Kolchak357
Senior Pigeon
- May 31, 2012
- 8,102
- 2
Don't forget to try backhanding the ramps on AC/DC. I know the left one is easily doable. Can't remember if the right is or not. There's something very satisfying about backhanding a ramp.
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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
I lost my virginity yesterday and it felt ...... amazzziiinngggg !!!
- Thread starter PET3R
- Start date
BonzoGonzo
New member
- Jun 12, 2012
- 458
- 0
great write up peter 
just a quick question though: are you really saying, that before this, you actually never played a rl pinball machine? i mean, im just 6 years older, but i played a ton of pinball irl... maybe not so in last 10-15 years, but up till 1999-2000 i played a lot of different machines, addams family, flintstones, shadow, jhonny mnemonic, nba fastbreak, dr who, both pinball 2000 machines, whitewater, no fear, fish tales, twilight zone (and the latest fs release frankenstain also) are just some of the top of my head... it just seems kinda strange to not play any i guess? how come you began playing the video versions then? (well i guess its more than just a quick question)
i apologize if you allready wrote about it in a nother thread
just a quick question though: are you really saying, that before this, you actually never played a rl pinball machine? i mean, im just 6 years older, but i played a ton of pinball irl... maybe not so in last 10-15 years, but up till 1999-2000 i played a lot of different machines, addams family, flintstones, shadow, jhonny mnemonic, nba fastbreak, dr who, both pinball 2000 machines, whitewater, no fear, fish tales, twilight zone (and the latest fs release frankenstain also) are just some of the top of my head... it just seems kinda strange to not play any i guess? how come you began playing the video versions then? (well i guess its more than just a quick question
)i apologize if you allready wrote about it in a nother thread
EldarOfSuburbia
New member
- Feb 8, 2014
- 4,032
- 0
Prices of pinball games here vary, but in most locations modern Stern tables will go for $1/play or 3/$2 (that's what it is in my local movie theater). Maybe smaller locations/older tables will be $0.50 or 3/$1.
I agree that GBP1.00 for 1 game is very steep, when I left the UK 7 years ago admittedly I'd not seen any pinball in years - I'd given up trying - but 50p/play or 3/GBP1.00 was pretty normal.
That's inflation for you, I guess.
As for comparison of minimum wages, and various costs of living... don't get me started. At least I have a full-time, well-paid job that provides me with above-average medical insurance.
I agree that GBP1.00 for 1 game is very steep, when I left the UK 7 years ago admittedly I'd not seen any pinball in years - I'd given up trying - but 50p/play or 3/GBP1.00 was pretty normal.
That's inflation for you, I guess.
As for comparison of minimum wages, and various costs of living... don't get me started. At least I have a full-time, well-paid job that provides me with above-average medical insurance.
- Thread starter
- #25
Location #3
Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Cactus Canyon, Cirqus Voltaire, Game of Thrones, Star Trek (Stern), Wizard of OZ
Cirqus Voltaire - This was the cheapest table at 50p a game and so I have used it for the warm up. It looks much nicer and less busy than in TPA. The multiball ramp is much easier to hit compared to TPA but if the ball returns it does end up with a drain quite often. Managed to have 2 long enough games to enjoy my self and to try most of the table. Have beaten 2 ringmasters with some frenzies afterwards and also had a few multiballs. There are not many shots you going to do here and so it all ends up with shooting the ringmaster which can pretty quickly become repetitive and boring. Played to games and with the score 20m have managed to meet the replay so I had one more free game.
Cactus Canyon - Second table I have approached and the one I expected to be over very quickly due to hungry outlanes. And that is how exactly it was Still managed to try few things, couple of gunfights as well as gold mine mutliball with few successful motherlode shots. Played my usual 3 games and I understand why it actually rates so low in rankings - outlanes.
Monster Bash - Already being warmed up I approached this table. Very good first game where I actually managed to play Monster Bash multiball and ended up with 153m earning me a free game. First game was lot of fun, and the hitting the ramps is much more joy than in TPA. I understand now what vikingerik was talking about. However the left bride ramp does many times returns the ball as in TPA and the Frank is still not the safest shot to do. When the ball is returning from the middle ramp (regular multiball) it does not end up in the scoop like in TPA but rather falls down onto the flipper. After the very good game and lot of fun, the crisis came. I still had 3 more games to play but already on the second game I was starting to be bored. I knew I am not going to achieve Monsters of Rock and it felt like I have already seen everything else. There was no drive to continue and I already started to look at the next table which was Medieval Madness.
Medieval Madness - The table everyone talks about, The ONE, Number 1. Here I had finally chance to see what it is all about. The shots were not as easy to shoot as in MB, Spiderman, Star Trek (stern) or WOZ but once I got hang of them they felt pretty good. And it is really good feeling seeing the ball flying around in a big loops. Then came the castle. The no 1 toy in pinball, the one that is supposed to take your breath, blown you away, unforgettable shot that you are going to be doing all the time during the game. This is where the disappointment came. Maybe if I did not expect much it would be much better. Nothing wrong with it, it is an ok shot, but for sure does not feel special and not even feel that good. Hitting the ringmaster feels much better than this castle. And the ball returning straight downwards many times resulting in a drain. I also managed to start and complete the trolls. They feel bit better than in TPA but again nothing special. I enjoyed much more shots in CC hitting the bandits. Specially if you hit them after few missed ones. It might also be that I have played MM quite a few times in TPA, therefore it did not feel as exciting, but even in TPA it never quite clicked with me and I had to give it plenty of chances to get into it. After playing the real deal I might even stop playing it in TPA and might lower my ratings for it.
Star Trek - Mode based table where you actually have to finish the modes. Very exciting rules, and hitting the ramps is a joy, they are not hard to hit and you dont even need a speed to be able to shoot them successfully. After playing this and WOZ I realized how much difference extra flippers in the pinball makes - how much more fun and the variety they bring to pinball. Both Spiderman and Star trek feels more special with that extra flipper and I can now imagine why TZ and TAF are popular tables. Flippers is one of the reasons in my opinion. It really surprised me in Star Trek how slowly the ball was moving when it came out of inlanes. I really liked this as it allowed you to take but time and be more accurate hitting the ramps. I was still not the very best at this game and the usual 3 games did not last that long, but after you learn the shots this game must be a blast.
Game of Thrones - table where I did not know the rules. Extremely quick and a killer table. The two ramps (the second from the left and the second from the right) are dead ends. One deflects the ball while the other one acts like a scoop. It ejects the ball at lightning speed towards your flipper so you always brace your self before it is going to happen. The other 3 ramps seems to go in the loop and you can keep shooting the middle over and over again with your right flipper. So I really hope there will be nothing important in this ramp later in game as it can destroy the rules. Very quick games, unless you have very quick reactions you going to have very quick games just like me. Will have to check the rules but I dont like the 2 block ramps as well as the others even though they are placed at very good angles and are joy to hit.
Wizard of Oz - I was ready to go home as I have read somewhere that the balls on WOZ last only very short time, because that is how the table was made. Well let me tell you that the person who wrote this must have been a total idiot. I have put in £2 for 3 games and I ended up playing this table for over an hour. First of all you get 5 balls per game and each ball can last pretty long. When it comes to lights - wow, what an eyecandy. So colorfull and the whole playfield is densly covered in lights. I have managed twice hit the replay and the light show it gave me I have never seen this in my life. I thought I got blind. I thought I am in heaven. Similiar experience when I have received an extra ball. Speaking about the heaven, it is really great feature when you drain the ball in your outlanes and it hits some lights there. If during the game it manages to hit all the switches in the corner it will start a mode and plunge a new ball. One of them is "No place like home". All the lights switches off and only some of the white lights lights up. Over the rainbow music starts playing and you feel like in heaven - the atmosphere it creates is amazing, specially when you are aware you have just drain the ball. It really feels like the ball spirit is in different dimension and you don't even realize you are still playing the same table. Production wise the table is top notch. Maybe I was lucky I did not know the rules as it might start boring me. I have really enjoyed the shots and the show. Only in my last game I have realized I was supposed to be hitting some horses. With 5 flippers this game is very interesting but having 5 quite long lasting balls can make the game going forever. This is great when you pay for the game as you want it to last long, but I can imagine having this at home become pretty boring. In my last game when the production side started to sink in I have started to notice the length of each ball and I can imagine that soon this can start become boring. But than this is also going to depend a lot on rules. If they are deep and interesting you might want the ball to last long. Anyway, I paid for 3 games (£2) and ended up with 6 (2x replay + 1 lucky free match) lasting for over an hour. So I can't really complain at this time. If I want something deep and don't mind having a few quick games I will go for Spiderman, Lotr or or Star Trek, but as I am still the beginner in real life pinball I can imagine I will have an itch for playing long lasting game that gives me value for money. With 5 balls per game and no hazardous layout, WOZ sound like the table that lets you fully enjoy your self and satisfy your needs.
Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Cactus Canyon, Cirqus Voltaire, Game of Thrones, Star Trek (Stern), Wizard of OZ Cirqus Voltaire - This was the cheapest table at 50p a game and so I have used it for the warm up. It looks much nicer and less busy than in TPA. The multiball ramp is much easier to hit compared to TPA but if the ball returns it does end up with a drain quite often. Managed to have 2 long enough games to enjoy my self and to try most of the table. Have beaten 2 ringmasters with some frenzies afterwards and also had a few multiballs. There are not many shots you going to do here and so it all ends up with shooting the ringmaster which can pretty quickly become repetitive and boring. Played to games and with the score 20m have managed to meet the replay so I had one more free game.
Cactus Canyon - Second table I have approached and the one I expected to be over very quickly due to hungry outlanes. And that is how exactly it was
Still managed to try few things, couple of gunfights as well as gold mine mutliball with few successful motherlode shots. Played my usual 3 games and I understand why it actually rates so low in rankings - outlanes.Monster Bash - Already being warmed up I approached this table. Very good first game where I actually managed to play Monster Bash multiball and ended up with 153m earning me a free game. First game was lot of fun, and the hitting the ramps is much more joy than in TPA. I understand now what vikingerik was talking about. However the left bride ramp does many times returns the ball as in TPA and the Frank is still not the safest shot to do. When the ball is returning from the middle ramp (regular multiball) it does not end up in the scoop like in TPA but rather falls down onto the flipper. After the very good game and lot of fun, the crisis came. I still had 3 more games to play but already on the second game I was starting to be bored. I knew I am not going to achieve Monsters of Rock and it felt like I have already seen everything else. There was no drive to continue and I already started to look at the next table which was Medieval Madness.
Medieval Madness - The table everyone talks about, The ONE, Number 1. Here I had finally chance to see what it is all about. The shots were not as easy to shoot as in MB, Spiderman, Star Trek (stern) or WOZ but once I got hang of them they felt pretty good. And it is really good feeling seeing the ball flying around in a big loops. Then came the castle. The no 1 toy in pinball, the one that is supposed to take your breath, blown you away, unforgettable shot that you are going to be doing all the time during the game. This is where the disappointment came. Maybe if I did not expect much it would be much better. Nothing wrong with it, it is an ok shot, but for sure does not feel special and not even feel that good. Hitting the ringmaster feels much better than this castle. And the ball returning straight downwards many times resulting in a drain. I also managed to start and complete the trolls. They feel bit better than in TPA but again nothing special. I enjoyed much more shots in CC hitting the bandits. Specially if you hit them after few missed ones. It might also be that I have played MM quite a few times in TPA, therefore it did not feel as exciting, but even in TPA it never quite clicked with me and I had to give it plenty of chances to get into it. After playing the real deal I might even stop playing it in TPA and might lower my ratings for it.
Star Trek - Mode based table where you actually have to finish the modes. Very exciting rules, and hitting the ramps is a joy, they are not hard to hit and you dont even need a speed to be able to shoot them successfully. After playing this and WOZ I realized how much difference extra flippers in the pinball makes - how much more fun and the variety they bring to pinball. Both Spiderman and Star trek feels more special with that extra flipper and I can now imagine why TZ and TAF are popular tables. Flippers is one of the reasons in my opinion. It really surprised me in Star Trek how slowly the ball was moving when it came out of inlanes. I really liked this as it allowed you to take but time and be more accurate hitting the ramps. I was still not the very best at this game and the usual 3 games did not last that long, but after you learn the shots this game must be a blast.
Game of Thrones - table where I did not know the rules. Extremely quick and a killer table. The two ramps (the second from the left and the second from the right) are dead ends. One deflects the ball while the other one acts like a scoop. It ejects the ball at lightning speed towards your flipper so you always brace your self before it is going to happen. The other 3 ramps seems to go in the loop and you can keep shooting the middle over and over again with your right flipper. So I really hope there will be nothing important in this ramp later in game as it can destroy the rules. Very quick games, unless you have very quick reactions you going to have very quick games just like me. Will have to check the rules but I dont like the 2 block ramps as well as the others even though they are placed at very good angles and are joy to hit.
Wizard of Oz - I was ready to go home as I have read somewhere that the balls on WOZ last only very short time, because that is how the table was made. Well let me tell you that the person who wrote this must have been a total idiot. I have put in £2 for 3 games and I ended up playing this table for over an hour. First of all you get 5 balls per game and each ball can last pretty long. When it comes to lights - wow, what an eyecandy. So colorfull and the whole playfield is densly covered in lights. I have managed twice hit the replay and the light show it gave me
I have never seen this in my life. I thought I got blind. I thought I am in heaven. Similiar experience when I have received an extra ball. Speaking about the heaven, it is really great feature when you drain the ball in your outlanes and it hits some lights there. If during the game it manages to hit all the switches in the corner it will start a mode and plunge a new ball. One of them is "No place like home". All the lights switches off and only some of the white lights lights up. Over the rainbow music starts playing and you feel like in heaven - the atmosphere it creates is amazing, specially when you are aware you have just drain the ball. It really feels like the ball spirit is in different dimension and you don't even realize you are still playing the same table. Production wise the table is top notch. Maybe I was lucky I did not know the rules as it might start boring me. I have really enjoyed the shots and the show. Only in my last game I have realized I was supposed to be hitting some horses. With 5 flippers this game is very interesting but having 5 quite long lasting balls can make the game going forever. This is great when you pay for the game as you want it to last long, but I can imagine having this at home become pretty boring. In my last game when the production side started to sink in I have started to notice the length of each ball and I can imagine that soon this can start become boring. But than this is also going to depend a lot on rules. If they are deep and interesting you might want the ball to last long. Anyway, I paid for 3 games (£2) and ended up with 6 (2x replay + 1 lucky free match) lasting for over an hour. So I can't really complain at this time. If I want something deep and don't mind having a few quick games I will go for Spiderman, Lotr or or Star Trek, but as I am still the beginner in real life pinball I can imagine I will have an itch for playing long lasting game that gives me value for money. With 5 balls per game and no hazardous layout, WOZ sound like the table that lets you fully enjoy your self and satisfy your needs.
Slam23
Active member
- Jul 21, 2012
- 1,279
- 2
How the hell did a Game of Thrones show up? I didn't know that was released yet! I only saw preview videos of it. I will see a couple at our DPO this weekend, but I figured they would still be prototype versions!
Anyway, you hit the jackpot with this line-up, three all-time great machines in MB, SSTNG and MM. Circus Voltaire is not bad, and Wizard of Oz is all about future pinball features, including that nice LED-screen. You even encountered a Cactus Canyon which is pretty rare. Killer location I say! It looks like a gameroom to me, from somebody with a very good pinball taste!
Anyway, you hit the jackpot with this line-up, three all-time great machines in MB, SSTNG and MM. Circus Voltaire is not bad, and Wizard of Oz is all about future pinball features, including that nice LED-screen. You even encountered a Cactus Canyon which is pretty rare. Killer location I say! It looks like a gameroom to me, from somebody with a very good pinball taste!
invitro
New member
- May 4, 2012
- 2,337
- 0
I'll say. What a room of machines. Good heavens. I'd pay a lot of money just to enter that room and have its use for a few hours. Wow. I'm drooling.
EldarOfSuburbia
New member
- Feb 8, 2014
- 4,032
- 0
That's it, I'm moving to Munich.
invitro
New member
- May 4, 2012
- 2,337
- 0
In the USA it's an appetizer.