PAF Top Ten Most Wanted Table Poll Series : #3 - Bally (Closed)

[Mark W**a]

I feel Black Rose is a great pick. Just overall great production, very cool center cannon gimmick, good theme, art, music, sound and it's a DMD game. Just solid, great addition to the arcade. Pirates are awesome.

Judge Dredd is one of those games that I feel is a strong enough license to pull some comic book fans into pinball. I'm to understand that Judge Dredd is a really big deal in Europe, I didn't know that until I watched the promo video. Timeless comic art, great music, the first ever DCS game, not to mention it's a widebody with some very unique rules and interesting gimmicks, that's highly rated in pinball lists (top 20 IPDB IIRC). I'd say it's a lock for top 10, no doubt.

Who Dunnit and Safe Cracker, though I don't know much about them, look like classy, interesting, modern DMD games with unique rulesets. I feel these will make great additions.

Indy 500 and Corvette I feel won't get much love in this poll, but I think they both look fun.

Xenon, Fathom, and of course 8-Ball Deluxe I feel would be great additions to round out the early 80's offerings on Pinball Arcade. Xenon was my first ever pinball game, so I've definitely got some nostalgia for it.


Finally Party Zone. This is my personal favorite. One of the most unique, fun, wild layouts and designs in all of pinball I feel, with just a ton of charm. Really gunning for this one myself. If Farsight offers a 1,000 donation for T2 that allows us to pick our own pinball, I'd consider donating that much just to get this made.

 

[Kolchak357]

I haven't heard many mentions of votes for Medusa.
It's a super cool pin!

 

[LurkerCreep]

Man! I can't decide whether the Bally or the Williams poll is my favorite! They were both definitely VERY difficult to narrow down to just 10, though.


Here's my Top 10:


Paragon
Fathom
Medusa
Embryon
Black Rose
Eight Ball Deluxe
Flash Gordon
Corvette
Strange Science
Space Invaders (<--Would have been Vector, IF it had been in the poll)

 

[Palmer Eldritch]

everyone please vote safe cracker and WHO Dunnit for their unique and refreshing ways of presenting pinball!

 

[Sumez]

A LOT of tables in this poll I'd love to see - first and foremost, WCS, Black Rose and Dredd, followed by Safecracker and Whodunnit.

 

[Jflo358]

I LOVE the machines with the best artwork, and plenty of shoots and slides!
That being said here is my absolute top ten for BALLY'S best!

1) Judge Dredd (already in the works?)
2) RADICAL! (shoots, ramps, slides galore! + great Trapper Keeper 80's art)
3) World Cup Soccer (lost many quarters to this machine, high interest in more attempts)
4) Indy 500 (fast intense pinball with turnstile in upper deck!)
5) Black Rose (looks really fun with lots of nested challenges to explore)
6) Safe Cracker (multi-layered fun, unique layout, lots of ramps)
7) Strange Science (odd ramps, especially the crane near launch? I like when they design machines like this!)
8) Xenon (super sexy art, looks like an epic storyline, and complex goals, great retro table)
9) Flash Gordon (some of the older tables that include an upper deck are much more exciting + the soundtrack rules!)
10) Paragon / Medusa (the artwork on these two sold me right away!)

 

[Mark W**a]

Strange Science looks good, but Party Zone looks better, IMO.

Still to each his own. The video posted of Party Zone isn't doing the table justice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7swHNPHj9O0

Though I guess I'd be happy with either. I do love system 11 machines.

-edit- SS is not system 11, it's got that spacey kinda sound and music. Party Zone is pre-DCS it's basically that awesome synth-System 11 music but with a DMD. This is probably why I love it so damn much. T2 is also pre-DCS and I'm also a fan of it's music.

 

[Bowflex]

How did Hard Body not make the list? Kidding. However for a good laugh, everyone should check that table out!

 

[pseudokings]

Strange Science looks good, but Party Zone looks better, IMO.

Still to each his own. The video posted of Party Zone isn't doing the table justice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7swHNPHj9O0

Though I guess I'd be happy with either. I do love system 11 machines.

-edit- SS is not system 11, it's got that spacey kinda sound and music. Party Zone is pre-DCS it's basically that awesome synth-System 11 music but with a DMD. This is probably why I love it so damn much. T2 is also pre-DCS and I'm also a fan of it's music.

I think Party Zone looks great. Have played Strange Science fairly recently... not impressed.

Here's a vid of PZ played in a tourney that I think shows it pretty well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q87FNS--Fj8&feature=share&list=PL9zlEXxtoaVVtZmdFQqVhA8DT26wJjlLg

 

[Kolchak357]

Party Zone might be a nightmare on TPA with all of the clear ramp going on. Pretty busy table visually.

 

[pseudokings]

Indy 500 and Corvette I feel won't get much love in this poll, but I think they both look fun.

Sad but likely true. I don't know why these pins aren't more beloved? Pinheads don't like cars/racing? I don't know, but as a pinhead that does love cars and racing, I love both of these pins. And I would even if I wasn't into cars/racing, because I don't get as caught up in the theme as most people, and besides, Indy 500 is a Dennis Nordman design, and Corvette is a George Gomez. You know, the guys who designed Elvira, Scared Stiff, and White Water (Nordman), and LOTR, Monster Bash, and Batman DK (Gomez). Indy 500 is fast, fun, and challenging. Corvette is loaded with stuff to do and lots of fun. IMO I'd be a shame if they get beat out of the top 10 by lesser tables, based on theme or lack of familiarity.

 

[metoikos]

Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon Xenon



and Embryon. Black Rose isn't bad either.

 

[metoikos]

Also, aren't some of these technically Williams tables? Like after Williams bought Bally?

 

[DaPinballWizard]

Indianapolis 500 (1995)
World Cup Soccer (1994)
Xenon (1980)
Space Invaders (1980)
Eight Ball Deluxe (1981)
Safe Cracker (1996)

 

[Punisher]

Dang, the only table on there that I've had a first-hand experience with is Safecracker. Going for that.

 

[Sumez]

I was hoping 1978 Bally Playboy would sneak into the poll. I didn't expect it, but it would have been a cool surprise. It was very popular, over eighteen thousand made. I guess it is too adult a theme (no nudity though).

I don't see why it couldn't (apart from licensing issues, which I doubt will be much of a problem in this context). Playboy was always on the really soft side, offering only suggestive imagery. There aren't any hints of sex, etc. on the table, only scantily clad women, which aren't worse than the one on CTFBL anyway. It's a Bally SS, so it should be in the poll.

I think it's a really stylish table, and although I hated it at first for being so extremely tough and (in the case of at least the local one here) having a ridicolously aggressive tilt mechanism, it's one of those temperamental tables that you just have to learn how to touch and "caress" for great play. My first few games on it lasted less than a minute, but I've been able to get scores over 400k now, and still getting better. If FS can reproduce the ball behavior and the fierce difficulty on this table properly, it would be a great addition to TPA!

 

[canuck]

Party Zone might be a nightmare on TPA with all of the clear ramp going on. Pretty busy table visually.

CFTBL came out ok, party zone should work

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

How did Hard Body not make the list?

It plays a lot better than it looks and sounds, you have to admit. The whole women / boobs theme going on in the backglass was because, for a while, almost every mid 80s- late 80s machine had to have someone wearing boobs, whether it fit or not.

 

[Bowflex]

It plays a lot better than it looks and sounds, you have to admit. The whole women / boobs theme going on in the backglass was because, for a while, almost every mid 80s- late 80s machine had to have someone wearing boobs, whether it fit or not.

My buddy and I found one at some place that had like 4 great top-10 worthy tables. This one kind of stood out since it was the only one older than 1992 and neither of us had remembered it. We probably dumped about five bucks into it and it was a pretty decent play. It just felt really dated and the pictures were all pretty cheesy. We got a good laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. A fitness theme is not exactly the most exciting one to put on a game. We figured the owner really loved the table or maybe liked the girl on it.

 

[Pete]

I know it's a very simple table and probably wont get to many votes because of that but Evil Knieval is legendary and definitely one of the most beloved older tables featured in just about every pinball museum there is.
Radical, weird science, and party zone although ive never seen or played any of them seem like very fun or at least seriously cool looking tables that I hope we do get. Who dunnit and judge dredd are both epic and must haves. Safe Cracker is ESSENTIAL, desighned by Pat Lawor who also did funhouse, family guy, Twilight Zone, The Addams Family, and many more. I hope eventually we get Pat's complete collection in the pinball arcade.