Calling All Pinball Wizards - List your favorites

My favorite was Twister, based on the movie. It had a big fan on top of it that would blow in your face.

Fun House.



JMRouse said:

I bet upkeep would be a *****. Have to find someone local who could actually work on it.

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Not so sure there would be much upkeep. Arcade cabinets have always been built like tanks.

From what I understand the real worry regarding upkeep is the playfield itself - namely the artwork on it. Eventually the artwork does wear-down from play and needs to be re-surfaced from time to time. I'd also imagine finding things like replacement bulbs and electronic components could be tricky too.

Still...I want one (especially Medieval Madness). Thankfully, one just came on the market and I think that if we all chip in, we could get it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Medieval-Ma...949?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f169e6cd5

We can keep it at my place and you guys could come over and play it anytime you wanted, honest.

Next two topics: tables that have yet to exist but should & and tables recently produced (though they are not quite the same as they used to be).

I'm currently re-visiting the town of Twin Peaks on Netflix watch instantly and was thinking that this would have made for an interesting table. Not sure what games you would have on the machine itself or what the playfield would look like, but I feel this ground-breaking piece of Lynchian esoteric television should have been worthy of a table.

Also, anybody know if Goonies ever made it into the world of pinball?


As for recently produced tables, I have yet to play Tron Legacy but have heard some pretty ho-hum reviews about it (like this one), which is unfortunate:

http://arcadeheroes.com/2011/04/29/tron-pinball-machine-playfield/

Sounds like there aren't too many manufacturers left so the quality of materials, artwork and fresh ideas aren't really there.

The current Stern pinball machines are greatly simplified compared to older ones. Probably keeps costs down, but they're mostly awful.

Of the new Sterns, I'd say that they rank like this:

1. Lord of the Rings (Number 1 by a longshot, relies mostly on ramps, but it has solid gameplay mechanics and good software. The Ring challenges are fun as hell)
2. Spiderman (Interesting mechanics, I like the ball catch on the right hand lane and the multiple flippers)
3. Batman (Also fun mechanics, but they're a bit awkward and don't work well together; tons of multiballs helps)
4. Tron Legacy (Relies on ramps, but ONLY ramps... way below Batman)
5. Avatar (Too flat, awkward angles)
6. Buck Hunter Pro (Potentially decent mechanics ruined by a TERRIBLE moving target that slashes diagonally across the center)
7. Transformers (Boring as hell, with no moving parts or interesting mechanics)
8. Iron Man (As boring as Transformers, but with the addition of a terrible rising bumper in the center that gets in the way of everything)

I can't remember the last time I saw a new pinball machine somewhere. The few that I do see at random bars, and such, are fairly old.