First Impressions: Diner

[EldarOfSuburbia]

The layout is almost identical to Taxi (superimpose the two playfields). Multi-ball works exactly the same (make two shots to light the ramps for unlimited "big points"). The jackpot works in the same way (complete a series of goals to light lamps).

Having said that, Diner works better than Taxi for a number of reasons.

First, there are no serious frustrations with Diner, unlike Taxi (Pin*Bot drop targets? Yikes.) This makes lighting Dine-Time not only worthwhile, but the single biggest scoring opportunity.

Second, even though it's only two years after Taxi, the overall software package and light/sound experience is better. Diner was one of the last S11 tables, and it shows that by that point WMS really knew how to work with it.

Overall I think it plays fair. The outlanes are no better or worse than any other tables. Or maybe because I've been playing a lot of Space Shuttle and Big Shot lately, it doesn't seem that way.

I'll certainly revisit it, even though on PC there is not the "lure" of HoF points once you're done with the Wizard Goals.

 

[Banditboy67]

Bag O' ****e!!!!

 

[Zaphod77]

kickbacks tend to cause outlane drains. to make them work, rubber between the inlane and outlane is removed, and a big gap is placed to make sure the ball clears when it's kicked back. For games where this is a HUGE problem on, see Getaway. Usually, NO kickback and rubber on the posts is easier overall.

 

[kinggo]

I don't find this table drainy on the outlines. Yes, it does driain, but nothing unexpected for a decent pinball. But the middle is another story, not a nice one.

 

[David T. Melnick]

I absolutely love Diner. If I had to choose a fault, I would add more lines from the customers.

 

[David T. Melnick]

I never tried Drainer... sorry, Diner back in the day, but I did play Taxi a few times and given the similarities I assumed the gameplay would be somewhat Taxi-esque. Unfortunately it was more reminiscent of Fish Tales. A great score on Taxi is the result of solid, patient and consistent labor. A great score on FT or Diner is the result of getting lucky with a few bells and whistles that put the score in a whole different league. I prefer the Taxi way, but that's just me.

Design wise I love it, the layout is sweet, the artwork and theme are very fitting for pinball. I have an issue with the rollover lane lights, they're obstructed in all four views, but FS can't help that.

Gameplay wise I found it to be one of the most difficult tables on PBA (right up there with Fish Tales). Nobody like Mark Ritchie to make it feel like the flippers are so far apart the Titanic could've passed between them. Out of the 50 PBA tables so far, this one has to take the cake when it comes to reliance on nudging, which sucks if you're on iOS. I got to 14.'6k HoF points without bothering with nudging (even on Central Park), but for this table I guess it's more important than controlling the actual flippers. These outlines are so ravenous they give Cirqus Voltaire a run for its money. A magic invisible hand actually stops balls that are already in the inlane and make them go back and sneak around the bend to the outlane, and it happens so fast you wouldn't have time to react even if you were prepared to nudge. This combined with unsurpassed drainorama down the middle makes it a hopeless case for nudge-free playing. I haven't quit and restarted as frequently on any other table.

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yea...the lanes are so fast one doesn't have time to nudge eh.

 

[mikehg]

...

Design wise I love it, the layout is sweet, the artwork and theme are very fitting for pinball. I have an issue with the rollover lane lights, they're obstructed in all four views, but FS can't help that.

...

Bit late to this conversation, but you know the lights are repeated above the cup? It took me a while to notice...

Quick question of my own: sometimes it forgets lit EAT letters. I presume that's a ROM bug. More to the point, are there any tricks to avoiding it?