Favorite Launch Table?

[Sean DonCarlos]

I'm gonna have to go for the Theatre on this one. Great playfield, excellent flow, plenty of stuff to do at all times, good variety in the modes. It's accessible enough that novices can get enjoyment out of it and yet there's always opportunity for further challenge for more experienced players. Lots of little surprises and curveballs it throws at you, too, like suddenly starting Tiger Saw Multiball in the middle of an illusion or landing in the trap door and suddenly the clock's going off for Midnight Madness. I know some people dismiss it as an "easy" table, and I guess it is, but I've always found myself returning to it for the last game of the night.

I have a feeling Black Hole is going to go the way of Black Knight for me. There's something about multiple-playfield machines that I just can't seem to get my head around, and I've never liked the "don't touch these targets or bad things will happen" mechanic.

 

[RetroBlast]

The BLACK HOLE is my favorite ... I had often heard the expression Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back, and By Golly its true! It is a very demanding table and is quite tricky as well. On the surface, it appears quite simple, but once you learn the rules, there is nothing like dipping your ball into that sweet black hole, scooping up all that G Force Accelerating candy, and then high tailing out with the flood gate open only to reposition yourself back on top and nail that final SPECIAL orbit ... oh the thrill of it !!!

 

[Jeff Strong]

The BLACK HOLE is my favorite ... I had often heard the expression Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back, and By Golly its true! It is a very demanding table and is quite tricky as well. On the surface, it appears quite simple, but once you learn the rules, there is nothing like dipping your ball into that sweet black hole, scooping up all that G Force Accelerating candy, and then high tailing out with the flood gate open only to reposition yourself back on top and nail that final SPECIAL orbit ... oh the thrill of it !!!

You nailed it.....and don't forget the incredible voices and SFX too.

 

[szycag]

First post here. I voted for Black Hole since it was the underdog, and it's a really addictive table. I swore I had a dream about it, it kind of gets inside your head. I've been playing ToTAN the most though because I was missing the Harem multiball goal forever... finally nailed it and with a 140 mil score too.

 

[Jeff Strong]

First post here. I voted for Black Hole since it was the underdog, and it's a really addictive table. I swore I had a dream about it, it kind of gets inside your head. I've been playing ToTAN the most though because I was missing the Harem multiball goal forever... finally nailed it and with a 140 mil score too.

Welcome aboard!

 

[bavelb]

TOM with TOTAN as a very close second. I can't seem to get into Ripley as much as the table is seemingly without as much structure. TOM and TOTAN have clearer goals from first sight and I love tables that communicate very clearly what you should go for next (Taxi is great at this as well). I guess I just need to play more Ripley and look through the instructions quickly to see where my priorities on the table should go.

Black Hole I played a few times but I find the table a bit too slow and uneventful.

 

[Epsilon]

I'm enjoying them all, but Theater of Magic is definitely my favorite if I had to choose just one. It's just got an amazing flow and is simple enough to enjoy but complex enough to make the 100th game as interesting as the first.

 

[superballs]

ToM

It's the only table of the bunch that I've played IRL, and also the first table my 6 year old daughter ever played IRL, so in addition to just being great, it's got a lot of sentiment attached to it. I love the goals the flow and everyone else has pretty well said what i'm going to say about it. Now i just need to finishe the finale and I will have all the Wizard Goals

Next is Black Hole. I just love the constant feeling of danger. The risk/reward aspect of hitting the lower PF really makes you think about how you go about your goal too. I have all the Wizard Goals for this table

ToTAN is an awersome table, but very demanding and very...strict i guess...always a question of "Shoot here at your own peril". If not for the Harem Multiball (which i finally got), I would have all the Wizard Goals....funny though i was pulling them like crazy before i got it and can't even come close so I'm taking a sabbatical from it and will return to it when i get the final Wiz goal in ToM.

RBION - Really have only played a few games...finding it hard to get into, though like previously stated I'm just not familiar with the rules or layout...I'm sure that will change but priorities are priorities.

Once MM is release all this will change...MM is among my favorite tables of all time...and i've never actually played it. Based on my VP experience and how much time i've spent on both JPSalas's version and Groni's version, and hell, even the iPhone version despite my distaste for mobile pinball (serious improvement in the last update though...wow). I can't wait for Attack From Mars. If they ever release High Speed 2, i will (figuratively) literally crap my pants on the spot.

 

[neilpinbot]

ToM is pretty much the only one I'm playing at the moment from the first pack.

 

[RetroBlast]

I have to say that I tried out Theatre of Magic today for a bit and was not as thrilled with it as everyone else seems to be ... mind you, I was playing it on a PS Vita and I did not read the rule sheet either. The one thing about this table, unlike BLACK HOLE, is that there are a lot of things on the table ... multiple orbits, things behind other things, small spots, a ton of lights which must mean something but I can really what they are, and so I was having trouble seeing the the table and what I was supposed to hit. I wonder if other PS Vita players felt the same way as I did. By the way, my eyes are not the best but they are certainly not the worst either. I think I will have a better opinion of the table once I play it on the big screen and read the rule sheet. I have come to learn that reading the rule sheet is one the most important things I need to do for any table.

 

[Butterkins]

TOM and TOTAN.

I just can't get in to Ripley's cluttered, slightly ugly design.

 

[Moon Jump]

I picked Ripley's just because almost every time I've played the actual game it was on location where the owner couldn't give two ****s about pinball and the machine would just be left to rot. It's so good to be able to shoot everything in the game and be able to make it up the temple ramp without the ball screaming back towards you.

It's just a LITTLE bit over from TOM from me. TOM is the better game and it's amazing to play it again but for me I just never got to see Ripley's running good as much as TOM.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

1. TOM - great table, pretty balanced
2. BH - love the simplicity of the 80's
3. RBION - haven't played alot, but my few games were great. Could become my second one.
4. TOTAN - also a great table but I have played it too much because of the PHOF version I own

 

[Kaoru]

I voted for "ToM" when the poll was creatred... but by now "Black Hole" eclipsed it by a wide margin. It may be a very simple table, but because the goals are so easy to figure out it's easier to stay focused and never lose sight of what to go for. It's the table I play the most and have the most fun with. Besides, it's the only table that I'm really good at, haha. Having spot #100 on the overal best list feels pretty good. *g* BTW, I love how the table messes with my head. The colours, the looks, the sounds (Have you ever played it with headphones on? Man, that robot voice going "Ah!" when you hit the slingshot is sick.), the sudden upside down-gameplay when the ball enters the lower level... It feels as if you're playing the pinball equivalent to Polybius.

"ToM" is my second now. I love the flow of the game, how one shot leads into another. It really feels good to play the game, even when it's not going very well. *g* And I love the voices!

"Tales of The Arabain Drains", "Drains of The Arabian Nights" or whatever it's called pretty much annoys me though. There's no point in repeating what I've said in another thread already... but to keep it short: I hardly come back to it anymore now that I've finished all wizard goals.

Rating "Ripley" is a tough one. Generally I want to like table more than I actually do... but boy, it's just so hard to like. At least for me it is. There definitely is a lot to do on the table... which is good. But why does it have to look so cluttery and plain fugly? It took me a lot of games to figure out what's actually going on on it. And then there are those terrible sounds. The idol's backwards screeching, the loud penguin chatter, the totally out of place pewpewpew of the spinners, the shrunken head's voice... Argh, my ears! And going for Ripley Letters can be a real pain in the arse sometimes. Goals like "Shoot this target here for 79143 times within 10 seconds!" are bad enough on their own, but when you have it multiball mode it's even more annoying considering how bouncy those balls are. They just flat out refuse to hold still! Anyway, I think I would like this table much much more if it wasn't for it's unappealing audiovisual presentation.

 

[dtown8532]

ToM is my top pick. Great design, music and artwork. TOTAN is cool too but not one my favorites from the WPC era. I beat the Genie so I feel like I completed it. I still cannot finish all eight acts (let alone the grand finale) in ToM and it keeps me coming back. Ripley's is better than I originally thought. A decent table and at least makes you feel successful when you get multiball or SUPER Jackpot unlike some newer Sterns. However, Black Hole is an example of why some earlier tables, for me, don't work as well. I played two real one's a week ago at Pinfest and at no point did the ball scream accross the table as fast as it does in TPA. Now these tables were in good shape. Not perfect, but not beat either. Obviously all pinball is mechanical but the older you go the more mechanical a table feels. I like Black Hole in real life. Not so much in TPA. I think some new mechanical sounds might help. The current ones are a little weak. They need more punch to them. I heard they are being overhauled which is good. Farsight should look at some of Future Pinball's tables especially Centaur. Really good mechanical sounds. Just my opinion.

 

[Brian Clark]

I like Black Hole in TPA, but it's the only table that isn't currently ROM emulated. Farsight has a real Black Hole table now, so it will get more accurate soon.

 

[Crush3d_Turtle]

ToM with ToTAN and RBION sharing a close second. I do enjoy playing Black Hole, but there is only so much you can do in that table before you have seen it all, plus the roll-over bug on the Vita is pretty annoying. Overall I think that this was a decent set of tables to launch with.

 

[rjspring]

Ripleys, but my new favorite table is MM - eagerly waiting for it to come out on 360.

 

[Captain Rumwood]

Voted for TOM. ToTAN is in a very close second place IMB.

 

[BonzoGonzo]

if i based my vote on rl pinball and nostalgia, then it would be The Tales Of Arabian Nights... i just love this table especialy the bazaar guy saying: "take this piece of junk" and awarding you an extra ball

but from the gameplay point of view there is only one choice: Ripley's Believe It Or Not

the first time i saw it in TPA i said to myself, wow this game looks like The Addams Family and The Twilight Zone (both of which i played extensively in rl) rolled into one, and to my surprise even tough it looks like that, it has a gameplan and a flow that's comepletely different... and i love it...

can't wait for Cirqus Voltaire, another of my rl favourites

where's that dlc *mumble* *grumble*