F-14 Tomcat

• Design: Steve Ritchie
• Art: Doug Watson
• Year: 1987
• MFG: Wms

Buzz

Art-Backglass 7          
Art-Playfield/Cabinet 9          
Sound 9.5
Rules 8.5
Playfield Design 9       
Replayability/Longevity 8.5

Pluses: Pat is back! Or to be more accurate Louis is gone! Thats right, the king of playfield designs was left to what he does best, and the software was left to the Stern crew to do what they do best! Family guy is without a doubt the funniest game ever made! Great playfield design and decent ruleset (Though it could have been a little better), good playfield art and tough to achieve wizard mode highlight this machine. Stewie pinball is a very clever toy which even has its own quotes (My favorite is hitting the peter target which is an out-of-control shot and having him say "Uuut.... uhhht....UHHHHT!" seeminly knowing you are flailing to keep the ball in play at that point). The game has ALOT of strategy. Knowing what modes and multiballs to stack together is crucial. Stewie Multiball is in itself a mode worthy of any wizard mode with intense music and jackpot sound calls to get your blood pumping. Playing both playfields at the same time is a rush. The music remains true to the show. All the custom speech Stern crammed into this game was amazing! The playfield has some great flow and its share of tough shots. The Beer can to monkey jackpot shot being one of the more satisfying in recent memory. Sperm Multiball wizard mode has a truly original begining. Lard and Fart multiballs are decent though not spectacular. Though the lard jackpot flasher show is pretty impressive. TV Wizard mode is a blast and about as intense as you can get! DONT CHOKE! The ultimate combination: Lard, Fart, Crazy Chris, Sexy Party, Happy Hour!

Minuses: Beer can modes for the most part are pretty worthless. The award selections should be player controlled rather than from the jets. The spinner as well caps out way too soon at 5k. I really like drop targets but for whatever reason the FART targets on this game dont do it for me. They are at a rather odd angle which seems to make them drop from random balls out of the jets or rebounds off the Stewie target more easily than if they were shot directly. As usual it seems mandatory for designers to not put any effort into the bottom left of the playfield. Can we please in the near future see somthing other than a standup or saucer? (Makes me yearn to play some Roadshow!) No 3 way combo? Come on! Stewie super jackpot is rather worthless after massive effort to collect. Also during Stewie Multiball it would be nice to have a warning when the lower playfield ball save times out as often I am concentrating on the mini playfield and don't realize the timer ran out. The Peter target seems pretty random to collect. Seems like you hit the bumper quite a few times before getting credit. Scoring... everything gets harder and harder to get as the game goes on but the scoring remains the same. It's not unusual to rack up 200 mil within the first 10 minutes. Then another 20-30 minutes to reach 400 mil. Would be nice to see the multiballs at least have a jackpot boost as the game progresses. Chicken Fight. Enough said.

The Worm

Art-Backglass 7          
Art-Playfield/Cabinet 8.5         
Sound 9
Rules 8.5
Playfield Design 10      
Replayability/Longevity 10

A BIG THANK YOU to the hard work and efforts of Lonnie Ropp. Family Guy is *BY FAR* the most comical pinball machine ever produced. NEVER have I seen people laughing as much while playing pinball, and that goes for people laughing and having a good time WATCHING someone else play while they wait. The quotes used in FG are top-notch and I can honestly say that I *still* hear speech calls that make me laugh til this day. ~Perfect Job~ on the scripting Lonnie!!!

Lets be clear on one thing...Pat Lawlor ~NEVER~ lost the magic...

To be very brief, I have never met a Pat Lawlor playfield I didn’t like. OTOH, I have met many Pat Lawlor games that I thought were not FUN due to the rules and themes that were chosen. IMHO, Pat Lawlor is the most creative plafield designer of *All Time* and Family Guy just reinforces my fondness of Pat and his designs. I simply would like to say that I hope Pat continues to design playfields for Stern, but will leave the rules to the guys who “know” fun rule sets. I have said some bad things about Pat in the past, but I hope everyone realizes it wasn’t a personal attack, but me just venting my frustrations on games he has done that have AWESOME playfields with _LACKLUSTER_ rules, and more importantly, horrible ~THEMES~. I am looking forward to the next Pat Lawlor design.
                                                                                                           
***Beer can awards***:
Probably the least fun of everything on the game. Most are useless, some are more than useless, and 1 is fun. Instead of having them award randomly through pop bumper hits, It might have been better to just have them awarded in an automatic order. Better yet, LET ME CONTROL WHEN I GET MY PRIZES!

Collect Beers: YAWN. Thanks for -almost- nothing. Quote and countdown is cool at least... “Here’s your freaking jackpot!”

Giggity Giggity: A little more fun, but just because of the quotes.

Happy Hour: If I ever get this when it matters it will be a Christmas day miracle! Has great potential, but I pretty much ignore the power it COULD HAVE possessed. Oh, if you get it going before you start your TV wiz mode it does double that MASSIVE 1M award to 2M.

Remember WHEN: I am trying to forget...   3M if you collect this right away. Worth it if lit at an easy shot. DON’T SHOOT MEG!!!

LARD Multiball: Now we’re talking! Great music at the start of this one. Lit shots are Jackpots and don’t forget to hit Meg(WHILE BALL SAVER IS ON!), to light Pirate target, to get your add-a-ball!

***T.V. MODES***:
A job well done here. While chicken fight can be ignored and still won pretty easily, the other 4 have a way of sucking you in to be played! Great choreography! Don’t shoot Meg!

Super Griffins: A fun mode where you hit each character to collect the award. Go for everyone *except* Meg.

Chicken Fight: (IMHO: Should have been “GIVE ME MY MONEY!”) Once a video mode, this was switched to a normal playing mode. My least favorite of the 5, it is simple and uneventful. Just go about your normal business and this one will usually complete itself.

These 3 modes MAKE you want to play them out!!!

Good old Boys: Gotta love the “Dukes of Hazzard” sound clip when you shoot the ramp and the scoop quotes once you start it. The DMD annimations are great as well.           

Sexy Party: Really cool to see more and more ladies cross the dmd with the more shots you make. Great Benny Hill tribute!

Ipecac Contest: You havn’t played this mode until you stack it with a multiball, namely LARD and FART. Hearing the characters PUKE and FART at the same time makes me laugh every time. Some people think puking and farting are offensive sounds/actions and won’t let their kids play Family Guy, to those people I say.....Cork your kids ass and mouths cause they are gonna have to PUKE and FART sooner or later and we wouldn’t want that! Seriously though, Family Guy set on famil settings is a great game for the ENTIRE family.

***CRAZY Chris!***
By far my most favorite mode on the game. I love the set-up, the rules, and the execution. The quotes once CRAZY Chris is started are hilarious and get you amped up! Max it out at 1M a shot if you yo-yo the shots properly during set-up (chris-ramp alternating), stacked with a multiball, and you are in heaven!

***FART Multiball***:
Stack with anything as often as possible. A good compliment multiball for almost anything. Meg lites pirate target for add-a-ball.

***STEWIE MULTIBALL***
A really fun, rapeable, exciting mutiball. Concentrate on the upper playfield to get all 5 characters jackpots as soon as possible then get all the lower jackpots to light the “low scoring” super jackpot. It is possible to get the super jackpot with the ball saver still running, so stop FARTING AROUND and get in gear! Pirate target adds-a-ball then will kick the ball out on the upper playfield. Play this multiball until the cows come home and learn to 2 stage the flippers. (More in Wizard Tips below)

***TV WIZARD MODE***
Keith Johnson did a spectacular job with this mode. While I don’t like that you can’t stack shot counts from the TVwiz mode to future TVwiz modes,(damn, that count-up would be KILLER!) I can’t deny he did a fantastic job here. I LOVE how the wiz mode counts up all the shots you made during the different modes (pure adrenaline rush) ...AND a great challenge to correctly play it AND TO KEEP IT GOING! The choreography is excellent! Kudos to Keefer, he did it yet again!

**********SPERM ATTACK!!!**********
Once you get there, lmk, *then* we can talk...I won’t wait on your call.
POINTS! POINTS! POINTS!
“ARRRR, THE GIRLS SAY I AM TOO SALTY!!!”

TIPS and TRICKS for aspiring PINBALL WIZARDS:

NEVER shoot Meg on purpose unless you are trying to light the pirate target for add-a-ball
(preferably while the ball saver is on)
That’s right...
I said ***NEVER***!!!

Learn to do tap passes on the Stewie playfield. While this is a difficult trick to master for non-wizards, make sure you learn it. It will make you a MASTER of the mini-playfield. Well, at least get you on your way...

TV scoop kick-outs will determine how well you do. If you play a game with a good one, be prepared to dominate!

Stack one of the 3 more lucrative modes, or Crazy Chris (CC), or *BOTH!!!* with Stewie Multiball (SMB) and watch your points go through the roof! ...of course, you need to have a good multiball while all this is going down ;-)

Backhand the Lois ramp on the mini-pf, a regular shot is just a waste of time.

When *NOT SPECIAL* is lit, start any multiball so you can collect your extra ball without losing your current one.

Always keep TV modes running. The TVWM is far too lucrative to not try and get there as often as possible.

Learn to flipper trap balls on the lower playfield WHILE playing the upper playfield. It takes MASSIVE SKILL, you got that in you arsenal tough guy?

Learn to shoot the captive ball and TV scoop at the same time so you can spell P-I-N-B-A-L-L with as little risk as possible. Play the game, don’t let the game play you!

If you complete all character jackpots during Stewie mb on the upper and lower playfield, if you are really desperate for the super jackpot and a flail master, (either during the mb or during the grace period) you can try a right side deflection off the beer can to try and collect it in a pinch or moment of panic.

***Instead of offering $200 for video footage of someone scoring 350M, why not be social -in the correct way- and GO TO A PINBALL SHOW/TOURNAMENT and watch some of us do it LIVE!!!

What makes me want to lift the front end of the pinball machine and flip it over on end.....

RANDOM beer can awards? It would be nice to have some 2X scoring when *I* want it, or not have some YUTZ beat me on a flail-fest-filled game just because he was lucky enough to have LARD multiball lit!

Death post (between flippers) flashing while it is *NOT UP!* (head-butts glass out of frustration!)

Spinners that DON”T SPIN!!! Some games have had issues with the spinner _NOT_ spinning and being able to clear the bracket it rests in. Design or assembley flaw? You gotta love when it takes 26 spinner shots to get 26 spins! I have reported this to STERN, so don’t think I decided to cry -all of a sudden-
           
Lois ramp shots on the mini-playfield that *insta-drain*. When you backhand the ramp, it just flies right by the return lane, rides the slingshot, off the mini-apron, and goes right in the drain. I have a design to fix this if someone is game.

Insert colors have me baffled. I have no idea why some of the colors were chosen or why they used soo many clear inserts. Extra ball and jackpot inserts at the side captive ball are both clear? Huh? I would love to hear why this was done.
           
Why I will own this game...

 Sterns Family Guy WILL be a part of my permanent collection. I like this game a lot and the play is AWESOME. The color schemes on the playfield are gorgeous. It really is one of their best playfields ever in both art and design! Family Guy is without question an “A” title game and will match up against any pinball machine ever made favorably. The humor, quotes, dots, artwork, rules, sounds, and presentation are all TOP NOTCH. Family Guy is an “INSTANT CLASSIC” !!! Pat Lawlor, Lonnie Ropp, Keith Johnson, Dwight Sullivan, and all of the Family Guy team did an excellent job! If you are a fan of the Family Guy tv show, I dn’t see how your gameroom could survive without this game!!!

Why I won’t own this game...
Stern, I don’t know what it is with you guys, but you are making too many great games too fast ! Please SLOW DOWN !!! My wallet is losing too much weight! :-D

Thank you Stern !!! You guys are doing a great job !!!
                                                                                                           

Rudy

art backglass: 6.5
art playfield: 6
sound: 8
rules: 8
playfield: 8
replayability: 7.75

plus: Hmmm, lets see what sets this game apart from the rest.  Flippers...no, art.....no, aha....I've found it, definitely the mini pla..stic characters!  Yes, this is.....er, not it.  Hell, I'll let Stewie direct me to it.  Above a rotating Stewie is of course the mini playfield.  A relatively simple layout but pretty cool nonetheless.  Complete all of the shots and you've earned Stewie Multiball which activates both playfields.  The little playfield is neat because it plays like a little game in itsself, but somewhat advanced moves such as a slingshot pass can be achieved.  Take risky shots with the ballsave going and save the easier shots for when it goes out.

The game offers many different levels of stackable features which lets the player choose his/her own path on how to score.  Want to play TV Wizard Mode?  If you want it worth anything you need to play all the TV modes and play them well.  No timing them out (Take that Picard!).  Ok, maybe you can time them out but at least shoot the captive ball/deflect into TV shot to get back to Stewie during Chicken Fight.  Or start a Chris round and spank the Lois spinner during Chicken Fight.  Wait, I'd rather run Good Ol' Boys with Chris because they sync up pretty well shotwise (Tom Wopat told me that in my sleep btw...).  Nothing like starting Ipecac, finishing the PINBALL letters, playing and finishing Stewie Pinball for Stewie Multiball, WITH Ipecac still running.  Those are some nice points there Daisy as well advancing the TV Mode base jackpot value pretty well.  Throw a couple of add-a-balls and mode extensions off of Meg-acankle/pirate while the Stewie mini playfield is running
 and you've got a whole lot of things going on.  Of course you can always just bash the beer can but if you're reading this I doubt that's your goal.  Wait, it does have value...  2x scoring, Lard multiball.  I'll bet you could use some of this during all of that!  And not necessarily in ANY order.

Also the quotes are great!  Not necessarily for those under PG-13 but they can be adjusted.


minus: Lois orbit shots which feed to the upper left flipper (ULF) tend to result in somewhat random shots.  Yes, they mostly fall within the monkey to captive ball range, but that captive ball just deadens it so perfect for a SDTM drain.  Chris shots which fall back to the ULF give you much more predictable flips.  If it could only be like the Addams orbit, left ramp. 

It would be nice to abort the animation when TV is unlit.  If you're going for Stewie pinball, you may pop a bunch of shots in the TV and the animation gets a little stale.  Some quotes on the mini playfield get repetitive.  Occasional mini playfield malfunction on V9.0 where a lit Stewie pinball just awards base value + 250k when making the TV shot, then returns the ball to the playfield.  I'm sure this will get corrected.

Difficulty:  2/3

Drac

 Backglass:8.4 
 Playfield Art:7.9 
 Sound:8.7 
 Playfield:8.9 
 Rules:8.6 
 Longevity:8.2
 Difficulty:1.1

Pluses:very nice EB shot, certainly not a gimme. TV Wizard Mode is a
   lot of   fun and the rules force the player to play the TV modes to make it
   worth   something. Pirate Target interacts well with various modes and  
 multiballs.   Having all aspects of the Mini-playfield to scale is a terrific touch  
 (rather than Thing-sized flippers for example). Super-Wizard mode   (SPERM   ATTACK!)
 gives experienced players a continued challenge. As with   Nascar,  
 Pat continues his streak with another enjoyable Stern title 
(Keith   Johnson's   talents were a large factor in this as well).


Minuses:Beer Can shot doesn't always register. Spinner is not sensitive  
 enough. Similar to POTC (PARLAY), the game is not very drainy to begin 
  with and yet there is the "raise death" bumper to make it even less drainly
   still.