Found 44 ratings (with comment) on this game

Fun game, wife is not into pinball but loves this machine. I like it but do not love it.

This game is definitely one of the best games ever made and absolutely incredible. The theme integration absolutely spectacular. The animations are outstanding. I can this very confidently after playing it in a home environment. The only thing is that I have not played it to well and need to get the hang of it but I dont really think there is anything that I don’t like about this machine. I would love to own this someday.

The playfield layout is phenomenal, a ton of action and great use of the 4 flippers. One of the best lightshow in pinball. The rules are different of many others games i play, deep and fun. A real jewel . Near the perfection for me.

WOW, is Always fun to discover a JJP machine. Very very fun, deep and beautifull. A lot of shot to do, not too easy. The animation and theme integration is awsome. A keeper for me.

Pretty cool game overall. Could use more movie content. Scoring is horribly unbalanced and random though thanks to the super x and bonus collect.

It’s fun...Great layout, lots of shots and a blast to play. Last-ability in a private collection is not great. Excellent game for all ages location. Earns very well.

Great game , don t like the theme , but layout , flow , lighting are really awesome , fun game , would love to own it , perhaps it s even better than Dialed In ( and I love it too )

As a fan of JJP and owner of multiple JJP tables, I expected this to be the newest addition to my collection. After multiple plays at multiple locations, I think that I've changed my position to "wait and see." The initial chipping/pooling was an issue that caused me to "cool my jets" at initial purchase opportunities. The feel--to me--feels much like Dialed In with a shorter playfield and less toys. The ramps are relatively easy to learn and hit, dropping the ball below the playfield is a fun shot, but overall, the game just feels like I'm spending most of my time in the 6-12 inches in front of the flippers. I know there are orbit shots and deeper targets to hit, but for some reason, the game feels like a pair of pants that are just too short for my comfort. Definitely plays and feels like a Pat Lawlor, just maybe not the best fit for me.

An epic game, sounds are great, the theme is spot on... And the game shoots like a dream. The code gets better all the time....

Perfect

This is a nice pin, just not one that I can personally connect to. The game play is good, lay out is nice as well. A little too childish for me. Maybe I will sit down for a couple of hours and watch the movie to help me understand it a bit better. Just a title that is not that attractive to me and does not have any endearing qualities that would entice me to play it again. Every title has its fans and unfortunately I am not one of them

Can be a very long game. A bit slow and floaty like most JJP but the modes and playfield multipliers being timed makes it feel quite a bit faster as you are usually in a race against the clock to score big points. The ramps are very easy and satisfying to hit and the momentum is mostly outstanding.

Very dangerous when the ball comes out of the pops which can happen fairly often due to being fed from the autoplunge and the upper left flipper. With the default tilt rules on this can be a very frustrating ball drainer.

Not the best JJP. Lets face it, it's an old 70's movie that does little for most of us. Not exactly star wars theme here. I willl give a pop and says the sound is incredible, I don't how you can play this without a bright light room or pinstadium lights. it's just too dark on the playfield.

as for the game, the shots are limited in this. Comparing to other JJP, such as Dialed In, I feel like that game or Wizard of Oz are a lot better.

I like Gene Wilder and I like the movie this pin is based off, and I even read the book when I was younger. With that said, I really don't like this theme. I think the theme lends itself to pinball, but its not a grail theme for me.
This is the standard I am reviewing. I think the art package is a joke. And garbage. The backglass is just text. BORING. The cabinet looks good, but doesn't pop... Does look good for text, but I hate just text cabs. The playfield art is well done, but I think it lacks energy. Its not cluttered, which I do like, but again just lacks that it factor. But, it is good art.
I really like the layout for this pin. I think not only does it have a unique layout, but I think it shoots great. Easy to chain shots, easy to hit the ramps over and over again. Ramps feel smooth. Has an interesting spinner location.

What I think is a bit hard to follow... At least for me. I never know what to shoot for or how to get anything besides gobstopper mb going. I'm generally good with rules. I won't lie... I hate insanely deep games. If anything I rather a shallow game like space shuttle or sorcerer. But, I do like games with deeper code, but I think it has to be done right. And this code feels deep for deepness sake, and that makes it hard to get into. I think you should reward the player for opening up the game, not hinder them for not knowing how to open it up.
As for the toys, you have a camera, and the gobstopper mb. And I really like the gobstopper lock. Just a cool concept. Slightly dangerous shot, but it should be, and really its not horribly dangerous, so its worth the risk.

As for the lighting. I think its as well done as any modern game, but the one thing I don't like. When you hit some shots on the ramp all the lights flash way too much, and I can't tell which inserts to flip or change because it won't tell me which one is lit or unlit, that is annoying.

I feel this game fits the theme as well as anyone could hope. I do know a lot of people were expecting more... But, I don't know what could have been done different in terms of playfield or toys. And I think when coupled with the interactivity of the backboxes animations. I think you have a really nicely themed pinball machine. Does the playfield resemble a medieval madness, or monster bash. No it doesn't. But, it still has a nice world under glass feel to it.

Lastly, while I enjoy playing this game. To me there is a spark missing from it. It shoots well and smooth. I enjoy the animations and callouts. But, to me it just lacks the energy. No real shot has me on edge if I'm going to make it. I mean... Take a very old game like Elvira and the Party Monsters. When you get 2 balls locked the music changes and speeds up to make you nervous about hitting the lock. And then when you do, you get rewarded with the Lights, Organ, "organ Music", and oohhh nice organ callout. Then the yelling and MB starts. It all adds up to a moment. And I don't get that with any shot. Yes, I'm not happy when my ball drains. But, to me this game doesn't have any anxiety inducing shots like the 3 million point shot on EATPM. Not saying that game is better. All I am saying is, for me this game lacks a little bit of pep or pop. Still I always enjoy shooting it. And I think Wonka fans(of the movie) should love this pin. Its a really well made one. But, has Pat ever done a bad pin.

Solid license of one of my favorite movies. Actual gameplay is among my favorite pins in recent years, with shots that just feel so smooth. Fun for all, and there are so many different ways to go about the goals. Again, I can't talk about how much I love playing it again and again for the game, but do feel they dropped the ball a little on actually incorporating more iconic features/gags/scenes from the movie. Game is amazing. Theme feels a little empty in actual presentation.

Played this on location in Calgary. Flippers weak. How is that possible for a new game?
Didn't love the layout, nor the lighting which was very, very dark, mid-playfield.
Hope to re-visit this review in 2020 as I love Dialed-In.

This game is just one big missed opportunity in my mind. The hype leading up to this game was insane. After the homerun that was POTC, I was excited to add this to my collection and then it was rolled out. The reveal was a disappointment. I’ve refrained from reviewing it until after I had a chance to flip both the standard and the LE on location. Now that I have, I can say that it does have some interesting shots. But after that wears off, the game is boring. They swore up and down that the ball did something magical in this game. I have failed to find that magic.

1) The “most secret machine“ toy underneath of the spinning never-ending gobstopper was the new innovation in pinball that Lawlor tried to sell us on. What is innovative about a toy that spins around and reveals a gobble hole for you to shoot into after you hit it enough times? The chest on TOM does exactly what that toy does.

2) We’ve had LCD screens in games too. There was an LCD in Dialed In, in Houdini, and most recently POTC. Not to mention, the Wonkavision isn’t integrated well at all. As it is, it just gives tips on shots to shoot. It takes your picture For the high score board, but then what? I don’t get it.

3) The Wonkavator is basically couch Multiball on TSPP.

I pictured this game being vastly different from what was presented. I’ll admit, I got bit by the hype too. Almost every ‘pinball insider’ that got an early peek swore up and down that this game ‘looked like the Wonka Factory’ from 3 feet, 8 feet, and 15 feet away...where is the river, why aren’t the pop bumpers capped like the trees/mushrooms (or even gummy bears), where is the Wonkatania boat sculpt? Well, it’s NOT loaded with incredible 3D sculpts. The cabinet artwork on the Standard is nothing but a logo. The artwork that is on the game is the same old photoshop clip art that you can find on the Wonka slot machines.

The call outs are the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me. I cringe hearing the old guy actor saying the word ‘jackpot’. It’s downright creepy. The music is repetitive and annoying after only a few plays. The song ‘I’ve got a golden ticket’ loops and loops and loops. The Gene Wilder sound bites are audio clips from the movie...and you will hear them over and over.

The movie clips that are played on the back glass don’t even appear to be synced with the audio at times and many of the iconic scenes are not there at all.

The light show is typical JJP and interesting, but we’ve seen that on JJP games before.

With JJP’s reputation, I was expecting more of a world under glass at this price point...I just see a lot of missed opportunities. Why isn’t there isn’t a chocolate river mech with a saucer you shoot into and the ball gets VUK into a pipe (Augustus Gloop)? Why isn’t there a mode where you eventually hit a ball up a ramp, it gets held by a magnet for a second, the arrow tells me if it’s a good/bad egg, and then it’s dropped downward like Veruca Salt? The character, Violet, loved chewing gum...missed opportunity to have a physical gumball machine (TZ) that releases a blueberry ceramic gumball into play.

There are some descent third-party mods you can add to dress up the game, but at this price point the game should have started at that baseline.

I really do hope it’s a successful title for JJP as I think they’re great for pinball. Wonka looks like a fun machine to shoot, but I can’t see it lasting in my collection because the theme is just too kiddie for me and I think that music is going to drive me crazy at some point. I liked the movie when I was a kid, but it doesn’t resonate with me as an adult. Personally, I don't want my pinball machines playing movie clips just for the sake of having ‘assets’. If you want to watch the movie, watch the movie. I guess if you love the movie, then it’s probably a no-brainer to put this right next to your WOZ.

Really enjoyed this game. It shoots really well and has great flow. I enjoyed it more than I expected too. Have played all of JJP's games and this one is hands down a close 2nd to WOZ. Left the game wanting to play more. Very fun.

Full disclosure - I play a Standard in a league and general play at a couple of locations, but play those less now that I've owned an LE for two months and play that a lot.

The pin is really good overall, but is compared to the other JJP pins quite a bit and might be a "little" below some of those games in a couple of the different rating categories. The layout is a good design with super smooth shots, and we all could come up with ideas on how it could be better with the theming in our own opinions, but that's true with just about any pin. I would have liked to have seen an upper or lower playfield and a hologram playfield mechanism (similar to the DI theater). Exiting the pop bumpers can be pretty brutal. With all that aside, it is one of the better new pins available today.

The code and animations are real good with what assets JJP could get. Lots of modes that you can achieve as you get further into the game. That's what helps to set this pin apart and keep the game play interesting … and makes you push that start button again. The light shows for the modes and lighting sweeps turned out really good, but sometimes when you are looking for the flashing lights to hit to progress, the light shows distract from that. That shot confusion goes away after you have played the game about 50 times or so and know what to shoot for with the call outs. The GI is pretty dark if you play the game in a dark room. There are light board connections for spots, but those got left out of the final design for some reason. There are 3rd party options to brighten up the playfield to see the ball.

The sound doesn't have much bass to it at all - music or sound effects. Guessing that some of the sounds came from casino slots. The call outs are good in a instructional way, but wish there was some humor or taunting here and there (maybe some of that will be in future code updates to help polish it off). We always appreciate more call outs.

The standard doesn't have the Wonkavator physical ball lock. I personally like that added feature on the LE.

Another good pin from JJP

Playfield was really dark and hard to see. The game is beautiful like all jjp games. It was difficult to understand what to shoot though. I like the LCD animations but I couldn't tell what I was supposed to do. It definitely would have been better to do a similar formula like woz with more movie scenes and to follow the movie better. I just need more time to figure it out. The game was packed with shots though, and I really wanted to keep playing to see what I could open up. Game did have the dreaded pooling and chipped clear coat already as well. Overall, I would love to own this game in a collection in order to explore it more.

I love this theme and was looking forward to playing this game. I was disappointed. The quality feels fantastic. The playfield is visually interesting. But I thought the TV and camera taking selfies was gimmicky. I wanted more call outs and memorable lines from the movie more often. I didn’t have as much fun as I thought I would. I liked it, just not enough to spend the $ on buying one. The cabinet art could have been so much better. The art on the CE is better. I think overall I wanted it to be more character driven than it is.

Torn on this one... LOVE the theme and integration and the clips of the movie. Lawlor, as always, innovates and there is an interesting flow to this game with plenty to do. My big problem is similar to WOZ - I hate that the upper right flipper is basically blind. Ball flys right by it mostly because you can't time up the speed. Would just need a little more visibility to ball to be awesome. For home users, i suppose they would get used to it as a high level skill. As all JJ offerings the game is beautiful and the toys are perfect for the theme. The one I played seemed to have underpowered flippers but i know that can be adjusted.

Ok so I finally have a couple more play of this game I'm starting to like it more and more. but for only being out I have noticed some clitches in the game. weak flipper magnet not stoping the ball on the outer orbit left side. its a blast to look at a real treat to play since I'm a wonka fan for so many years. Cant wait for the next edition to be released I just wish these could be more affordable.

Own the game(SE) about 2 months now and like it a lot. For context, I have owned all of the jjp games. The game shoots very well, outlands can be tough, but the game should not necessarily be easy. Shoot better and the outlanes won't be as much of an issue. Only areas I think can be improved are the video integration and the cabinet artwork, though the quality of the decals appears to be very high. Overall, it's a really fun pin to shoot and I think/hope it will only get better.

Willy Wonka was a theme I thought I had to have if it became a reality, but I simply just do not feel too strongly about this game. The LE at least has Gene Wilder in the art package, which I feel is a must - this standard doesn't feel complete without him. On top of that, I think the ball drain tendency is just a bit too excessive to justify continued play on location if that location requires pay-per-game, like the one I was at yesterday. It's a beautiful playfield, but I still feel like there is a lot to be desired, and I just can't see myself enjoying this game enough to continue to play it with my other current games. I'm saddened to say that I will not be getting a Willy Wonka pin, though I do understand why a lot of people are very high on it - it is NOT a bad game, it's just not anywhere near where I hoped it would be (and I knew it wouldn't live up the ridiculous hype that was generated for it as we waited for it to be revealed).