Williams

Whirlwind

Pinside Rating

This game received 601 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.134 _/10

8.134

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #64 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.33

Artwork: 7.895

Sounds/Music: 7.378

Other Aspects: 8.409

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.

7.781

Your Rating?

You need to be logged in before you can rate pinball machines. No account yet? Registering only takes a sec!

Found 333 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 333 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 5 of 14.

List options

Ratings sort order

Type of ratings to show in list

Owner status of review

Exclude flagged ratings

Keyword or username search

7.413/10

6 years ago

SUS

Grayont

Pinside member

Encinitas, CA

6y 51,550 84 1 129

Classic game by pat lawlor. Good rules for the time and a very satisfying side ramp shot. The spinning discs on the playfield are pretty cool and the huge fan topper is super unique. Overall a pretty fun time.

Grayont edited previous rating on April 19, 2018.

8.756/10

6 years ago

JES

john32

Pinside member

Kensington, KS

10y 49,450 155 86 45

great game. classic system 11

john32 currently owns this game.

9.016/10

6 years ago

???

Nixpaints

Pinside member

Littleton, CO

6y 34,800 68 8 22

Fun pin with fairly easy shots to achieve multiball and quite possibly the most difficult jackpot (multi millions) shot. Great for a small or large home collection

Nixpaints has owned this game in the past.

9.200/10

6 years ago

BC

fodorfolde

Pinside member

Waterloo, ON

6y 38,050 28 4 61

This game is my favourite. Great music, solid sound, superb gameplay wrapped in a package that simply appeals to me. I simply love it, and if a friend didn't have one, I'd be scouring the market for my own.

8.707/10

6 years ago

KAR

northerndude

Pinside+ Frequent

7y 112K 4,756 21

Absolutely love it. It's a tight playfield, fast and there is no daydreaming while playing, or it's a quick drain!!

northerndude edited previous rating on May 04, 2020.

8.177/10

6 years ago

AK

Coolpinballdino

Pinside+ Frequent

9y 188K 4,794 477 2

Whirlwind is has good rules, cool features, and good playfield artwork. But, I have never liked the theme, backglass art, and cabinet art.

10.000/10

6 years ago

GAR

Cherga

Inactive member

6y 50,550 332 16

A lot of fun to play and very difficult shots. The spinning disc adds a level of unpredictability to game play as you never know where the ball is going. Call outs are great too. This machine is worthy of top 20 of all time in my opinion! Difficult to find for sale and when you do, it's priced very high. Hope to land one someday.

8.480/10

6 years ago

IAN

HEAD_boss_HOG

Pinside member

Murrieta, CA

6y 67,150 580 7 37

very fun pin! i love the drop targets and shot channel through the bumpers. very tough shots but very rewarding. the additional flipper really makes this a a top 20 game. this game is not for beginners, and really demands attention to the mode you are in. overall, very stimulating and fun to play everytime.

8.824/10

6 years ago

JDP

GemMountain

Inactive member

6y 27,750 1 1 11

A really fun pinball machine to play. The gimmicks of the spinning disks and fan are very immersive and raise the excitement level of the game. This game can play very fast and be difficult at times, but it's very rewarding to master the different shots. The rules are great for this era of pins and the super cellar bonus is a nice goal to aim for beyond the typical multi-ball jackpot. The two sets of pop bumpers on the game are also neat and help differentiate this game from others.

GemMountain edited previous rating on October 14, 2017.
GemMountain has this game on the wishlist.

9.020/10

6 years ago

JRF

Pinballnorway

Inactive member

Bergen

7y 20,750 10 13

This is a very Nice Pinball.

Pinballnorway edited previous rating on November 07, 2017.
Pinballnorway currently owns this game.

8.878/10

6 years ago

EO

dearliza98

Pinside member

Nashville, TN

7y 42,150 275 5 16

Whirlwind is a classic. Anybody that doesn't like it is dead inside. The rotating circles in the playfield, the fan, etc. really fun and unique. Backglass artwork is mediocre at best but I haven't found many games that are more fun to play.

dearliza98 has owned this game in the past.

7.932/10

6 years ago

MJS

Matesamo

PinballRI

Warwick, RI

7y 117K 1,292 112

Nice fun little title with spinning disks around the playfield and even a fan on top of the head to blow wind in your face. Can feel a little empty at times due to placement of objects on the playfield but still is enjoyable to play.

8.063/10

6 years ago

B16

Billy16

Pinside member

11y 94,300 3,701 58

Man, this is one tough game! You better be able to place the ball where you want it and be able to feed the upper flipper (then actually be able to hit that shot consistently) if you want to score well. A lot going on in this game and a lot of things to shoot for--but it isn't overwhelming like TZ. Really a great old-style classic pinball game. Very much ahead of the curve for its time, a portent of things to come. Some cool and some tricky shots, good rule set, excellent artwork, very good music, super light show (especially with leds), great sound effects and call outs that fit the game perfectly and really add to the overall experience. Dare I say it, for a Lawlor game this is almost "flow-y"! TZ may be Lawlor's greatest achievement, but Whirlwind may be Lawlor's best game. WW will always keep you coming back for another game.

Billy16 edited previous rating on May 07, 2022.

8.191/10

7 years ago

CAG

codered9394

Pinside member

Augusta, GA

9y 64,050 1,150 8 13

This game has really shown its charm since purchased. The theme of whirlwind is flowing through the whole machine. The playfield art, translight, cabinet, spinning disks and the fan topper really brings the experience together. The gameplay is really some of Williams best gameplay for the system 11 machines. The spinning disks really play a key part of the game changing ball reaction to keep each game fresh. The topper fan blowing on you during key parts of the game really brings the storm theme together nicely. All in all its a great game and wish I would have bought one sooner

codered9394 edited previous rating on October 17, 2021.
codered9394 currently owns this game.

10.000/10

7 years ago

DMB

Beardstyle

Pinside member

Longmont, CO

7y 22,250 1 1 8

Great game. Tons of fun and very challenging.

Beardstyle currently owns this game.

6.749/10

7 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

I love Pat Lawlor designs...just not this one. The playfield always seems a bit too contrived for my liking, with little natural flow. Lawlor's games are known to be stop n' go, but even Earthshaker and Funhouse have better ball flow than Whirlwind. I find the "claustrophobic" complaint that others have about Lawlor's games fits this game well, with less obvious places to shoot from the main flippers. The game integrates the theme really well, but for me, it still falls behind Lawlor's other work.

7.364/10

7 years ago

TPB

tbarker24

Inactive member

Irvine, CA

7y 18,150 4 7

This machine was quite fun. interesting spinners on play field and a fan on top of back glass that reacts to the game. Fun

9.022/10

7 years ago

S V

solarvalue

Pinside member

11y 107K 3,514 8

Classic Lawlor!

8.084/10

7 years ago

JPS

Jsampel

Pinside member

Overland Park, KS

8y 55,550 97 1 32

A very fun game, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.

Jsampel has owned this game in the past.

7.803/10

7 years ago

A-M

springer77

Inactive member

Bergamo

7y 28,800 12 7 7

Pros: The fan and the spinning discs, the sounds and lights
Cons: repetitive gameplay.

If i can choose a Pat lawlor's game, i prefer the Addams

8.280/10

7 years ago

RUS

sagejr

Pinside+ Frequent

New Hartford, CT

8y 81,300 1,100 1 7

Whirlwind was one of my favorite pins to play back in the early 90s. I loved when the fan would start to blow during the storm. The spinning discs on the playfield are also a really cool gimmick. The game has some really nice artwork, the callouts are funny, the light show is cool and the sound tracks during game play are iconic. My game does not have LED for the GI lighting and so I find it to have rather dim general illumination. To me it appears as if the number of GI lights around the perimeter of the game table are not enough to light this game properly. I will be adding LED bulbs to the GI circuit soon which will improve it. Overall a great pin.

sagejr has owned this game in the past.

8.787/10

7 years ago

RRK

Cloud7

Pinside+ Frequent

Caledonia, WI

8y 89,050 641 22 40

This maybe my favorite system 11 machine. It has a great balance of simple rules but still challenging enough.

Cloud7 edited previous rating on April 21, 2017.
Cloud7 has owned this game in the past.

8.858/10

7 years ago

F C

Faccan

Pinside member

Buenos Aires

7y 23,650 3 3 11

Excelent pinball with an excenlent flow and playfield. A must have pinball

Faccan currently owns this game.

9.244/10

7 years ago

COL

pinballwizard878

Inactive member

9y 24,900 10 7 17

Really fun game. The rules aren't that deep. Great addicting game.

pinballwizard878 edited previous rating on October 30, 2016.
pinballwizard878 currently owns this game.

8.459/10

7 years ago

LMS

Tranquilize

Pinside member

9y 84,550 3,778 35

I played this pin a lot as a kid, and now I've owned it for about three months. It is soooo fun to play, especailly on a hot summer night with an ice-cold beer. I don't see myself getting rid of it any time soon. My major criticism, unlike some other pinsiders, is that this game is too easy. I've found that as long as you have a good backhand (mine can't be backhanded from a standstill right flipper) and can nail the side ramp, you can score big, too big. Also, there are a zillion extra balls in this game. I've had to crank up the difficulty, and I'm still finding it too easy. I'm likely going to turn off all extra balls and turn off the cellar by default. Hopefully that will lesson my chances for finishing the cellar. Unfortunately, my friends will find it overly difficult when I do this. My summation is that Whirlwind needs a better balance in its somewhat simple ruleset. Overall, a GREAT pin.

Tranquilize edited previous rating on August 13, 2018.

Previous Next 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

There are 333 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 5 of 14.

You too can add your own comment by rating this game! Click here to rate this game!

Over the years

Visualizing this game's rating and rank over the years

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!