Untitled Document

Rudy: excellent utilization of space for a smaller game. Surprisingly deep
ruleset used well with backglass mini-game. Lots of fun winning custom
tokens. Rewards making good shots. Fun to play. Has great quotes and
DMD animations.

8Ball: Cool concept that unfortunately did not catch on. Deep rule set
with ample shot selection. Cool ball lock sequence.
Great sounds and Dots

Drac: despite small size, game dynamics feel like a full size pin. Very innovative playfield layout and the Magic Token idea was also terrific

Buzz: Great game. Only Lawlor could squeeze that much fun out of a mini PF. Drop targets are back!

Board game can be tough but rewarding. Assault the Vault is awesome. Just to bad it wasn't implemented as a wizard mode for spelling VAULT.

Rudy: Missed shots or a dead ball causes game to end really quickly.
Need good action jets and drop targets to keep the timer from running
down. Hard to find won tokens on floors of dark bars. Makes going to a
regular size game right after playing this feel like a behemoth.

8Ball: Another "timed" pinball attempt bites the dust! Should of had a
non-timed option setting just in case the timed theme didn't work.
Flippers useless unless they're at full power

Buzz: CANDY can get annoying at times. Rejected cellar shots when the target is all the way back.

Rudy: fun to cycle left and right ramps for jackpots during coffin
multiball. Good tongue in cheek quotes from the Mistress.

8Ball: Great sounds & art. Completing spider wheel is a grind but worth
the reward. Good ramp flow. Combine 2X PF with multiball for big points.
Multiballs are fun and frequent.

Drac: Spinner on backglass is a nice thing to bring back from the older
days when backglass animation was more
prevalent

Rudy: some have a notorious drain problem with crate kickout hitting
left jet bumper and firing down and out the left outlane

8Ball: A fragile pin with one or more features usually busted. Walk
away if it has weak flippers

Drac: Unchallenging game -- keep going for Spider wheel completion and
play forever (I realize I also said the Spider
Spinner is a plus, it's just that the rules for completing it are too
rewarding).

Buzz: To easy. Monster Multiball tries to capture WW's Vacation jackpot excitement but fails

8Ball: : Great 80's art package. Incredibly well thought out PF design
with amazing flow. Lots of well placed drop targets and spinner. Looks
easy but not so easy collect bonus/EB saucer. 4 flippers keep the ball
really flying. Rewards for good shots, death for bad shots. Great skill
bump outlanes. A true players game.

Drac: Nice upper playfield design, allowing several useful shots via the
upper left flipper.

Buzz: Girl on backglass with big cans is always appealing. Great flow for an 80's game.

Rudy: impressive use of magnet for ball lock. fun using diverters with
combo ramp shots. Battlefield is cool

8Ball: Great sound package with cool speech quotes. Cool use of magnet
on ball lock (when working). Getting a 5 way combo is a rush. Wizard
mode is difficult but but has a cool Whitewater-esque finale.

Drac: lightning fast, challenging game with merciless consequences for
missing a shot. Nice tight mode start shot and excellent flow. Sound is
insane and meshes perfectly with the shots. Great combo shot sequence (left-orbit shot followed by upper-right flipper shot to inner-orbit at
top of playfield which can then be repeated as reflexes permit ). Final
Battle is very well thought out and quite challenging (at least for me).
Shadow lock is terrific as ball is "swept" into the "building" at the top.
Phurba, may be the best video mode ever in my opinion

Buzz: Best bargain game, as they are cheap for the quality of play.
Ultra fast and smooth flow. Brian Eddy picked up where Steve Ritchie left off.
Despite bug in wizard mode (keep letting balls drain, only keeping 1 in play AFTER the
Billion was collected for never ending ball save) it is a blast to play. Smoothest combo since Funhouse

Rudy: Interesting layout which includes a moving basket to shoot the
pinball into and vari-target. Trying to get the 5 hidden modes for 1 B
points is cool as well.

Buzz: Shotty gottlieb workmanship insures you wont have to tolerate
any of these on location much longer.

8Ball: Some of the worst backglass art in pinball history. Crappy
playfield with 90% luck basket shot.
Annoying as hell sounds. The play by play announcer needs to be
slamdunked by Shaq himself!
Shoot the spinner!, shoot the basket!, shoot the ball!, shoot the
vari-target!, shoot the drop targets!, shoot the announcer!!!

Drac: Annoying "Shoot the basket" sound bite easily gets on the nerves.
Lackluster sound quality and artwork.

Buzz: Oh my god, where to start? Worst sound package to ever grace a pinball
including Gilbert Gottfreids "shoot the basket" stuck in an endless loop. All the points
to be had are via the randomness of getting the ball in the basket. Butt-ugly
backglass rounds out this turd chopper.

Rudy: Tournament mode is quite different than regular gameplay. Much
improved feel and shots than Golden Cue, much better software
implementation too.

8Ball: An improvement over Golden Cue in rules and art. Good tournament
game.
Decent rule depth in no tournament mode.

Drac: Big improvement in rule depth from Kelly Packard's Golden Cue. Adding
up-post at left orbit for upper-left flipper feeds was very good.
If Stern continues w/ this level of rule depth (saved jackpot
levels for example) we could see an emergence from mediocrity.

Buzz: Great tourny game with no exploitable features. Combos tough with those sog-o-matic flippers

but nice to see SEGA-EAST-ERN pin having a combo. Reverse english post a great idea.

Rudy: Some shots spot your drop targets so you don't even have to
shoot the drops. Noticed some lag when using the side and center posts

Drac: Delay in outlane up-posts and center up-post (between lower
flippers) activation and lane light rotation is frustrating. Not a very
drainy game so those looking for a challenge will be somewhat dissappointed

Buzz: lagchange er... lane change has horrible lag as well as the post saves. The post popping up 2 seconds after

the ball exits is not helpful. Same ole SEGA-EAST-ERN sound. By the time "Mystery" award is finally given, the player

has had time to go to the bathroom and buy a drink. Spinner spins no more than 3 times no matter how hard its hit.

Drac: Jets shaped like Nuclear Reactors are a great touch, as are the sound bytes --
a big Simpsons fan would really like this game as long as they aren't knowledgable about pinball

Buzz: This game has THE hardest jackpot to collect in pinball history! Good quotes but repeated often

8Ball: Ever played one that didn't have at least one bowling pin drop
target broken off? No targets....no multiball.
Jet bumpers often deader than Homers brain.

Drac: As with Crap to the Future just hit the ramps to spell out something (M-I-L-L-I-O-N-S) and get a timed 1 M/ramp mode

PROS:
-Captured the theme of the show pretty well. Great use of sounds from the show and incorporating a lot of the episodes.
-We like how the Boss mode is set up, where you will either finish the end mode or you will simply drain and lose your ball and have to start all over. It is difficult but not impossible, and makes players use some nice strategy trying to add balls, etc.
-The game has a nice flow from shot to shot between ramps and loops. (yes, we know fan layouts tend to have good flow)
-Stacking multiballs are great and still being able to get stuff throughout it.
-Playfield inserts really help show your progress towards the wizard mode.

CONS:
-Poor choreography throughout. While stacking stuff is great, it takes away some of the novelty of getting stuff on its own (a la simpsons) where it feels like you are simply finishing stuff just to get through it as opposed to getting enthralled in a specific mode or multiball.
-Extremely annoying during multiball when you hit a jackpot or whatever and all the lights flash, including the inlanes (FISH & RIP) so you have no idea what is lit or not.
-Even though the game has a nice flow, the design is nothing new. The wow factor on these basic layouts is all but dead.
-Reaching Boss mode is not as tough as maybe it should be. Definitely helps that you can get to Underboss without hitting the safe once. Envelope awards help you breeze through the ranks.
-Even though the getting all the way through Boss is something new and nice and tough, it is very anticlimatic when all is said and done. Kill the flippers, give me some points, movin' on.

Pluses

1) Excellent flow to ramps and loops.
2) Smooth ergonomics of playfield lay-out (i.e. inner loop spinner to pops
and mode start nice shot, flippers properly laided out, etc.).
3) Overlapping multiballs shows some depth in software.
4) Add-a-ball multiballs (always a favorite).
5) Under Boss, decent and reachable wizard mode.

Minuses

1) Safe is kind of clunky and potential ball trap on poorly set-up
machines.
2) "Party at Bings" multiball gets very repetative and ascending switch
hits to start can be very machine dependent.
3) Backglass "Photo" art not very exciting.
4) Drop target in front of ramp, to "in your face"

plus: Completing Boss involves a series of objectives and requires many successful shots to complete. Eyes in FISH sparkle really good.

minus: (Going to try this in a simplified rulesheet shot layout format) Flippers: Why do we still get mushy flippers? Could feel sponginess on the first game I played. Could see the result of absolutely no flipper response during a marathon game with a ball coming through an inlane. Fish: Constant rejects. Why design a close saucer shot that won't hold? At least NBA:FB and MB held that same shot better :P Left Orbit: Fine, no problem here. Left Ramp: Again, not bad. Unless you don't finish the shot and it comes back sweetly off the standup for a SDTM (ala MB). Inner Loop: Fine, I'm cool with it. SAFE: Occasionally shots don't register. Once open, almost as easy as shooting Brain Bug. Drop Target Ramp: Fine. Tight, can be made from both flippers. Right Ramp: Unsmooth speedy shots result in rejects, though they feed the right flipper well. RIP Rollovers: Skill Shot, blah. Jets beneath are good but Shakedown is a borefest. 2x = Double borefest, but twice the points! Right Orbit: Fine, no problem here.

Overall. BADA-BING Multiball is just bonus points when you get it started, and not many at that even if you work the shots right. Base scoring resets after each BB multiball. Episodes are shoot the red arrows and aren't too exciting. Video Mode episode is a joke (Example: bet 75k, bet 150k, bet 300k, bet 750k, bet 20M) What? How did the pot suddenly get so big? Backglass art looks like a mobster version of Strange Science. At least the people on SS looked like they had an agenda. Total Crap. Only one feed out of the jets and it is a consistent feed to right flipper. BTW, adult vs non-adult settings had no impact on this review and therefore were left out.

Pluses – One of the better bar pieces to come out in quite a while and the earnings prove it. Smooth ramps and orbits. Artwork is loyal to the show, everyone looks really pissed off! Speech can get quite colorful when set to the "adult" setting. Even *more* colorful with the directors cut eprom installed. The stackable multiballs are always nice to see. Wizard mode is fun.

Minuses – Playfield is way too familiar and not very original. I know there are risks in trying new design ideas but we’ve seen all the same ramp and orbit positions many times before, only with different artwork. Difficulty may be a little too liberal set at factory settings but it can’t be too hard since it’s primary audience is plowed bar customers.

Very much looking forward to Dennis Nordmans next effort, his design originality has been greatly missed!

Pluses:Removal of the Satellite Dish is an improvement over GoldenEye since
the Satellite Dish interrupts flow. Crack the Safe has nifty effects. Two
pole dancers are better than one (especially since there's absolutely nothing of interest on
the playfield itself).

Minuses:Ramps are not as smooth as GoldenEye's. Truck Heist is worse than
the Tank Chase in GoldenEye since you must shoot orbits instead ramps -- I
thought I was playing GoldenEye when I played this game until I noticed the
pole dancers and the Safe. Food selections not as enticing as Diner's. Sound
bites less varied than Diner's and not nearly as funny. They really should
have saved this layout for the next Bond film.

Pluses: Despite this playfield layout being done to death it pretty much works unlike the un-godly Klunky LOTR. The ramps and loops are so much smoother. Both ramps are backhandable. Sneak the ball past the drop target for a quickie bonus. The spinner is a very satisfying shot and unlike all other STERN games this spinner spins! The Safe while nothing new is a nifty toy and a great show when you get it open. The sound is top notch, nice music and sound effects especially during the underboss and boss modes. The fish is pretty damn funny... especially in ADULT mode. "OOOOH SUPER JJJJJACKPOT!" Fish: "I never heard a woman scream THAT before!" ect... Speaking of adult mode that is the ONLY way to play this game which unfortunately most people wont get to experience. i.e. F**K frenzy mode. Cabinet art is stunning. Underboss mode is a pretty nifty add-a-ball multi similar to jailbreak on Elvis yet with a nice twist of having to shoot the 3 different locks for 1x, 3x and 5x underboss value with intense music playing and Tony yelling "Fiiiiiiiive....Fooooooour....Threeeeeeeee" as it counts down. Gone are the klick-clack-clunk© sling shots! These babys now rival any waxed WMS game. You will see some speedy outlanes drains from the slings.

Minuses: Gee, another fan layout. What a shock. Backglass looks Raven-ish or Genesis-ish era gottlieb. Jet Bumpers are worthless. Failed left ramp = oh oh! Fish shot seems to get rejected alot. Drop target is in your face death shot. Shoot at your own risk. Stugots multi seems backwards. Shoot boat for 2x & Super, THEN shoot all the lit arrows for 1x jackpot? oook. Truck heist is pretty lame. Almost as lame as Executive game... an obviously rigged card game.

Pluses:

I liked the switch countdown for Party At The Bing MultiBall. A voice
call would be helpful so you would know how close you are to
collecting it and possibly stacking it with the Stugots multiball.
Maybe some cool stripper quotes when you are 30-20-10 hits away from
starting the MB.

I also liked the playfield artwork an thought it fit the theme nicely. Good job.

Cabinet art: you can't go wrong with black and white.

Wizard Mode: I like what is there, i just wish there could have been a
better ending or some reward or bonus round for completing. It isn't a
gimmie unless you get good at adding balls.

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Minuses:

Every time I play a new Gomez game, for some reason, I feel like I
have played it before (LOTR), and before (Playboy), and before (MB),
and before (NBAFB), and before...DEJA-VU!

YET ANOTHER HAZY TRANSLITE! I GIVE UP!

Where is Tony Soprano? the game could have been much better with his
voice, but i can't blame Stern for that. Still, just a shame something
couldn't be worked out.

Stugots multiball:
SWEET! The multiball in T3 was so good, lets copy it and do it again!
EVEN BETTER lets do it with just 2 balls! God forbid if the player can
sneak a shot up the left ramp without triggering the drop target that
we don't award him a lock shot.

LET'S SEE HOW MANY TIMES WE CAN MAKE THE PLAYER SHOOT THE SAME SHOT:
---OVER (shoot drop target to light lock),
& OVER (lock ball),
& OVER (shoot drop target to light lock),
& OVER (lock ball),
& OVER (shoot drop target for jackpot),
& OVER (shoot drop target for jackpot),
& OVER (shoot drop target for jackpot),
& OVER (shoot ramp for super jackpot),
& OVER...OH WAIT! Finally, I can shoot something else!
A very bad multiball rule that was taken from T3. It didn't work there
and it doesn't work here either.

PLEASE, NO MORE FLASHER DOMES IN THE MIDDLE OF SLINGSHOTS!

The fish: I really have no issues with the fish itself. It fits the
theme. It was also good that the mouth moved. The problem is that
shots don't want to stay in the shot and just rebound right back out.
Considering this shot is so important during multiballs for
ADD-A-BALLS, this is just a horrible design. The wizard mode also lets
you do ADD-A-BALLS and becomes an utter nightmare to try and keep the
wizard mode going.

The left loop: no issues.

The left ramp: Drains nicely SDTM off missed shots. I don't mind the
pole dancers, but just wish they were somehow more interactive with
the player instead of just spinning like barber poles in the corner.

The HBO (spinner): my favorite shot of the game. Awesome to backhand
and really the only way i tend to shoot this shot. Spelling
S-o-p-r-a-n-o-s is the hardest part of the game because it takes so
many shots to just light a mode. It is totally fair, and is a good
rule.

The safe: While a decent toy, all that i have seen are unreliable in
taking hits over weeks of game play. 2 of the 4 games that i have
played had the safe unable to reset and no software was available to
back-up the malfunction. i had to collect envelopes to proceed and
once in the wizard mode, was unable to finish it because of this. I
feel it was too unreliable in taking hits as well as resetting to put
in the game. Even when the safe was working, the ball would get
rejected on a clean shot to the middle when the safe had been cracked.
Gotta love drains off a MADE shot.

The pop-bumpers: yeah, they work good, maybe a little too good. They
come in handy for starting PATBMB. Otherwise, you get to hear F-bombs
like you are at a construction worksite. It is a major time-suck to
wait for the ball to free up from the pop bumpers. I actually timed a
ball in the pops for over a minute one time and over half a minute
MANY times.

FEED FROM POPS (right ramp entry): This is just a horrible feed. Some
machines will have the ball fed SDTM. Some type of gate or other fix
was needed to make this a little more consistent. It is ALWAYS-VERY
aggravating to lose a ball SDTM in this manor.

Right ramp: It is what it is, HIDDEN. Sometimes you think you hit a
clean shot but it just rattles and comes back. Hard to tell what is
going on, but it leaves you with a feeling that you got screwed. OH, i
also love SDTM drains off missed shots from this ramp as well. Thank
you.

Right loop: no issues.

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FINAL COMMENTS:

Even with a flipper switch issue, i haven't seen people line up to
play a game on location like i have with this game in a long while.
Something is drawing them to it. I really am beginning to think that
Sopranos has a larger fan base than I originally thought. A lot of the
Average Joes KNEW what was going on simply from watching the show and
KNEW what certain things meant. The games on location near me are
earning very well, in fact, one location told me it is the best stern
earner yet for him. I think the game would make operators money in
places that serve booze hand over fist, but in kiddy arcades, would be
a flop. It was good to see an adult theme again; I just wish it could
have been closer to the rawness that the show displays. Overall, I
have a decent time playing the game (when not getting fisted over bad
playfield design) but think the rules could have been a little more
fine tuned and made more fun. Again, when I think of Sopranos, I think
-RAW-. It is too bad that the rule set writers couldn't go bezerk with
the rules and really get on the cutting edge of what makes sopranos so
popular with the adult crowds.

A good earning game with good transformation from tv show to
pin. Funny for a few minutes. Finishing characters before multiball is a must. Shots range
from easy (Kenny) to difficult (Stan)

Once a player gets tired of the sounds and the novelty wears
off they find out there isn't much depth to the rules and they will lose
interest quickly. Result: revenues go into the toilet. appart from the funny sounds,
this game is totally lackluster -- I won't play it unless all the other games are broken.
Extremely annoying sound. Super-bright backglass that reflects off the playfield.
Game lacks 'klunk/feel'.Quotes are repetitive.

Drac: Same as SWT, and also it might even be better than Bugs Bunny's
Birthday Bash for you Bugs Bunny/Warner
Brother's fans out there.

8Ball: How many times can you say "MJ", MJ"? After a few minutes you
will wish Sylvester would eat Tweety to shut him up.

Drac: Boring ruleset which is formulaic. I guess Michael Jordan wanted
his name on a higher production game than
the first DE game he did of which only 9 or so were made (the repainted LW3)
for charity.

Buzz: Typical SEGA VUK which gives you credit everytime it tries to kick the ball up and fails

8Ball: Not a bad effort from Sega. Good rules and PF design. Mini
flipper is very useful instead of being in the way

Buzz: return of tandim flippers. random feature (recon) increases in value each time lit

Rudy: Sega inconsistent flipper powers, brain bug target is the size of a
toaster

8Ball: Brain bug is waste of space and money. Auto-fire turns into
auto-drain if multiballs do not launch all the way to the playfield

Buzz: typical SEGA sound re-hash. SEGA flippers suck, especially playing after john shields

Buzz: Cool backglass and Crystal effects. Da da da da da da, love that ice planet tune.

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	*Total*
Art-Backglass	8.5	8	7.5	9	*8.25*
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	8	8	6.5	9	8
Sound	9	9	7	9.5	*8.5*
Rules	8.5	8	8	9	*8.5*
Playfield Design	8.5	7.5	8.5	9.5	*8.5*
Replayability/Longevity	9	7	9	9	*8.5*
Total Score					8.5

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	*Total*
Art-Backglass	8	10	9	10	*9.5*
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	8	10	8	9	9
Sound	7	9	10	8	*8.5*
Rules	5	8.5	7.5	6	7
Playfield Design	5	8.5	8	5	*6.5*
Replayability/Longevity	5	9	6	6	*6.5*
Total Score					8

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	Total
Art-Backglass		9.5	6	9
Art-Playfield/Cabinet		9	7.5	9
Sound		9.5	7	10
Rules		9.5	8	9
Playfield Design		11	8	9.5
Replayability/Longevity		11	8	9.5
Total Score					8.89

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	Total
Art-Backglass	5.5	7.5	9	7	*7.25*
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	8.5	7.5	9	7	8
Sound	8.5	8.5	11	10	*9.5*
Rules	8.5	8.5	10	9	*9.25*
Playfield Design	9	8	10	9	9
Replayability/Longevity	9	8	11	10	*9.5*
Total Score					8.5

Reviewer:	Rudy	9Ball	Drac	Buzz	*Total*
Art-Backglass	3.5	0.5	4	1	*2.25*
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	5	2	5.5	2	*3.5*
Sound	3.5	1	4	-1	*1.75*
Rules	5.5	2	7.5	4	*4.75*
Playfield Design	4	2	8	4	*4.5*
Replayability/Longevity	4	1	7	0	3
Total Score					*3.25*

Simpsons Pinball Party! Playfield: Joe Balcer Playfield/Software: Keith Johnson Sound: Forden/ Granner Art: Tandy 1029 letter quality 7 pin dot matrix printer Killer Game!!!	Reviewer	Rudy	Worm	Drac	Buzz	Doc	Jimbo	*Total*
	Art: Backglass	6	9.5	9	8.5	8.5	9	8.5
	Art: Playfield	8	9	8	8	8.5	9	8.5
	Sound	7	9.5	8.5	7.5	8.5	8	8.25
	Playfield Design	9.5	11	10	8.5	10	8	9.5
	Rules	8.5	10	8.5	11	10	10	9.75
	Longevity	8.5	11	9.5	11	10	9.5	10
								9.17

	This game is deeper than Captain Nemo. I mean it's deep. Kudos to Stern for finally having the balls to put together a rule set which pretty much dwarfs any recent game. If you want to even try to unleash what this game has to offer you better make a couple hour appointment on your day planner. And that's for one game! The game has "stackability" for virtually everything. Run your modes with couch multiball, then add a 2x shot, then start some itchy n scratchy multiball on top of it. And keep that timer going! So much to do and still the game forces you to forage on aggressively because that timer is counting down.	Even though the backglass art is true to the cartoon images, I just can't give a glass with one fluorescent bulb high marks (at least Monotony/Monopoly had some simple creativity which looked good). Sound quality is still somewhat substandard. There's nothing that will give you goose bumps (ala TAF's multiball start, AFM's Super Jackpot). An unlucky plunge results in a quick fun with bonus. No BS on this thing. At least until you get to Springfield Mystery Spot. Then you can go knock off a chapter of 'War and Peace' before this ball saver times out. Problem is that it's not apparent what you've shot when trying to complete SMS so you don't know what you have left. Couple this with regular multiball or INS and you don't know what's going on. Sucks when you play a 5 minute mystery spot and you still have not completed it on Professor Frink's list. Could this game be too deep?
	WHOA! A Stern game with some CODE!?!?! DEEEEEP ruleset. WHOOHOOO! normal pinball=this is your brain. Springfield Mystery Spot=this is your brain on Duff beer! MMMMM beer. Superb upper playfield design, quick and to the point, not rapeable like past upper playfields. Props to J.B. The "best game EVER!" to roll out of that building. THE SIMPSONS PINBALL PARTY is the TOPPS!!! Great modes, insane stackability, multiple wizard modes and crazy extra balls. What more could a pinball player want? The programmer (KEF) must be a "YOGI".	chances are 99.9999% of the people who play TSPP will NEVER finish it on factory settings without taking the glass off. I'd hate to be one of you "STUPID FAILURES!!!!!"
	Exceptional ruleset and very difficult to-get-to Mega-Wizard mode make this game a lot of fun. The most addictive aspect of the ruleset is keeping the timer alive. Mystery Zone is the first mode of its kind (left flipper button makes right flippers move and vice-versa) and shows a lot of creativity. The ability to increase jackpots, as well as multiply them by hitting them in succession as you would for combos is also terrific (and these values can be doubled if 2x shot is lit). Finally, one can stack TV modes and multiballs together. If this is the new standard for rulesets that Stern has adopted, then players can look forward to many enjoyable machines.	None except inconsistent flipper strength (Williams has the patent on that), but I have yet to find an example that works perfectly on location.
	Best. Ruleset. Ever! This game is DEEP! You wont get bored of this one anytime soon. So many different angles to attack it from. Go for TV modes and 5 mil victory laps? Go for Couch & I&S Multiball? Forden and Granner push Sterns 'Can & String' sound system to the limit with many great quotes and decent tunes to boot. Treehouse ramp takes some skill but is rewarding. DOH mode is hysterical as well as counting Cletis' kids. Return of the 5-way combo! Sarcastic Comic Book Guy quotes are to funny! 3 different skill shots each with a secret maximum bonus. So many bankable shots: Otto standup into I&S. Backhand Bart to Treehouse ramp, Quik-e-Mart to bully's. Combine Mystery Spot with other multiballs for double scoring! Both double super jackpot quotes are great! ("Hahahaha") "Cheating makes baby Jesus cry!"	Good thing "Art: Cabinet" isn't in the review otherwise it would slip a few points. Sterns patented "Random-Register" Standup targets are frustrating. Bad choice in my opinion to use Nancy Cartwright to do the voice of Bart instead of Harry Shearer to do Burns, Smithers, Skinner, Flanders. What, no Frank Grimes?!?!? Stern finally invents a spinner that spins more than one revolution yet it is worthless! No default ball save will make rookies cringe. Much more flow could have been created by making Otto a straight loop shot rather than a saucer. Treehouse modes arent explained very well nor are some of the Multiball objectives.
	For those that thought the evolution of pinball ended with the demise of WMS, guess again. Stern shows that by taking a strong design, and then allowing a programmer that is strong player to go at it, you get an exceptional game. Game is one of the deepest games ever done, 6 (count them 6 WIZARD MODES) and one final mode (who will be the first to complete it). The game also appeals to the casual play who just wants to bat the ball around due to the varety of shots. Hmmm, what do I hit now? how about the garage? Or maybe try to get a ball on the upper playfield? Or hit Dare Devil Bart? Or what's that Itchy and Scratchy thing on the right? The last game that had this combination of shots for both players good and bad, was Medieval Madness. It's just a bona fide fun game to play, and should have great longevity. Positives include: 1) Toys, toys, toys. 2) Return of the upper playfield. 3) Variety of shots. 4) Deep rule set, and the ability to stack modes and multiballs. 5) Extra balls, extra balls. Get them!	Feed from plunger shot (risk reward) and lack of initial ball save as default setting.
	Well, let's see.......too many to mention!! So the top pluses are the following: Awesome ruleset, you can attack this game from several angles. Making it a different game almost every time you play it. At times there is so much going on, you have to pause and rethink everything you're trying to accomplish at the moment....it definately keeps you thinking! A very challenging game for any caliber player....something us players haven't seen in ages! Very even scoring throughout....you have to work this game for a long time to score well. Everything is stackable....almost confusing at times....but quite fun! Great usage of a upper pf.......actually fun to play up there! Fun shot to the couch to lock balls! Gotta like the multi-colored display TV...good work here....full of info. Artwork is really good except for the Cab. Lots of gadgets to keep the novice player wanting more...good for us operators!	Playfield does lack flow...ball stops a lot At times, so many things are happening at once it's hard to tell what exactly is running (modes.etc.) Could use a little more info on the display. That's really it..... Overall: A wonderful game.......already in my top 10 favorites. Looks like it will be fun for years to come!!

		Reviewer Ratings
Sopranos		Reviewer Ratings
Category
Art Backglass	5.5	5	6.5	6	5	6	5	3.5
Art Playfield	7	8	6	7	8	7.5	8	5
Sound	7.25	7	7	7.5	9	7	8	5.5
Playfield	5.5	3	2.5	7	6	6.5	8.5	5
Rules	6.75	6.5	4.5	7.5	8	7	8.5	6
Longevity	6	6	2	7.25	8	7	8	4.5
*Total*	6.25				Help is on the way!
Stern, 2005

Space Invaders Design: Jim Patla Art: Paul Faris Year: 1980 MFG: Bally	Reviewer	Rudy	9Ball	Drac	Buzz	Doc	Jimbo	*Total*
	Art: Backglass	9.5	10	10		9		*9.5*
	Art: Playfield	7	10	6		7.5		*7.5*
	Sound	6.5	9.5	8.5		8		*8.25*
	Playfield Design	4	9	7.5		8		*7.25*
	Rules	6	6.5	9		8		*7.5*
	Longevity	5.5	9	8.5		7.5		*7.5*
								8

	Infinity backglass looks great. Hurry up drop target puts you in a frenzy to make the shot.	How can that widebody playfield create so many outlane drains?!? Just shoot the bonus X horseshoe loop for big scores. Game should have had a 7 digit display or it should have minimized the bonus potential from horseshoe loops. It's too easy to roll over. Inline drop targets are cool but they didn't add much to this game
	Awesome art and sound package made this pin stand out like a sore thumb in a row of pins in early 1980. Infinity lighting effects are killer and ruleset was complex by early 1980 standards. Background sounds go crazy in synch with the infinity lighting to give a way cool effect. Clone Chamber shot and sound is awesome. Center hoop shot is fun and collect bonus lane is very challenging and can be very rewarding when hit. Specials light up like a Christmas tree so you'll be cracking free games at will especially in the center hoop shot.	So much bonus so few digits! Unfortunately Bally had not implemented the new 7 digit (instead of 6) scoring displays on this pin. You could collect over 500K in the collect bonus lane alone (many times on one ball if you were good and/or lucky) and then collect it again in the outhole! The supermegadrain® outlanes made up for this out of balance scoring a little but Space Invaders would of made a much better 7 digit scoring pin. Not much flow on this playfield and the spinner shot rarely takes the ball back to the top lanes. Might of made an awesome narrow body pin by removing and modifying a few areas on the playfield. Once lit the extra ball shot is very easy to collect by alley passing up the lit return lane. Lower half of the PF is too dimly lit. Left bank of drop (drain) targets are not worth going for and out of balance with other scoring (why drop 3 deadly targets for a 25K max when you can crack the safer Clone Chamber shot for 50K!)
	Challenging collect bonus shot involving knocking down a drop target and then shooting it through the resulting very small aperture. Lots of strategy about when to use the large or the small flippers to hit a particular shot -- some shots much easier to hit with small flippers and others much easier to hit with large flippers. Just as with Silver Ball Mania, turnstyle shot is a blast.	Game is very high scoring and should have had a millions digit. Odd spinner angles result in making it somewhat difficult to get a really solid hit -- but this may be a plus for experienced players. Wide body space could have been slightly busier.
	Space Invaders is probably the best of the Bally wide bodies, in an era where Bally was trying anything to salvage pinball. The playfield has most of the toys of that time present (i.e. spinner, captive balls, upper rollovers with pops below), but the real key to scoring is the center loop. This is a risk/reward shot, which sometimes makes the game one dimensional in scoring. The backglass is striking on the game, with the infinity lighting (only used on 3 Bally games I believe)	the artwork suffers on the playfield by almost being too cluttered and busy. Overall, it is a good example of late 70's Bally pinball and in that regard I believe it is an above average game

Space Shuttle Playfield: Barry Ousler Art: Mark Spenger	Reviewer	Rudy	9Ball	Drac	Buzz	Doc	Jimbo	*Total*
	Art: Backglass	5	8	7	8.5	8	8.5	7.5
	Art: Playfield	7.5	9	6.5	9	7.5	7.5	7.75
	Sound	7	8.5	7	9	7.5	9	8
	Playfield Design	7.5	9	8	9	8	7.5	8.25
	Rules	7	9	8.5	8.5	7.5	7	8
	Longevity	6.5	9	7.5	8	9.5	7	8
								8

	Better than average game from that era. Good and tough placement of drop targets at feed back to upper rollovers.
	The game that put pinball back on the map after the video bust of '83. Great playfield layout & ruleset with plenty of cool shots. Shoot the right ramp to change the shuttle award value when it camps on the measly 20K or 50K award, or collect an EB if it's lit. Multiball lock shots are sweet & tight. Sound and speech are killer. Cool drop target bank can cleaned with one shot to advance spinner value to a max of 7000 points per rev. Drop targets also light the right ramp for EB & re-open the right outlane ball save gate. Cool countdown sequence when MB is started. Lots to do during MB like nailing the center ramp (drop target blocking ramp stays down during MB) for unlimited stop & score values up to 99K.	Trying to make the center ramp shot with weak flippers, arrgh!
	Interesting playfield layout including a drop target which blocks the ramp	very easy to get back into multiball making the game a little unchallenging
	How much school did I miss because of this game? Great sound and layout for its time. Go for the oddball drop targets and boost that spinner value and get the bonus to 5X to light the inlanes. Bonus X sound is exhilarating.	Most samples have dead jets. No lock qualifying means mostly multiball.
	Space Shuttle is fast and furious fun, but needs to be set-up correctly (i.e strong flippers). Positive's on this game include: 1) a nice spinner shot, that can be maxed to 7,000 a spin and can be utilized for ball control during multiball 2) great bumper action that can assist in maxing some bonus multipliers. 3) up post (was this the last game with this feature) This game gets a 9.5 on longevity because, if it was not a success, WMS would have stopped making pinballs in 1985. Its success helped convince WMS to stay in the pinball business, and we got to experience their fine games for another 15 years.	Be true on your ramp shot to start multiball, or face the consequences of an instant drain.
	Always really liked this game. Great sounds Great theme! The Drop target bank is a fun shot...especially going for the sweep. Mega-important too! Simple game, but tough to play long ball times. Obviously nothing deep here, but a nice/fun diversion from the strategy(player) games. Gotta love the yell when lose a ball with special or EB lit!!	A little simple...great game for novices Most of them now are 'Wood Shuttles'"......no one installed mylar back then. Overall a very fun game......also my 1st pinball!