Designer: Greg Kmeic
Art: Paul Farris
Year: 1978
MFG: Bally
Reviewer
Rudy
9Ball
Drac
Buzz
Doc
Jimbo
Total
Art: Backglass
10
9.5
9
8.5
9.25
Art: Playfield
9
9
8.5
6.5
8.25
Sound
8
8
5
8
7.25
Playfield Design
8.5
8
9
9
8.5
Rules
8.5
8.5
9
8.5
8.5
Longevity
8
8.5
9
8.5
8.5
8.5
Great looking game with plenty to do. Neat passage way on the
right, inline drops on the left. Tempting double flippers on the right,
Future-spa-esque jet to the left. It's a wide open widebody that plays
fast,
furious and keeps you on your toes. Another great Paul Farris glass!
Did I just try to trap that ball on the lower right flipper???
Awesome Paul Faris art package picking
up where Lost World left
off. Bally's first widebody makes good use of extra playfield space.
In-line drop targets are a blast. Difficult to collect extra ball &
special keeps the challenge going. Dual right flippers offer additional
challenge due to the ball being able to drain between them.
Beasts Lair pop bumper area can be brutal especially
if the
bumper is weak or dead.
Lots of ways to score the special,feels
like a regular sized game
even though it's a widebody. Great playfield layout, especially around
the
lower left side of playfield.
None except the sound is no different than most of the
Ballys of
the time.
In my opinion, Paragon is the best "playing"
of the Bally widebodies put out in
the late 70's/early 80's, and second to Space Invaders in the looks department.
It's got very nice backglass art by Paul Faris (hey who is that girl?),
and some
nice scoring features from both the upper saucers, as well as the right
waterfall lane. It also has one of my all time favorite features, inline
drop
targets to build bonus X (risk/reward shot). Play strategy is typical
of
machines of this vintage (i.e. build bonus, hope to carry it over to next
ball,
and get multipliers). If not set-up properly this game can really be a
drain
monster, and to inexperienced players a nightmare. The scissors flippers
are one
source of quick drains, as is the "Beast's Liar" on the left
for those that
don't properly nudge and shake the machine. Overall, Paragon is a good
representation of Bally pinball in the late 70's, and would make a fine
choice
for a collector trying to capture that era.
Game: Party Zone
Designer: Dennis Nordman
MFG: Bally
"He passes the test, lets keep him!"
Reviewer:
Rudy
8Ball
Drac
Buzz
Total
Art-Backglass
6
9
8
8
7.5
Art-Playfield/Cabinet
7
9
9
9
8.5
Sound
6.5
9
7
8
7.5
Rules
4
7
6
5
5.5
Playfield Design
4.5
8
6
6
6
Replayability/Longevity
4.5
8
6
6
6
Total Score
7
Pluses:
Rudy: Get the Big Bang!
8Ball: Huge improvement over Dr Dud. Great sound,
speech, toys and
effects.
Cool ramps and lock shot. Big Bang is a riot.
Drac: Humourous, light-hearted theme w/ good sound
bites like it's
predecessor. Fun to try for 10x bonus during 2x playfield . . .
Buzz: Cool artwork and some good tunes. Fun multiball
going for Big Bang.
Minuses:
Rudy: silver balls turn to blue balls as you achingly
shoot the left ramp
over and over. What's up with Chicken Feet song choice?
8Ball: No way to kill Capt. B. Zar. Center eject saucer
in a class
with SW:E1 for not sticking. Way Out of Control lane can be exploited to
make other features scoring worthless.
On a Rev L1 it maxes at 70mil per shot, combine that with 10X pf scoring
and you have a Way Out of Control score! Latest Revision maxes at a more
reasonable level.
Drac: Same strategy as DE Star Wars except you shoot
the left ramp
instead of the right ramp and you want to shoot it during MB.
Buzz: Very shallow and exploitable ruleset. Center
saucer shot to difficult. To hard to light multiball after 2 previous, better
off going for the comic and hoping for 'Suprise'
Game: Phantom of the
opera
MFG: DE
AKA: Flailing at the opera
TPS:: A decent home pin for the casual player although it can be a drain
monster. The solid state "pulveriser" flippers add a unique
twist to multiball - multiplayfieldpostball. To carry on the tradition
of their Secret ServiceCall pin the flippers have so much power they break
playfield posts off at will. This can be a challenging addition to reg
MB by trying to control 3 balls and 4 broken posts on the PF at once!
This pin has "ZERO" flow and plays clunkier than bowling with
a rock. The VUK ball poppers break often due to poor design. Sound is
excellent, how can a company have a good sound system and ruin it with
the newer vastly inferior BMST2000 sound system? Most POTO's have good
playfields thanks to mylar overlays. It's funny that the game flyer boasts
a new "Kryptonite" playfield coating being the "worlds
hardest surface", "Harder than a diamond" and the only
place you see a lot of wear is on un mylared "Kryptonite" areas!
Oops! .00000000001 amp motor that is suposed to open/close the organ weeeeak
and binds easily. Spinner comes factory lubed with super glue. Most under
playfield parts are pretty reliable with the exception of the VUK's. Many
examples have melted inserts due to shorted flashers. Look for missing
or broken "Magic Mirror" and punched out speakers from angry
players. (pre-metal screen era)
Reviewer:
Rudy
8Ball
Drac
Buzz
Total
Art-Backglass
8
8
3
9
7
Art-Playfield/Cabinet
7.5
8
4
7
6.5
Sound
6
8.5
4.5
8
6.75
Rules
4
4
3
5
4
Playfield Design
4.5
4
1
4
3.5
Replayability/Longevity
4.5
4
2
3
3.5
Total Score
5
Pluses:
Rudy: The art is the best part about this game.
8Ball: Nice sound and art
Drac: Unfortunately there aren't any
Buzz: Good sound (Pre BSMT2000 of course!) Double
your score effect awesome.
Minuses:
Rudy:
8Ball: Ultra-clunky(TM) playfield and weak rule set
make this pin a
yawner. Most fun part of game: Try to get the spinner to spin more than
2 revolutions.
Drac: The playfield is totally wasted by the big organ
in upper right playfield
Buzz: Not much to do, shoot the huge organ :)
Pinballreviews.com: Mini Review
Pharaoh
By 9Ball
Backglass art - 8
Playfield art - 8
Playfield design 8.75
Sound 9
Rules - 9.5
Longevity - 9
Total: 8.75
Difficulty 2/3
Overview - Pharaoh is one of the 4 Williams multi-level multiball pins of the early 80's along with Black Knight, Solar Fire & Jungle Lord and is the best of the 4 in my opinion based on playability, rules & features. Lots of cool features & rules are utilized on this game. The sound and speech is also very good.
While the backglass is not mirrored it still has a cool look and nice detail using a lot of brown & yellow. The playfield art is not too busy and nicely detailed. The same artist did Warlok and the world renowned Cyclopes. This game is all about set up and execution. Starting with the top of the playfield there is a standard length flipper on the left a short flipper on the right above the left metal ramp. There's a Hidden Tomb kickout that feeds the UL flipper from the lower PF and a candycane shaped shot called the Slaves Tomb which starts a 5X hurry up Stop & Score at the captive ball Pharaohs Chamber based on how many PHARAOH letters that are lit. When the ball is kicked up to the UL flipper it lites a hurry-up point value at the top center kickout which also acts as a multiball lock. There is a stand up target to the right of the Chamber that lights for a timed period to spot a bonus multiplier when the lower left inlane is made. The ball feeds to the upper PF with a shooter lane plunge. 2 sets of 3 drop targets round out the upper PF that advance the PHARAOH letters to light the locks and EB. The EB lite alternates with the the Slaves Tomb & Hidden Tomb shots. There are 4 ways to get the ball to the upper PF; shooter lane plunge, Rt metal ramp, Center metal ramp & the hidden tomb.
Moving down to the lower PF there is a 2nd Spot X target that is lit buy rolloing down the Rt inlane for a timed period. There are 2 more sets of 3 drop targets that add Magna-Units (up to 7) to the Magna Saves at the outlanes. There is a top saucer lane kickout that lites for a multiball lock and also scores a Hurry up value when qualified.
Pluses - Magna-Saves! One above each inlane/outlane that can be advanced up to 7 seconds of continuous hold by keeping the button pressed or it can be tapped to finesse the ball out of the outlane. Each tap deducts a Magna-Save lite from 7 to 0. The bottom drop target banks advance the Magna-Saves up to 7. Completing both lower drop arget banks before the timer runs out will light the Hidden Tomb lane to collect bonus X any multipliers. There is a Bonus Ball feature that is automatically qualified when a 2 or more player game is played. The highest scorer gets to play a final 25 second unlimited multiball @ 2X scoring. Hitting the Slaves Tomb captive ball will lite the the "?" marks at each outlane one at a time. The ? awards random points.
Pharaoh is a very fast fun playing game with lots of well placed targets & features. I need to get mine back!
Minuses - The lower playfield is very difficult to keep the ball in play so try to pick off frop targets and bonus multipliers during multiball.
Strat's - I felt most comfortable backhanding the Hidden Tomb lane to get the ball the the upper PF. The center ramp is dangerous if you miss and the right ramp is a tough shot. The Hidden Tomb sets you up for a hurry up shot to either eject hole based on how many Pharaoh's Chamber letters you have. The value is 3X if the hurry up is collected by hitting the Chamber captive ball. The Hurry-Up value is displayed in the one of the displays on the backglass and disappears once it reaches 0 or it's collected.
Trap the ball on the upper playfield left flipper and backhand just the bottom drop target on the left bank, re-trap the ball then tag the top left drop target on the right upper taget bank. This will advances the Pharaohs Chamber letters one step. If you knock down 2 or 3 targets in either of the the upper 2 banks then you must knock the same amount down in the opposite bank to advance the Pharaohs Chamber.
Some Pharaoh's will allow you to backhand the Slaves Tomb which really comes in handy since it's a tough shot with the right mini flipper. This will set you up for a 5X shot Pharoah's Chamber hurry up value. Some of the biggest points opportunities come from the Hurry-ups and the collect bonus shot.
Learn to *finesse* the Magna-Saves by just using 1 or 2 Magna-Units at a time instead of just holding down the button for the full duration.
Pinbot
Design: Barry Ousler
Art:Python
Sound: Chris Granner
Reviewer
Rudy
9Ball
Drac
Buzz
Doc
Jimbo
Total
Art:
Backglass
7.5
8.5
8.5
8
8
8
Art:
Playfield
8.5
8
8
9
8
8.25
Sound
8
9
9
9.5
8
8.75
Playfield
Design
7.5
8.5
8.5
7
8.5
8
Rules
8
8.5
9
7
8.5
8.25
Longevity
8
8.5
9
7.5
8
8.25
8.25
Ball locks hidden below
an innovative mechanical moving visor.
Great skill shot on the corkscrew ramp. Another skill shot is available
on the strobing visor targets. You can play this game for high scores
through multiball as well as trying to reach the Sun for a special award.
The game may seem a little simple compared to recent games, but it was
a blast to play and was very high tech in its day. Game was so great
it inspired a sequel (Bride of Pinbot) as well as a rehash (Jackbot).
none
Cool pin with a
lot of interesting features including the motorized 5 target bank which
drops as the visor opens revealing the two ball lock saucers. Hit the
flashing light bar target on your first shot to open the visor, otherwise
you have to complete the grid with a lot of dangerous shots to all the
grid targets. Plunger skill shot advances to a cool million points and
rewards you with a killer light & sound show when at 10X . Collecting
the Solar Value or max bonus gives a great light and sound show as well
& a ton of potential points (Solar Value is over 5 mil ). Game has
well balanced scoring once the Solar Value is collected. Not exactly a
pin with "great" flow but it does make good use of playfield
space and there's plenty of open space in the middle. Lite bar on backbox
adds some good lamp effects. Locations love that test report knocker on
power up!
Ball lock saucers
in visor often reject a cleanly locked ball. Not really a minus but the
planet award sequence up to the "Sun" special quite blatently
taken from Stern Galaxy. Observation: Super mega drain (TM) outlanes can
be quite brutal especially when the game has new rubber rings installed.
The planet advance target can have suicidal drain tendencies when hit.
A less dangerous way to advance planets is to hit the 3 bank drop targets.
Cabinet art is pretty darn ugly even by 1986 standards.
Awesome skillshot,
great lock shots for multiball, and terrific sound bytes
Saucer kickouts
occasionally go between either flipper and the center post, but overall
a very good effort from Williams.
Great skillshot
and lightshow. Sounds were the bomb in the mid-80's. Barry Ousler's follow-up
to Space Shuttle did not disappoint!
SDTM drains from
the saucers are quite common. Game is WAY to easy to turn over. Once solar
value is collected it becomes rather worthless. Kickout saucer area often
looks belt sanded.
The original of the trilogy, and still enjoyable to this date. Great lighting
effects and furious multi-ball
play. Good enought to copy for Jackbot, enough said.
Positives
1) Player controlled skill shot off of the plunger, I always
liked this.
2) Simple but functional rules (should I go for planets or just play multi-ball
and get jackpots?)
3) Great lighting effects, especially the big flasher in the pop bumper
area.
4) Still enjoyable to play to this date.
Ugly outlanes,
but at least they are balanced by the center post.
Hard to find one in good shape, and locks can be troublesome with poor
maintenance
Game: Pinball
Magic
Designer:
MFG:
Reviewer:
Rudy
8Ball
Drac
Buzz
Total
Art-Backglass
6.5
6.5
7
7
6.75
Art-Playfield/Cabinet
8.5
6
7
5
6.5
Sound
7
8
6.5
9
7.5
Rules
8
7
7.5
8
7.5
Playfield Design
7
7
8
8
7.5
Replayability/Longevity
8
7
7
8
7.5
Total Score
7.25
Pluses:
Rudy: Levitating ball, magnetic wand and crystal ball
all have nice effects.
Option to go for quick multiball jackpots or advancing through the
magician levels allows you to play it different ways. If you opt for the
latter you will have to play all the shots. Best Capcom produced game.
8Ball: Decent first game for a new company. Cool skill
shot and
magnetic magic wand effect is awesome.
Sound quality is very good.
Drac: Skill shot is cool (ball does corkscrew on habitrail).
Ball Traveling
across wand is cool. Interesting final mode
Buzz: Best skill shot in pinball history. Cool sound/lamp
effects. Neat toys
like the wand & levitating ball.
Minuses:
Rudy: Some dislike the linear game play when going
through the
magicians.
8Ball: Final mode is disappointing. Too much red on
playfield
Drac: Kind of copies Fish Tales with captive ball
awards. Delayed but
inevitable tilt
Buzz: Ugly playfield art and linear game play. in
multiplayer games
the scores of your competitors are not shown unless you go into "pinfo"
making it an instant tourny classic next to junkyard, ID4 & whodunnit.
No jinx, no jinx!
Reviewer
Ratings
Pirates of the Caribbean
Category
Art
Backglass
8.5
9
7
9
8
9.5
8.5
Art
Playfield
7.5
8
7
8
7
9
6.5
Sound
7.25
8
8
6
7
8
7
Playfield
7
7
7
5
7
8.5
7.5
Rules
7.25
7
7
5
8
9
7.5
Longevity
7
7
6
5
7
10
7
Total
7.5
Stern, 2006
Difficulty 1/3
Buzz
Pluses: Attractive looking game with good QUALITY sound (See minuses) and simple ruleset for the novice player. The final mode is extremely difficult to beat which should keep you coming back for more (See minuses) I would like to see a gold edition of this game as the stunning artwork just begs for it. The game has a good quality "Feel" to it and the flippers seem to be up to par with making the shots. Mixmaster shot adds some random fun and is much more enjoyable than previous attempts to use the same feature. I really like the skill shot lanes elevated from the rest of the playfield (See minuses) and of course that addictive "Pirates life for me" tune! Davy Jones' battle is very fun with the ship diving under the playfield to avoid shots. Very clever!
Minuses: I sure hate to bag on what is a sure fire hit for Stern but some elements of this game left me scratching my head. I will say what WORKED for Dracula does not work for Pirates. The ALL-OR-NOTHING scoring system really sucks in my opinion. I long for the days when lighting a spinner and nailing it was satisfying, or have the ball in the bumpers to rack up the points. Or maxing out your bonus and watching the machine go crazy as it collects. Todays games are so goal oriented that they have lost what made them fun to begin with! Newbie on the street see's the ball in the bumpers for a long time, makes the orbit shots, hits a bunch of targets, drills the spinner a few times, looks up at his score and wow, he has hardly any points! Expert pinball player walks up and informs him he is doing it all wrong, you gotta rape the same shot over and over to start multiball, then use that multiball to start the 4 other multiballs. Then when you are done with that you go to the wizard mode which is a super-multiball! Don't bother shooting targets, bumpers or spinners as they are a waste of time! There are no fun shots on this machine at all! No spinners to spin, no targets to drop. Granted the ship is pretty cool but in the end its just an elaborate bash toy. This machine is a perfect example of that formula much like Dracula. On Drac you shoot the same 3 shots to start multiball and get jackpots. On POTC you shoot the same 3 shots over and over to start multiball and collect jackpots. But Drac has a payoff with combining all 3 whereas POTC does not. The only benefit is to double your scores for the 3 seconds the ball is in the mixmaster. Shooting the coffin/ ramp on Drac is fun. Shooting "Dead mans Chest" is not! In fact on most POTC's I have played the chest rejects a good 20% of the shots to it. Not only that but it is so damn boring! Your reward for pounding away at this dead-end shot? A multiball where you get to shoot it some more! Woohoo! Voice acting is HORRIBLE! You can't hear half the quotes and the other half are so idiotic and leave you wondering what this person of whom you are "jealous of his accent" has to do with the movies! And while the sound quality itself is great, the sounds themselves get repeated WAY TOO MUCH! Do we really need a fanfare from the ball exiting the right "Orbit"? And all the elaborate sounds for such petty things as hitting slings and standups. Cpt Jack seems very AWOL from the sound package. The playfield design itself is very uninspiring with many dead-ends and just NOT-SO-FUN-TO-SHOOT shots like the jack ramp, right & left "orbits" and center saucer. What is the purpose of the Broadside skill shot when the sails are up? As of 1.13 NOTHING! While the game is not very drainy the wizard mode is incredibly hard often taking 4 or 5 tries to complete... which brings up my biggest peave. After failing 4 winds multiball every objective resets except for the ship which now takes 6 hits just to knock down the sails! Im sorry but as cool a toy as the ship is doesnt mean I wanna shoot it 12 times to get a two ball multiball!
Stern has done a great job in securing this liscense to ensure this game will be a smash hit. As it is if this design/ruleset was used on a not so strong liscense it would fail in my opinion.
The Worm
Jack The Monkey - This may very well be the most annoying shot in pinball on many levels, but it isn't what you think... (I LOVE IT ) 1 out of 100 times you can choke it from a right flipper trap, so don't even bother. You need to make this shot from the left flipper, preferably with a rolling start, and then not choke when it is time to collect the Hurry-Up If you do, have fun making the shot 4 more times and then have to face one of the biggest pressure shots in the game. There is a slight *grace period* so flail away (Jack seems to max out at 5M, so it really isn't worth trying to rape at all) It is so simple, yet so difficult and can deliver some nasty drains if you miss either to the left or the right. (Read more about this annoying little shot in "four winds".)
Ship Sunk - While the toy is quite enjoyable to see in motion and I give MAD PROPS to it's inventor, I feel this was a wasted requirement to qualify FWM. I personally don't like when you are awarded -anything- when completing such an easy task. While "I" am the king of griping about giving the beginners "FRONT END CANDY", this lens is awarded for doing almost nothing and awards just as much. You can get 2 shots (destroy sails) to the ship before the ball-saver even turns off, and with the Kraken Destroyed award, I see no point in wasting a pf lens on Ship Sunk.
Collect Crew - (Where 2 nothings equals a something?)Where Basically being awarded nothing, for doing nothing, then being awarded something for doing nothing twice. (Get that?) Besides a cool sound effect, this mode is better off ignored.
Sword Fight Completed - 20 pop bumper hits? Too easy for anyone. Did I mention how I hate pitiful goals?
Davy Jones Defeated - EESH. You need to play this one really smart. Have heart multiball and Tortuga ready to stack with DJMB. My biggest gripe about Davy Jones is that you really bust ass to defeat Davy Jones, stacking 2 other multiballs to do it, you work tortuga to get 2X and 3x scoring going only to have 4WMB start on the first 2 shots to the center shot. Why some enjoyable raping is interrupted to go into 4WMB I HAVE *NO* IDEA. It doesn't make sense to me when programmers punish players by ending fun after some hard work was done. You are *force fed* 4WMB instead of being able to put the game through the motions and enjoy what the multiballs have to offer.
Heart Super Jackpot -
shoot chest "K",
shoot chest "E",
shoot chest "Y",
shoot chest "opens"
shoot chest "H",
shoot chest "E",
shoot chest "A",
shoot chest "R",
shoot chest "T",
shoot chest "<3 MB",
shoot chest "H",
shoot chest "E",
shoot chest "A",
shoot chest "R",
shoot chest "T"
"HEART SUPER JACKPOT " FINALLY ONLY 14 SHOTS TO THE SAME PLACE
All Pirates - Man, I am not even going to comment...
Max Jackpot Value - With max jackpots at 2M, it is very lucrative to get the jackpots maxed ASAP and then get them lit Especially since Tortuga can get jackpots up to as much as 8M a shot
Port Royal Completed - I really feel this is yet another waste of a playfield lens on the compass that could have been better used. When you can complete Port Royal in 2 shots, something just isn't right. While later code has made it more difficult to start TMB, it is still a pet peeve of mine to award something when you are really trying to accomplish something else.
Kraken Destroyed - (What happened to the ball-saver?) Actually, I like this little 2 ball mb with no ball saver. It makes it -slightly- more challenging. If you decide to stack multiballs when fighting the kraken, DON'T SCREW AROUND! There is literally zero ball saver or grace period if you lose one of your 2 balls during kraken battles.
Four Winds Multiball - I like it, I LIKE IT A LOT. I wish we had more of this during normal game-play, but I guess it makes 4WMB that much better. 32 shots of white-knuckled madness. One of the reasons 4WMB is so frightening is because there is something more scary after it than being face2face with the Kraken itself
Gauntlet of Pirates multiball - THIS IS WHY I PLAY PINBALL Total whore of a mode Challenges you at every turn Only ye with the most control can be Pirate King Keith Johnson has done it (yet again) with a well balanced, almost impossible *SUPER* wizard mode Considering I have only had a slightly better than 5% success rate when playing GOPMB, I would say Keefer has the perfect balance of difficulty VS reward in this mode. -Never- has a bell chimed so pretty as when ye hear the bell toll for ye who makes his shots Completing this mode will get you treasure beyond your wildest dreams NO, I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 4WMB! PLAY BETTER!
Impressive - More rules on the playfield to help guide players along. You can -NEVER- have too much, so please keep up the good work guys.
Time to re-design - I think it is time to re-design the stationary target in pinball. There is a quality issue with the targets changing position from side to side and it needs to be corrected. This is not something that is Sterns fault, it has been around for years, but it is something Stern could redesign and improve.
*An example is when you are shooting the Tortuga ramp and have the ball rattle in the entrance. When the ball hits off the sides of these targets, it moves them out so it not only impedes other shots, but when shooting the ship specifically, it can cause SDTM drains even on perfectly leveled games easpecially with the gate re-alligning the ball to drop to the left flipper like the game was designed to do. When the target gets really jacked to the right, it can cause deflections directly into the right sling-shot wherein massive chaos insues. As the game gets more plays, the targets become even looser and make shots really tight. The middle shot for "Roll Dice" becomes ultra-tight.
NIT-PICKING - The aquarium (protective plastic shield in front of the ship) - while it does do the job, it makes the ship look like it is in a fish tank instead of a pinball machine.
MASSIVE air balls off the center shot...What causes this is the deflection off the center green target to the ball guide right behind the Jack ramp. If this guide had been designed differently, it would prevent over 95%+ of air-balls in the entire game. Now, I am not saying this is the end all solution for the aquarium, but in HOME USE it *MAY* suffice.
(WARNING : The Worm in no way endorses *EVER* taking off the protective shield, as one ball dropping into the ship could cause massive chaos to your mech and totally sink your ship for good Please, always keep your ship in it's aquarium.)
Center shot sticks almost never. It is easily the worst designed shot in the game and is aggervating to no end. The best is when you are on your last ball, with 4 Winds lit, and you need to make the shot 4 times to get the result you are looking for. Ahh, put this one right up there with the Medieval Madness' Merlin hole and the Lord of the Rings' PIMP-ME shot (Gimli).
Grace periods: OK, if it isn't an unwritten rule in pinball to have grace periods when stacking multiballs lets get it in writing. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE A GRACE PERIOD WHEN TRYING TO STACK *ANY* TYPE OF MULTIBALL. PERIOD. If you are going to make me shoot a shot 10 or more times to start a multiball, the least you can do is give me a second or two grace period to keep that multiball going when trying to stack another multiball with it. GRANTED, there is a grace period when trying to collect a Heart Super Jackpot (THANK GOD!) But I still think it is mandatary to ALWAYS have grace periods when stacking multiballs.
Dennis Nordman, Dwight Sullivan, Keith Johnson, Kevin O' Conner and the rest of the POTC design team have done an excellent job designing a game that appeals to both beginners and Wizards alike. The game has grown on me the more I play it and I will own one sometime soon. Thank you everyone at www.SternPinball.com for making the games I love to play.
9Ball
Pluses: Awesome toys in this pin! The Pirate Ship is very detailed and has cool effects/animation when the sails drop and when it sinks into the playfield. It even rocks back and forth before it takes the final cannonball in its side and sinks. The Dead Man's Chest is a very detailed and well made toy plus has excellent detail under the chest lid and cool effects from the red LED's.
Awesome art package thanks to legendary pinball artist Kevin O'Connor. This game lights up really well in a dark bar which is a big plus.
The Spinning Disk adds a nice touch to the game by incorporating a timed feature where you can lock up to 3 balls at once and instantly start 4 ball Tortuga multiball. Plus additional ramp shots during Tortuga MB increase the playfield multiplier from 1X to 4X depending on how many balls are on the spinning disc...great feature!
Outlane ball drain savers are a useful feature. Similar to Junkyard's "Recycle" each outlane saver is lit seperately after spelling PARLAY by dropping the ball into the top PARLAY hole. If the ball drops into the hole from a plunger pull you will be awarded 2 PARLAY letters instead of 1.
Sound package and quality is very good but would be even better with more Jack Sparrow speech and more bass.
A solid set of rules with balanced scoring and good multiball stacking potential.
Killer license plus the game will get a nice popularity boost when the 2nd movie is released on DVD and when the 3rd movie comes out in theatres and on DVD.
Minuses: Very few minuses to report. One that comes to mind is the amount of times the ball is rejected from the center saucer kick-out hole. This area could have been designed better to lessen rejected balls. It's already a tight shot to get the ball to the saucer and a bummer when it's bounces out to the right.
Observations: Green stand-up targets are deadly and will rebound the ball back to you with lightning speed.
Since most op's don't know what *cleaning a playfield* is... the plastic sneeze guard shield in front of the ship will probably become blacker than the Pirate Ship behind it over time. Granted, from the looks of that mega-ball hang up area around the pirate ship, a plastic shield was probably the most logical/economical solution.
When the ball drops through the Parlay hole it seems to be already denting the playfield underneath. This could become a problem similar to area where the ball hits the playfield at the top popper on Whitewater creating a dent and eventually a ball hang up area. A mylar circle applied to PF at the drop area probably wouldn't hurt and might decrease the denting severity over time.
Overall a really nice looking pin that will appeal to a broad range of players of all ages and skill levels. Probably the most reconizable licence since The Addams Family and with the timeless popularity of the POTC rides at Disneyland & Disneyworld it might just become the most recognizable licensed pinball of all time.
Jimbo
Well, the highly anticipated release of POTC has made it to our homes and arcades! A little late, but it made it. As an operator I really, really like this game. It's going to make lots of $$ for quite a while, and then, have nice resale value down the road. (An easy purchase decision!)
As a player, I was hoping for more. It is a good game, but........not the spectacular game I was expecting. Art and sound are great, so are the toys, but the pf and rules could of been better.
Pluses:
Well, if you like toys, you'll like this game. I must say, the ship is one of the best toys I've seen in quite awhile. Now, of course, if all my ships are broken within a month, I might change my mind on this.;0...but, so far, the ship looks reliable! The spinning disk and the chest are cool too.
Artwork: Very nice on this game. I'm quite happy with the backglass...nice job Kevin!
Cabinet art and pf are nice too. The pf art is a little plain looking but nice overall.
Sounds: Mostly happy here....most of the music and sounds are really good. I especially like the 'game over' music. The speech is good too, but I would like hear more Jack Sparrow speech in the game....he is the obvious reason why the movies have done so well; he should have a bigger role in the game too.
The rules are pretty solid, I especially like how the 'compass' rules came together.
This is multiball 'heavy' game. So stacking multiballs is the main strategy of the game, that and using mulitballs to help you finish all the compass awards, leading to another multiball...."Four Winds"!
Four Winds MB is fun multiball, nice rules for a 'Wizard Mode'. Challenging to finish.
There is another 'Wizard Mode' after 4W's call the 'Gauntlet', I have not played this mode yet, but I've heard it's quite interesting....I'm sure one of our other Famous reviewers can chime in on this topic.
Minuses:
More than I hoped there would be(as a player).
Sound: Lack of more 'Jack' speech. And speech from other main characters in the movie.
Pf: It feels a little like CFTBL, with lots of targets and posts close to the flippers. It's not a 'wide-open' pf by any means. And there is definitely no flow! This is a stop and start game. I prefer 'Flow' games.
Too many rejected shots from the chest. And the ball feed from the right orbit, is quite annoying, hitting the top of the right sling just about every time.
Rules: Can get a little monotonous, shooting the same MBs' over and over again, with no modes, per say, to mix up the action a little.
Overall, there's no question POTC is a solid game, it's one of the best games Stern has put out so far.
As an operator, I am elated with this game! It will be on the level of LOTR and TSPP earning wise. Actually POTC is doing better than both LOTR and TSPP did when they were new!
As a player, I guess I was expecting a little more from POTC. And at this point, I have to say I think I like the playability of WPT better.
But nonetheless, congrats to Dennis Nordman for a job well done. Welcome back to Pinball Dennis!!!
Doc
PRO's
-Lot's of toy's (mixmaster, pirate ship, dead man's chest)
-Stackable multiballs
-Fairly easy to reach wizard mode
-Player Objectives clearly shown
-Return of Dennis Nordman!
CON's
-Lack of playfield flow makes for lot's of stop and go playing
-All or nothing scoring potential. Did I properly stack my multiballs?
-Playfield art (yellow?)
OVERALL
Solid, but not spectacular machine. Good License and visual effects. Enough action (primarily
multiballs) that should appeal to an average player. Software not "geeked out" enough, and
all or nothing scoring potential prevent it from being a classic.
Drac
Longevity:6 (for non-novice players but 7.5 for novice players)
Pluses:Internet hype would have you believe that this game is the 2nd coming
of Centaur. In reality,
it is just another good effort from Stern which should sell well and earn
well. Parlay sinkhole to light virtual kickbacks on both sides is a nice
idea (but see minuses since this idea is best used on a drainy game) as is
using Tortuga (think Machine on Flintstones) as a random, limited duration
playfield multiplier (quintuple scoring is achievable).
Minuses:The game was clearly designed with the novice player in mind -- it's
just not drainy at all and to top it off you can light virtual kickbacks for
extra insurance (on both sides for standard settings). Tortuga multiplier
should have had a minimum duration of 15 seconds for playfield
multiplication (reinitialiazing to a new 15 second minimum each time a ball
is shot up there). Ships multiball should not end as long as you keep two or
more multiballs in play after starting it (so you can kill the Kraken and
then move on to the next ship or have that shot be worth 2 M after killing
the Kraken).
Game: Playboy
Designer: Gomez
MFG: Stern
Reviewer:
Rudy
8Ball
Drac
Buzz
Total
Art-Backglass
4
6
6
5
5.25
Art-Playfield/Cabinet
7
7
6
6
6.5
Sound
5.5
7
7
5
6
Rules
6
5.5
4.5
5
5.25
Playfield Design
5.5
7.5
6.5
6
6.25
Replayability/Longevity
5
7
5
5
5.25
Total Score
5.75
Pluses:
Rudy: Although the rating scores listed are rather
average, this game
divulges into gestalt philosophy (the sum is better than the whole). It
plays
well and scores are earned, either through accuracy or longevity. Hope
you
get to play the 'full' version. Then you can enjoy the racing stripes.
Can be
fun in short term.
8Ball: Light all 12 playmates and shoot left ramp
for super mansion
mania which is fun for a while but get's a little repetitive.
Flippers seem to hold up well even during a long game. Playfield has
some smooth ramps & backhandable shots.
Cool toys on playfield.
Drac: Super Mansion Multiball and the pretty women;
should appeal to casual
bar players which is good for pinball -- but game will leave the experienced
player dry.
Buzz: Decent flowing game
Minuses:
Rudy: How many babes can I bag before Pajama Multiball?
OK, this isn't
the only way to score but there isn't much more strategy other than this
build-up, knocking down the center target and locking virtual ball , and
collecting the random awards. Starts to bore in higher doses.
8Ball: Hit center target, lock balls for multiball
repeat until al 12
playmates are lit, start SMM at left ramp. Repeat above sequence for as
long as you can stay awake. Most modes are a waste of time due to
inferior scoring compared to MB & MM. Artwork not up to Kevin O'Connors
standards.
Drac: W/ Exception of Supermansion multiball, rules
have no depth and
playfied is pretty standard w/ exception of peak-a-boo and the shot which
collects the special on the right side.
Buzz: Typical shallow game with mediocre art and sound.
Next.
Game: Popeye
Designer: Barry Ousler
MFG: Bally
Reviewer:
Rudy
8Ball
Drac
Buzz
Total
Art-Backglass
5
7.5
5
6
6
Art-Playfield/Cabinet
5
6.5
6
4
5.5
Sound
4
7.5
7.5
8
6.75
Rules
4.5
7.5
8
7
6.75
Playfield Design
3
5.5
7
3
4.5
Replayability/Longevity
4
6.5
7.5
4
5.5
Total Score
6
Pluses:
Rudy: N/A
8Ball: Super deep rule set and very difficult wizard
mode with decent BG art
Drac: Being a fan of deep, convoluted rulesets, I
liked this game. In
particular I enjoyed the Bluto Multiball since there is no maximum cap on
the left ramp jackpot shot which is a nice smooth tight shot.
Buzz: Fun Multiball. Great sounds and dots.
Minuses:
Rudy: Well blow me down, a widebody that seems to
have less playfield
space than a Safecracker
8Ball: Software bugs galore even on L5 rev. PF has
very little flow
except the orbits. Find swee' pee incredibly difficult. Would have to
rank as the toughest mode of all time. Lock shot must have been designed
by someone 4 feet tall. Great MB JP sequence with 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X etc.
multiplier, but does not display the JP value correctly when you get it
Drac: Ruleset is very deep including several types
of Multiball, but
subtlety of
rules left most players bewildered. Bluto's mouth lock often doesn't
register a locked ball, and is not easy too see.
Buzz: Needs more than a 6" square area to view
the ball. You can lose a finger in the
skill shot! The sticker says so!
Game: Punchy the Clown
Designer: Gottlieb
MFG: Alvin G
Reviewer:
Rudy
8Ball
Drac
Buzz
Total
Art-Backglass
10
9
9.5
10
10
Art-Playfield/Cabinet
9
9
9.5
11
10
Sound
9
9
9
10
10
Rules
10
10
10
11
11
Playfield Design
11
11
10
9.5
11
Replayability/Longevity
11
11
9.5
10
11
Total Score
11
Pluses:
Rudy: This game rocks!!! The clowns, the punching,
the action!
8Ball: Five star pinball all the way
Drac: I traded my Medieval Madness and NIB Humpty
Dumpty for this game
Buzz: A.Gottliebs decision to contract this design
to Pat Lawlor, Steve Ritchie, Brian Eddy and Larry Demar really paid off.
Minuses:
Rudy: None, no way
8Ball: Not enough made, thats for sure
Drac: I only have room for 3. Must find bigger house!
Buzz: Cant fault perfection!
The beginning of the end for pinball. Alvin G. was never able
to attain such quality again. They exited the business in 95. WMS
struggling to survive, adopted the Punchy cabinet design and added a monitor
for its next platform. Alas Pat Lawlor's Punchy 2K
was set to revolutionize the industry, but never saw the light of day.
TPS:: A decent home pin for the casual player although it can be a drain
monster. The solid state "pulveriser" flippers add a unique
twist to multiball - multiplayfieldpostball. To carry on the tradition
of their Secret ServiceCall pin the flippers have so much power they break
playfield posts off at will. This can be a challenging addition to reg
MB by trying to control 3 balls and 4 broken posts on the PF at once!
This pin has "ZERO" flow and plays clunkier than bowling with
a rock. The VUK ball poppers break often due to poor design. Sound is
excellent, how can a company have a good sound system and ruin it with
the newer vastly inferior BMST2000 sound system? Most POTO's have good
playfields thanks to mylar overlays. It's funny that the game flyer boasts
a new "Kryptonite" playfield coating being the "worlds
hardest surface", "Harder than a diamond" and the only
place you see a lot of wear is on un mylared "Kryptonite" areas!
Oops! .00000000001 amp motor that is suposed to open/close the organ weeeeak
and binds easily. Spinner comes factory lubed with super glue. Most under
playfield parts are pretty reliable with the exception of the VUK's. Many
examples have melted inserts due to shorted flashers. Look for missing
or broken "Magic Mirror" and punched out speakers from angry
players. (pre-metal screen era) 
8.5
What could have been...