Game: Back to the Future Designer: MFG: DE

TPS: Nothing here except bad art, bad playfield and no rule depth. Rules: shoot ramp to light millions, collect a couple millions, repeat.... New and improved spinners are guaranteed to spin at least 2 revolutions! (Now factory lubed with honey instead of superglue! Playfields are usually mylared and in good condition. Right ramp is usually cracked at the entrance. Sound is decent for its time. Jets and spinner not really a factor in gameplay.  If you can pick up a working one CHEAP it will hold you over until you can find a halfway decent pin. Bad pin better than no pin.

Pluses:

     Rudy: Been a long time since I've played it, but I remember it being a not
too bad experience.

     8Ball: huh?

     Drac: Strong Flippers like most DE games of the time

     Buzz: Pre BSMT2000 sound!!! God we didnt know what we would soon be missing! Strong DE Flippers!

God we didnt know what we would soon be missing! 

Minuses:

     Rudy:

     8Ball: Terrible game with supershallow(TM) rule set. Crappy art
complete the package. Michael J. Fox was so embarrassed by this pin that
he wouldn't allow his mug anywhere on the game! Hello??? anybody home???

     Drac: : Weak rules amounting to hitting the ramps until you start a timed 1 Million

     Buzz: Take high score??? What a horseshit award! Player 1 does all the work for player 2 to collect.

	Good family themed game. Simple layout with the signature Oursler left ramp. Can't stop hearing, "meow.meow,meow,meow"	Pretty boring one-ball play. Too much riding on the 3rd ball ramp for 20M. Can't stop hearing, "meow.meow,meow,meow" (yes, it's also a negative. Not that it really was a plus, but it is memorable).
	Great screened & mirrored backglass with cool "smack the cat with the broom" animation. Playfield & BG art is some of Pythons best. Killer Dan Forden sounds and speech add to the fun. Tiger Ramp shot is smooth and just the right amount of difficulty to hit. Fish Bone-us linear target is a blast to hit and can be multiplied to a 5 million point max to be collected via the upper left horseshoe shot. "You one baaad cat!"	Maximum Fishbowl jackpot of 8 million is out of balance with the 20+ million Tiger ramp 3rd ball jackpot. Spinning Seafood table is a cool feature but can award extra ball too frequently. Factory settings carry over the lit Fishbowl ramp jackpot from ball to ball which takes the challenge out of lighting and collecting it. Last screened mirrored backglass from Williams :( Bulldog kick out sometimes sends the ball right between the flipper and the center post which actually keeps you on your toes not knowing where it's going. Fishbowl ramp not worth shooting unless lit for EB or JP.
	20 Million ramp shot on ball 3 and Trash Can plunger shot are fun objectives. Smooth left ramp and Seafood wheel are also enjoyable	Trash can plunger can break easily and often is found in a state of disrepair
	Awesome Screened and animated backglass. Cool sounding 50's soundtrack. Decent shot selection.	Monoball!!! Seafood sequence gets tired fast, kills the pace of the game. 20M shot unbalanced from the rest of scoring including a maxed jackpot.
	Funny enough, I actually like this game. Fun to go for the 5 million shot. Got some fun shots. Scoring a little unbalanced...but ok. Not a serious game...a 'just for fun' game. Great Art and sound package.....gotta love "meow meow meow meow" and "seafoooooood"	No multiball seems like there could have been more stuff on the pf

Game:  Banzai Run Designer: Pat Lawlor MFG:WMS

Pluses:

     Rudy: Vertical playfield rates 9 based on innovation. Easy goal, become
number 1! You just have to work to get there. Upper playfield teaches
you not to hold the flippers up. At least until the save post disappears!
Always a thrill to hit the upper playfield captive ball when lit for jackpot.

     8Ball: Cool concept with decent sounds and speech. Defeating King of
the Hill has great lamp & sound effects.

     Drac: Innovative vertical playfield, nice tight shot to relight
kickback/ball lock

     Buzz: Awesome sound package for its time. "BANZAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Vertical playfield is a rush, especially the captive ball. Even the freestyle area
adds some variety. Cool skill shot for its time.

Minuses:

     Rudy: Horizontal playfield rates 7.

     8Ball: Set new standards in game play & price! Rule depth a little
shallow but still in line with other pins of '88. Upper playfield gets a
little repetitious once you get the pattern down to get to the top.
Still, it's no cake walk defeating Red Hot.
Freestyle area of upper PF is an afterthought that usually doesn't award
much of anything.

     Drac: Sometimes the player is penalized for hitting the right ramp shot by
having the ball feed right between the flippers

     Buzz: Bottom playfield a little bland, mostly standups. Completing
King of the Hill starts a repetitive guitar rift which doesnt end till the ball
drains. Even a collector geek can turn this game over.

Game: Batman Designer: MFG: DE

Dumb invention equivalent:

Pluses:

     Rudy: the joker shots are fun to shoot for

     8Ball: 

     Drac: It's fun to shoot the Joker's mouth and eyes

     Buzz: N/A

Minuses:

     Rudy: riddle me this, could the ramp have been any closer to the
flippers?

     8Ball: Obnoxious sound and shallow ruleset.

     Drac: Multiball is way to easy, no rule depth

     Buzz: Friggin annoying ass game. Needs a mute button!

Game: Batman Forever Designer: hey Joe, lets take a STTNG, move the jets to the left side and remove the spinner. MFG: S.orry E.xcuse of a GA.me featuring B.ad S.ounding M.ono T.ones 2000 sound system

Pluses:

     Rudy: lots of shots and things to do

     8Ball: N/A

     Drac: Better game than DE Batman w/ deeper rules and funner multiball.

     Buzz: With stronger flippers the game would have good flow

Minuses:

     Rudy: standing shot to left ramp difficult due to high pitch and flipper
strength.  SJ from cannon nearly impossible.  20x bonus award
unbalanced.

     8Ball: Playfield resembles and plays like a big plate of hurl. Gun
handle quality right up there with a cracker jack prize.     

     Drac: Habitrails often hit by ball since they're too low. Bat-Wing often
fails to register presence of ball on many examples

     Buzz: Batcave a boring waste of time when lock is not lit. right flipper is a joke

Game: Baywatch   Designer: N/A MFG: SEGA

Pluses:

     Rudy: decent idea on modes and shots, but with SucksEveryGameAlways
flippers, shots aren't typically makeable

     8Ball: Dot matrix aniation is good.

     Drac: Decent flow and rules better than many later Segas.

     Buzz: decent playfield design (if only the soggy-flip flippers were strong enough to use it.)

Minuses:

     Rudy: if you can make the left ramp, then buy a lottery ticket.  Your odds
of winning are better

     8Ball: Flippers turn into limp
noodles right before your eyes!

     Drac: Good luck hitting the left ramp after a few minutes of game play
on most examples of the game. "Thing Flips" concept was completely  plagiarized on this game. Annoying sound. With better flipper design (or a
 less steep ramp) I would have given this game a 7.

     Buzz: * any backglass featuring David Hasslehoff gets 2 point deduction right off the bat

So 1 -2 = the -1 score given. Even Pamela Anderson cant get these flippers up!

Game: Big Bang Bar   Designer: "God WHY!? I could have been famous! just 1 more month!" MFG: Capcom

* Rules based on proto software

Pluses:

     Rudy: the tube dancer rocks! Ramp lights are cool.  Good humor

     8Ball: Great sound and quotes.

     Drac: original playfield design with cool tube-dancer and nice rules.

     Buzz: Awesome playfield art. great adult theme

Minuses:

     Rudy: game was not produced, only protos were made.

     8Ball: Software could use some tweaking but not bad at all for a
proto.

     Drac: Only about 12 were made, so inaccessible to those who don't go to
pinball shows. Not the most challenging game in
the world.

     Buzz: What could have been...

Game: Black Hole Designer: MFG: Gottlieb

Pluses:

     Rudy:

     8Ball: Black Hole takes over where Haunted House left off. Awesome
multiball is a rush when you're playing a ball on the upper and lower
playfields. Great rule set. One of Gottliebs finest.
Challenging upper and lower PF.

     Drac: Getting into MB can be challenging keeping the game interesting

     Buzz: Cool sounds and voice. Wide open shots

Minuses:

     Rudy:

     8Ball: Tough to find one that actually works!

     Drac:

     Buzz: Not lighting re-entry!

Game:  Black Knight 2K Designer: Steve Ritchie MFG:WMS

Punchy Approved

Pluses:

     Rudy: Sounds are just plain awesome. Not necessarily limited to the
soundtrack, but all sounds are crisp, get your attention and match with
what's going on in the game.

     8Ball: Ransom sound and lamp effect are awesome. Double Knights MB challenge is
fun but risky to light via the U-Drain®.

     Drac: Excellent sound quality, along with one of the funnest and most
clever upper playfield designs ever conceived

     Buzz: Nice sound and light show. Dark artwork looks good. Magna-save is back!
Even some of the alpha display graphics are cool.

Minuses:

     Rudy: Ha ha haaa, No way!!

     8Ball: Sorry folks but BK2K is one of the most overrated pins of the
90's. Overall ruleset cannot be well ultilized with the poor FF design.
Sounds are good quality but get annoying and repetitious. The Lightning
wheel's 16 random awards are reduced to a single worthless award by
camping on 20K after you've played into a game far a while. U-Turn
should be re-named "U-Drain®", Drop Targets should be re-named "Drain
Targets®". An average of 3 balls drain out the left outlane while
trying to relight the kickback once via the Drain Targets®. The only
thing to do on the lower playfield is try to get the ball to the upper
PF. Average ball time on upper PF is about 5 seconds (you get the
picture). Top Multiplier lanes are worthless after 5X bonus multiplier
is lit. Top loop feature too inconsistent.
The original BK'80 is a far superior design and game in all aspects.
You might as well walk away if the bottom right flipper is any less than
full power. If a BK2K and Rollergames were the only 2 pins at the
location I'd be playing the RG.

     Drac: Relighting the left kickback from the 3rd time on becomes somewhat
frustrating for the average player because the drop target timeout gets
extremely short (but experienced players will enjoy the challenge).

     Buzz: Besides the left ramp to upper loop combo there is nothing else
fun or worthwhile to aim for that isn't a deathshot! Bottom playfield is just a waste
since the only objective isto return to the top. Top has decent flow but with only
1 flipper there is to much down time. This game would have been awesome as
a single level. As it is its just an avg game with great (yet repetitive) sounds and art.

Game: Black Rose Designer: I forget MFG: Bally

Pluses:

     Rudy: It's not a Data East game

     8Ball: Some cool Dotmation and interesting software twists from Brian
Eddy.

     Drac: Good rule set and fun cannon gimmick

     Buzz: Ricochet shot is cool. 

Minuses:

     Rudy: this game just didn't have any appeal factor for me.  I may be
biased in that any I've played have been in poor condition

     8Ball: Cannon is a POS and rarely works correctly. The rotating
platform sends the ball in a multitude of directions.  PF seems clunky.
The deflector at the end of the ship's cannon often breaks off so the
cannon shoots the ball SDTM!

     Drac: Very annoying sound from the Black Rose -- that salty air must
be hard on the vocal chords

     Buzz: Bad video modes. Little flow. Annoying sound.

Game: B.S. Dracula Designer: Barry Ousler MFG: Williams

Pluses:

     Rudy: Cool Mist Multiball effect.  Volume seems to amplify when 3
multiballs played simultaneously.  Jackpot screams cause goosebumps.

     8Ball: Awesome stackable multiballs with 2X & 3X JP multiplers too boot.
Very challenging PF with many tight shots and smooth ramps. Deep rule
set with premium sound and quotes. One of the best multiballs since
Centaur. Mist MB is killer.

     Drac: I could fill an encyclopedia with the pluses (I am Drac after all) --
but for starters how about Mist Multiball,stacking different Mulitballs for
exponential scoring, and a blood-dripping red DMD ....

     Buzz: Nice flow. Mist MB is an awesome effect.

Minuses:

     Rudy: : left ramp may be impossible to make if semi-weak right flipper. 
Results in possible SDTM.

     8Ball: Only one, the art could have been better.

     Drac: A very difficult game for operators to maintain due to the
complexity.

     Buzz: Not many shots. Ugly DMD. Plastic houses are distracting from playfield.

Pluses: Unlimited multiplier on skill shot (multiplier is held for each extra ball),Billion shot, 2 high score boards,Sound bytes,rotating upper playfield,Back-door Billion (get 4 EBs on all four return lanes and then go over one of the return lanes . . .)	Pluses: Pretty girl, mouth open, hmmm what sexual innuendo are we driving at here. Ohhh, you locka ball there, isn't that convenient..... Positives include: 1) First billion shot in pinball (well that was a highlight on the flyer) 2) Plunger skill shot. 3) Rotating ball lock faces.
Negatives: None really, but shooting the left ramp is where the high-scoring situations get created and it makes the game a little less enjoyable for the experienced player	Negatives: 1) Non linear, unbalanced scoring. Easy to get 10 million or over a billion 2) Weak flippers forget trying to hit the ramp and score anything. 3) Once you make the billion shot the thrill is gone
Pluses: Like Pinbot, but first, Everything Isn't Equal. In Order for the bride to exceed the original, she received body parts, heartbeat, and an attitude. The sounds, art, and all around light-hearted theme are its best points	Pluses: Awesome sound package for its time with a decent light show. Multiball start is an impressive show. Unlimited skill shot multiplier.
Minuses: The game play just isn't there. It's a left ramp game where you hope for 1B light shows up in multiball. Catch the ball out of jets, then shoot the left ramp. Pass to right flipper, shoot ramp, etc.	Minuses: Hit the same shot over and over and over and over. Unbalanced wheel awards. Yay, billion, big deal. I'd rather actually earn a billion. Nothing else worth going for unless you want an EB. IF you want an EB that is. Remember I said IF.