Does anyone here play pinball?
I've recently latched on to the idea that I want a pinball machine in my basement. I have never played a whole lot of pinball, but I did play a lot of Rocky and Bullwinkle at the local pool hall during highschool.
Dear GAF,
What pinball machine should I get?
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ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
(03-16-2006, 02:54 PM)
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#6
The classic choices are Twilight Zone and The Addams Family, but they'll cost you bux, of course. (Friend of mine bought a TZ recently as one of those "Oh man, I'm 30 and I actually have the money to blow on this" sort of things.)
I like a lot of 80s machines, though, like Black Knight 2000 and Rollergames and High Speed and Police Force. IIRC High Speed is relatively inexpensive and a lot of fun. |
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The Man. The Myth.
The Legend. (03-16-2006, 03:00 PM)
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#10
Originally Posted by Bojangles:
You should definitely "try before you buy" in the sense that you'll want a table that has the right feel for your style of play. My personal choices would be from the early 1990s, though a lot of people will go further back than that for the best "fit" for a table. My short list would definitely include: The Addams Family/Addams Family Gold - This is one of the biggest selling pins in history for damn good reason. The multiball/jackpot system is ace and between the electric chair, bear kicks, train wrecks, and T-H-I-N-G, there's always something to do no matter where the ball is on the table without the ridiculous overengineering that plauged tables of that time period. Twilight Zone - From the same guy that designed TAF, this is probably Pat Lawlor's best designed table. It's a much bigger game in scope than TAF (there are like five multiball modes as opposed to the two or three in TAF) and there's the powerball, a ceramic, lighter weight ball that gets in the mix. It's a very technical table, but I never felt that the flow of the game was as good as TAF (it's more stop and go), though it is impossible to look at the table and not sigh in amazement of its sheer ingenuity. Anyway, you can't really go too wrong with a good Williams table from the early 1990s. I think the above two are terrific and I would check them out if you've never played them on PinMAME and see if you like them. |
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Ninny Prancer
(03-16-2006, 03:06 PM)
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#12
This can be a pretty expensive hobby. But my pinball recommendations are (in order):
Red & Ted's Road Show (by far the best pinball I've ever played) Medievil Madness Arabian Nights Theatre of Magic Addams Family Twilight Zone The Machine: Bride of Pinbot Never played Rocky & Bullwinkle, as I wasn't a huge fan of most Data East tables. I tended to stick with Bally/Williams (never cared for older Stern, hated Sega) and liked mostly Pat Lawlor, John Popadiuk and Brian Eddy designed tables. If you really really like R&B, look at that and the designer's other work . |
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Member
(03-16-2006, 03:11 PM)
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#14
My favorite was always the TMNT pinball game. It was nothing over the top but I played the hell out of it and like the spinning pizza placed in front of the ramps. I like how the points weren't over inflated 10,000,000 was a the biggest jackpot in the game I think. Was always more of a casual pinball player though
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I have a foreskin yet I do not have AIDS
(03-16-2006, 03:20 PM)
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#17
also if you put this in a room with a pool table, dart board and a bar, I will buy my dream house off you when you are ready to sell it.
Also, don't get a star trek table, you want your house to look COOL. Pinball is far enough removed from videogames to be cool, but not if it's got a fat startrek sticker on it. |
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Ninny Prancer
(03-16-2006, 03:20 PM)
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#18
Originally Posted by robot:
I remember this kind of sucking and always having mechanical problems, firing off constant Joe Pesci quotes. But your post gives me an opportunity to post about Aaron Spelling: The Pinball Game, which is based on Lethal Weapon 3. O_O  |
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(03-16-2006, 03:33 PM)
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#19
Originally Posted by Bojangles:
My friends father just bought the Lord of the Rings pinball game. I've gotta say, it's possibly the best I've ever played. I recommend checking it out. |
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Banned
(03-16-2006, 04:22 PM)
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#22
i can not believe the obvious choice has not been told to you yet!
http://www.pinballrebel.com/game/pins/t2/t2_pinball.htm This is hands down one of if not the best pinball game made.     this brought pinball back to the arcades and had huge huge lines and crowds around it. plus if you hit it just right in the bottom right corner you could get free credits! :) |
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The Man. The Myth.
The Legend. (03-16-2006, 04:29 PM)
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#23
I never liked Funhouse or Road Show. I never liked those weird faces, and I can't count the number of times I wanted to punch Rudy in the face in Funhouse.
I actually like Williams' Cyclone as my favorite "old-school" pinball table. Note that it is only old-school in the sense that it doesn't have the super fancy features of tables made in the mid 1990s, but it does have a lot of quality charm and a nice, goal-based interactive table layout. Easily my favorite of the Carnival games. And Theater of Magic is indeed wtfbadass. I'm gonna have to dork out to that on the emu later tonight. T2 is OK. It actually felt pretty lightweight for such a fancy table, complete with ball launcher and gun handle. Heavy on flash, but pretty light on substance IMO compared with its peers. ST:TNG is a lot better choice if you want a fancy, flashy table with some decent substance underneath. You just have to deal with the nerd factor, or worse, the ytmnd Picard factor if you have nerds over to play it. Last edited by Fragamemnon : 03-16-2006 at 04:32 PM. |
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victim of conscious
thought shortage; all systems sold out (03-16-2006, 04:37 PM)
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#25
T2 is OK, nothing more
I would recommend Indiana Jones or ST:TNG (that one is quite affordable here in europe *g*), both with great replay value. Theatre of Magic or Addams Family if you can afford it, some of the other newer ones like Arabian nights or Monster Bash are nice too I have IJ and Creature from the black Lagoon, the later more as a collectors item although it is fun too. From the ones I had I liked Twilight Zone and Fun House. Star Wars, Whirlwind, White Water, T2 and Fish Tales seem to be the more affordable but nice ones. Used to ship pinball machines to the US (from germany) after Williams left business. |
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Ninny Prancer
(03-16-2006, 04:40 PM)
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#26
Originally Posted by Fragamemnon:
I'm sorry to hear this. :) You know, the voice of Rudy was Ed Boon? Punch him next time you see him. I'm also kind of disappointed by the lack of Red & Ted love in this thread. This was one of the most perfectly laid out tables with some of the deepest most varied objectives I've ever played.
Originally Posted by Fragamemnon:
T2 was pretty good, but I preferred a better balance on my tables and T2 (like most Ritchie tables) I felt was too open. Same with ST:TNG -- it was a good game, and I ran through it a couple times -- but Star Trek always seemed to have mechanical problems and was far too easy. Both of those games also featured triggers, not plungers, which detracts from the experience IMO. |
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The Man. The Myth.
The Legend. (03-16-2006, 04:50 PM)
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#27
Quote:
To be honest, I have only given this table a few runs at an arcade. I should emu it later too-maybe there was something I missed! Except the faces. Oohhh the faces. STFU AND TAKE MY BALL YOU MOTHERFUCKER RUDY. <--- A real winner of a quote from me back in the day, I swear that almost got me booted from putt-putt. |
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Member
(03-16-2006, 05:03 PM)
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#29
Fun House is the best pinball ever. No other opinion is correct.
"I never liked Funhouse or Road Show. I never liked those weird faces, and I can't count the number of times I wanted to punch Rudy in the face in Funhouse." You could hit him in the jaw with your ball and he would go 'OW!', that's pretty close. Last edited by LakeEarth : 03-16-2006 at 05:33 PM. |
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drunk, naked and uncooperative
(03-16-2006, 05:06 PM)
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#30
Originally Posted by StRaNgE:
Winar. |
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(03-16-2006, 06:39 PM)
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#33
How can you guys not fail to mention the Twlight Zone or Dr. Who tables... those are pretty good.
  The Shadow machine was a lot of fun too  I would stick, if possible, with T2, Addams Family, Dr. Who or even White Water. I put more money into those four machines that I would ever care to admit. Last edited by arne : 03-16-2006 at 06:40 PM. Reason: apparently I can't count |
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Member
(03-16-2006, 07:53 PM)
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#37
Terminator 2 is booooooring. There's not nearly enough toys on the field for my liking. Theatre of Magic & Addams Family are my favorites. I've never got to play Twilight Zone, Tales of the Arabian Nights, or Medieval Madness, but I hope to eventually.
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Banned
(03-16-2006, 08:23 PM)
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#38
I have a growing collections of pins ... I am a huge Steve Ritchie (High Speed, Getaway, and others). I play them on a daily basis.
Also if you want to play most of the tables on your PC - I would suggest going to the following sites. Check out Visual Pinball/PinMame and the new Future Pinball. http://www.vpforums.com/vptables/ http://www.pinballnirvana.com/ http://www.pinballsim.com/ http://www.futurepinball.com/ Some of the tables are astounding re-creations! |
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(03-16-2006, 08:36 PM)
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#39
I haven't played a pinball machine and years and now this has single handedly made me decide to go out and play some of them again. I wish I could go right now even!
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Member
(03-16-2006, 08:54 PM)
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#43
Originally Posted by Geek:
You are going to have to listen to Geek here. These recommendations are 100% on the money. I own Road Show. It is my all time favorite also. Here are some useful things to know as a pinball machine ower: A full size pinball machine can fold down and fit in back of a Ford Explorer (once you unscrew the legs). They weigh about 300 lbs. If the back dot matrix screen is acting flakey, replace it! Much cheaper than burning out your other components. Once you buy a used machine, replace all the rubber in it! Flipper bands, bumper bands, everything. They are so cheap, and will make your system play like new. Read pinball forums about cleaning the playfield. You do not want to fuck up the coating on the playfield with 409 or Comet. You can replace most bulbs yourself. And you should do so. Anything major, like replacing flipper motors, don't mess with it unless you 100% know what you are doing. This is a commercial piece of equipment, and will knock you dead if you touch the wrong things at the wrong time. Some machines disable high voltage if it is plugged in and the coin door is open... some don't. The tech I work with likes to by-passes that when he is servicing it, but then again he knows what he is doing. This may seem obvious, but remove the balls if you are transporting the machine! They will act like little wrecking balls if you don’t. Enjoy!  |
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Member
(03-16-2006, 09:34 PM)
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#44
We've got a Star Wars pinball machine here at work and it's amazing. Smart and very well built, you will not be disappointed.
I'm talking the original trilogy machine, created in 1992. I hear the Episode I machine is good as well. |
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Member
(03-16-2006, 10:05 PM)
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#46
I used to own a Twilight Zone and Scared Stiff, and loved them both. Both had different styles of play, and I had played both before so knew what I was getting (and that's important). Mediaevel Madness is also great, but VERY expensive. TZ isn't usually 'that' pricey due to the number they made. Some also require more upkeep than others, and you certainly have to not have a problem with getting your hands dirty. The first time you look at the underside of a pinball table it really is quite something. God, I miss those beasts. And if you're ever bored I could tell you the tale of getting those two pinball machines up a very narrow staircase (I think TZ weighs in at around 21 stone, not sure what that is in kg, but it's a LOT).
Mmmmm...maybe I do have room to own one again....arrrrghhhhh....must...not...research....buying...another...pinball ....arrrrrgggggghh! |
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Banned
(03-16-2006, 10:05 PM)
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#47
Oh SHIT... this may be old news, but a company is re-releasing Medieval Madness:
http://www.pinball.com/medieval-rema...val-remake.htm Too bad I don't have the room or money to buy one. |
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Member
(03-18-2006, 06:03 PM)
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#50
Originally Posted by GamerzXtreme:
Anybody know how to kill the lag in the games? I mean its tough to play when you don't have the timing right. I tried everything that their site had about the lag issue and nothing has improved it. I don't have a shitty computer so that's not it either. And its killing me that I can't play these now.  |
