit. Don't recall if it ever lights up for big points though...
* Theme/Art/Lights: Very good.
* Toys/Gimmicks: Excellent. Fan is a great toy. Spinning disks are great, although they are not when they are not being used. They cause the ball to move in strange ways.
SUMMARY:
Best blue lighting/art I have ever seen. Amazing soundtrack and call outs. I especially love light blue, and so this pin takes my breath away every time I light 'er up. I have more fun playing my Diner because more shots lead to "something happening" than in Whirlwind. Too often in WW, nothing happens on your shots, or you are waiting a long time to get control of the ball to "take a shot" at the ramp. There's just not a feeling of having a lot to shoot at.
Pros: Good Balance and great theme integration. Pretty machine that sounds great. A nostalgia piece.
Cons: Middle shot to standup seems like a wasted shot. This should be better integrated into the rules. Pops are all worthless. They need to hurt you, or score 1-2-3 lanes, or drops. Inlanes AND outlanes are not fun -- they have too much playfield overhang -- unlike any pin I've ever seen. Fatal flaw. Two scoops kills it for me. One of them has no value most of the time when you hit it.
* Asymmetry: Excellent. Lower and upper PF are asymmetrical.
* Backhands: Very good. Yellow cellar you can shoot backhand, same with under the ramp off the right flipper.
* Ball Control/Hazards: Excellent. Fail a cellar shot, and you post into the outlane
* Ball Time: Short. tough game. Many long balls go top and return center post, and you have to use the force a lot.
* Drops (Sweepable): Very good. Center bank, can only hit with right flipper sweep.
* Flasher Blinding: Poor. Game lighting is really designed to blind you. I can't stand it.
* Flow/Stop n Go: Poor. Cellars are quick to return the ball, but it's quite the action killer. Ball trap under ramp is ok. Two sets of pops doesn't help get you a ball any quicker.
* Fun/Lastability: Good. Game takes a lot of focus and feel with the spinning discs, and VERY tough outlanes.
* Inlane Flow: Fair. The design is the worst of any pin I own, the edge of the playfield hovers over BOTH lanes, which makes it tough for any outlane nudging and it means the ball doesn't "zoom" into the inlanes very often.
* Lateral movement/Nudging: Good. You'll want to nudge every collision to wrestle control again in the lower PF.
* Multiball - entering: Very good. Takes 3 good ramp shots.
* Multiball - enjoyment: Poor. Not a very fun multiball. Cramped PF means there's not much room. (Thanks Lawlor!) Cellar, Ramp, and Pops are your detains. Goal is get ball set up for upper flipper. Not much else to do.
* Orbit Shots: Excellent. Both directions. Right to Left sometimes gets held up in the pops. Nice 3-way combo to be aware of.
* Originality: Excellent. Weather theme with a fan. Are you kidding me?
* Outlane save-ability: Poor. Metal outlane guides with really bad angles. Worst I've seen.
* Ramp/Orbit Re-entry Speed: Good. Ball comes back off the upper ramp shot.
* Pop bumpers: Fair. Top set is one of the worst in pinball. Hits the ball up towards nothing. Sometimes scores the drop for you. Left set is worthless.
* Scoring Balance: Excellent. No stupid system 11 jackpots here.
* Skill shot: Perfect. Best of all time in pinball. Huge risk for big rewards. OR you can go for the loop if you want.
* Sound/Callouts/Voice: Excellent. Funny callouts, and great music.
* Spinners: Very good. One for upper right orbit. Don't recall if it ever lights up for big points though...
* Theme/Art/Lights: Very good.
* Toys/Gimmicks: Excellent. Fan is a great toy. Spinning disks are great, although they are not when they are not being used. They cause the ball to move in strange ways.
SUMMARY:
Best blue lighting/art I have ever seen. Amazing soundtrack and call outs. I especially love light blue, and so this pin takes my breath away every time I light 'er up. I have more fun playing my Diner because more shots lead to "something happening" than in Whirlwind. Too often in WW, nothing happens on your shots, or you are waiting a long time to get control of the ball to "take a shot" at the ramp. There's just not a feeling of having a lot to shoot at.
Pros: Good Balance and great theme integration. Pretty machine that sounds great. A nostalgia piece.
Cons: Middle shot to standup seems like a wasted shot. This should be better integrated into the rules. Pops are all worthless. They need to hurt you, or score 1-2-3 lanes, or drops. Inlanes AND outlanes are not fun -- they have too much playfield overhang -- unlike any pin I've ever seen. Fatal flaw. Two scoops kills it for me. One of them has no value most of the time when you hit it.
Baie-comeau, QC
Bucharest
7.228/10
11 years ago
There is one feature about this machine that I absolutely can't stand. That's the post between the flippers on the center drain. Never liked it back in the days of the EM's either. You spend your entire life perfecting the slap save, and the only way for that post to work to your advantage, is to sit there and hope for a good bounce. . Not a good thing for an experienced player to be practicing. It's kind of like having your shortstop, who has a strong, accurate arm, practice throwing short-hop throws, so your first baseman gets practice digging them out of the dirt.
If the fan on the machine I was playing worked, I didn't even notice it. Never even saw it until I had already abandoned it, and was playing another machine. The slingshots were lightning fast, and difficult to play. Not a big fan of the spinning disk either. I don't like ball action randomized.
I believe the one I was playing had harder settings, because it seemed like an awful wide flipper set for a modern machine. At the place I was playing it, it seemed as if all their machines had the wide spread.
In typical modern style, I didn't have my 327 page book with me, that explained all the scoring scenarios, so I didn't even now there was a 26-way combo for big score. There was actually a bright point though... The table, cabinet, flipper buttons, and the flippers themselves had the most solid feel I've ever had in any machine! The flippers were extremely consistent, with a real nice whip.
If the fan on the machine I was playing worked, I didn't even notice it. Never even saw it until I had already abandoned it, and was playing another machine. The slingshots were lightning fast, and difficult to play. Not a big fan of the spinning disk either. I don't like ball action randomized.
I believe the one I was playing had harder settings, because it seemed like an awful wide flipper set for a modern machine. At the place I was playing it, it seemed as if all their machines had the wide spread.
In typical modern style, I didn't have my 327 page book with me, that explained all the scoring scenarios, so I didn't even now there was a 26-way combo for big score. There was actually a bright point though... The table, cabinet, flipper buttons, and the flippers themselves had the most solid feel I've ever had in any machine! The flippers were extremely consistent, with a real nice whip.
8.817/10
11 years ago
One of the greatest from the Golden Age of Pinball. Fun and hard, but not too difficult to understand for the beginner. I played many pinball machines in my youth, but remember very few of them. The spinning playfield disks are one toy that I remember vividly. Whirlwind is the best System 11, which says a lot.
8.562/10
11 years ago
Excellent example of a classic pinball machine. Blowing fan topper is the best topper in pinball imho. Triple rotating discs on playfield are cool. Has multi-ball and 3 flippers. Game has pretty good lastability to me. Artwork and colors are good. Theme well implemented. Great system 11 game.
8.392/10
11 years ago
Fun game, but can be a real butt-kicker. The spinning disks keep you on your toes and the theme is integrated as well as any. Game flows pretty well despite the congested left side of the play field. The functional topper is one of the coolest in the industry.
8.576/10
11 years ago
I adore this machine... the first pinball I played at a friends house, and actually really started to get into it. I love the voices, the sounds, and the rules. Although the rules are pretty basic (hit 2-3 different targets to start storm, lock ball, clear storm) it is absolutely not EASY.m The side ramp, is a difficult shot to master, and it absolutely necessary to get it down if you are going to get any super cell door rewards. The really cool feature is once you collect all 7 rewards, once you hit the toll loop and the super cellar door once more, you get all 7 rewards again, and it really racks up the points. Flow is really nice, but the machine is unforgiving as far as ball saves (if you score one point, it will not be saved) so it def tests the nerves. I WILL own one someday.
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