First impressions

[xAzatothx]

Initially I was disappointed with the look of the table, it just doesn't look sharp. With the free camera the table looks excellent and I often think the TPA flat angle loses a lot of quality. Playing in portrait I think the visual look better.

After quite a few plays I've grown to like the table. The table lights look excellent again especially in portrait mode. The sound is a little weak though - the speech is muffled. I'd love an improvement on general table sounds for all TPA tables (mechanical sounds).

Quite and easy table but with a good flow. I've not read the rule set yet (bad habit of late) but enjoying the table.

thoughts?

 

[Heretic]

play freebird?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Rules-wise it's pretty basic, like all the early DMD tables it's more of a late-era alpha-numeric with a DMD bolted on. In fact the DMD is very basic here, with only a few animations and they're not great.

The music gets repetitive after a bit.

That said, it's a fun and accessible game with some nice features. I really like the guitar mini-playfield; the spinning CD ramp less so, combined with TPA's weak up-the-middle flipper strength, it's a very difficult shot to nail, given its importance.

Scoring is heavily weighted towards getting 4x jackpots in multiball. Not that bad of a thing, though, since it takes skill and patience to get that high and sustain multiball long enough to reap the rewards. Kinda like Fish Tales in that regard, but easier.

 

[Rich Lehmann]

I like it. Works well on Kindle Fire which has been an issue this season. Not my favorite but a solid table.

 

[9u1d0]

Bores me pretty quick, also on iOS there seems to bifferent bugs that will keep me from playing.
Sometimes on multiball the spinning disc does not spin, is that normal behavior?

 

[Trackball]

Rules are pretty darn simple for 1992, but it does make me want to see the rest of Alvin G's library. I've heard some really great things about Mystery Castle, but man, talk about hard to find.

Anyway...I only have one major sticking point, and it's not the table's fault--it's Pinball Arcade's.

I've already got all the Wizard Goals, except for one: Score a 200M Jackpot.

That's all well and good...except for the fact that if you cradle a ball or two on a flipper, the jackpot value actually goes DOWN the longer you hold it up!

This makes it just about impossible to aim for the spinning ramp (which is otherwise a really neat feature) during multiball--you just have to embrace chaos...to say nothing of balls hitting a slingshot and making a beeline for the opposite outlane, but isn't that what an arcade machine designed to draw in money is supposed to do?

Until I ran into that one Wizard Goal, I admit, I was having a lot of fun with this table--it was a very pleasant surprise. I'm sure that once I get that 200M Jackpot and the achievement that comes with it, I'll stop being so frustrated and will actually have fun again, but right now, it just seems like a serious grind, at the whims of randomness.

That being said, wow. Hey Farsight, bring us any more Alvin G tables you can find! I'm serious!

 

[Anubis]

Well, it's better than Bone Busters, I'll give it that.

It actually plays decently. Like most Gottlieb-style tables, lots of cheap drains and the playfield looks like it was designed by the same middle school art class that did LCA and BB. I do like it better than most Gottlieb Premier tables. I'd give it a C+ or so.

 

[Eternal21]

...
I've already got all the Wizard Goals, except for one: Score a 200M Jackpot.

That's all well and good...except for the fact that if you cradle a ball or two on a flipper, the jackpot value actually goes DOWN the longer you hold it up!

This makes it just about impossible to aim for the spinning ramp (which is otherwise a really neat feature) during multiball--you just have to embrace chaos...to say nothing of balls hitting a slingshot and making a beeline for the opposite outlane, but isn't that what an arcade machine designed to draw in money is supposed to do?

And that's not even the worst part. What really sucks is that you can't score any Jackpots and need to shoot the balls aimlessly for the first minute or so for the jackpot to increase to 50M. If you score before that you can't get 200M anymore because the jackpot stops increasing.

 

[Gorgias32]

Well, it's better than Bone Busters, I'll give it that.

It actually plays decently. Like most Gottlieb-style tables, lots of cheap drains and the playfield looks like it was designed by the same middle school art class that did LCA and BB. I do like it better than most Gottlieb Premier tables. I'd give it a C+ or so.

I missed this thread the first time around, the "middle school art class" comment made me laugh out loud.

"It's better than Bone Busters" is faint praise...