We were told the machines to practice for this week were Big Buck Hunter Pro and Monster Bash. My initial plan was to take it a little easier this week. I’ve been wearing myself out physically, and I decided that resting was becoming more important than practicing right now. If this was a race, now would be the time to just keep pace. After tonight there would be two weeks remaining. I figured that would be the appropriate time for making the final push.
I had forgotten this was the week Shaneus was coming to town for the Texas Pinball Festival. I told him I’d meet him at the arcade, and on Wednesday night we met up and had a blast. I ended up taking Thursday off of work to hang out and play with him all day. This wasn’t the rest I was looking for, but playing against him and my buddy #1 couldn’t have been better training.
I decided Friday and Saturday I’d take 48 hours off. That lasted until Saturday afternoon when my girlfriend wanted to play the Getaway. We invited #1 over to play, and that ended up with us going back to the arcade. So with only about 24 hours of rest I walked into the arcade on Monday very sore, but very ready to play.
This week’s machines:
Star Trek (Data East)
Big Buck Hunter Pro
Dark Knight
Monster Bash
I got to the arcade an hour early. I stepped inside and my heart sank. Star Trek LE was gone, and it was replaced with a Star Trek Pro. I will often walk by machines sitting on ball 2 or 3 with no one around. I always wonder why someone would just walk away before finishing a game. I put in 4 tokens (the same price as LE) and before my game was finished, I walked away disgusted.
Instead of practicing, I went outside to sit down and think.
I won’t turn this into a rant about how stupid I think it is to make lesser models. I’ll just say that I quested for 20 years to obtain a Getaway machine after a traumatic removal. Now I have a new seemingly impossible quest. I will save up, find, and buy a Star Trek LE before I turn 55. Hopefully sooner. That may sound ridiculous, but so did a 15 year old kid vowing to one day own a Getaway.
This was going to be weighing heavy on my mind all night.
First up, Star Trek (Data East). I’ve never played this before. I don’t have a lot of faith in Data East games, and this one never begged me to play it. On my first ball I wasn’t too impressed. On my second ball I pulled off a death save with only a single warning. I almost immediately lost that ball, but I now knew what I was working with. I played around with my third ball further testing the action of the machine. I was going to put everything I learned into my second game. My girlfriend won game one.
On game two I did very well. I didn’t need to death save on that game, but I did work the machine. I was a bit confused at what to do sometimes, but my group was very considerate about calling out to me what I was too busy to catch. I’m not sure what score I would have gotten had they not helped, but with their help I was able to get a replay and 40 million points. In the end, this machine won me over, and I would not hesitate to play it again.
My score: 40,351,290 (1st overall)
The next game was Big Buck Hunter Pro. I had never played it before this week, because honestly, who could take this game seriously? To my surprise I found a machine that played really fast and had great action. One of my go-to tricks in any game is activating multiball and just cradling several balls while using the other flipper to take care of business. I’m pretty good at transferring and juggling, and this machine is fantastic for that.
I won the first game, though none of us did very well. On the second game my buddy #1 did great. He hit 10 million. I was up last, so I knew what the score to beat was. I had an uphill battle, but it looked like I was going to beat it. One thing I know I need to work on is paying closer attention to the DMD. In this instance I was on the cusp of beating him when I tilted. The bonus I lost would have put me in first place. All I had to do was let it drain, but I screwed up.
First Place: 10,874,670 (#1’s score)
My score: 10,665,030 (2nd overall)
Up next was the Dark Knight. I like this game a lot. Shaneus and I played a few really good games the other day, so I felt good about this game being selected. One of the things I love about this game is the flippers. It has stealthy black flippers with dark purple rubber. It makes them very hard to see and use. If you can manage them though, you’ll find they grip better than any other machine there. I always suspected this was done to make the game harder, and later I confirmed it with one of the techs up there. It’s also in a very dark place at the arcade. If you don’t have some decent skills going in, you’re going to get pounded.
I did alright on game one, but #1 did twice as well as me. I had 24 million to his 43 million. I’m starting to learn that (provided the tilt isn’t too tight) I can death save on a lot of Stern machines. In my first game I went for one, but the machine was just too close to a Baywatch machine that I didn’t want to harm. Before the next game I slightly repositioned the machine so that if it came up, I could try again.
On the second game I was the only one that was doing well. On my final ball I had around 20 million, which meant I still had a lot of work to do. The ball went down the right outlane, and I managed a death save that drew a double warning. Sometimes a double warning is a good thing. You know you can’t push it any further, so it’s pretty straight forward. I continued on, but fell just short of 40 million. I didn’t beat #1, but I got a way better score than I would have otherwise.
First Place: 43,725,810 (#1’s score)
My score: 39,396,250 (3rd overall)
Finally we played Monster Bash. I love Monster Bash. It’s worth noting that it has the coolest flippers ever. They are yellow with blue rubber, and they are super responsive. I hope someday TPA allows us to customize stuff like that. I find that sometimes I’ll have an amazing game, but more often than not, it’s pretty erratic. Like, when the scoop ejects, it often shoots straight down the middle. Quick reflexes and nudging just aren’t enough to stop it. Other times the ball gets stuck behind Dracula, and you have to wait for the ball search to have Dracula push it out. This results in SDTM 75% of the time. The best strategy I had going in was to hit the Mosh Pit as often as possible. It scores points, but also activates multiball. I knew if I could start juggling and hitting jackpots that I’d get a decent score.
On game one I hit the Mosh Pit six times. All I had to do was hit the scoop to start multiball. I just couldn’t hit it in time. I ended with 20 million, but #1 had gotten 50 million. We started game two, and my first two balls didn’t go very well. My girlfriend did great and had ended the second game with 44 million. I was the last one up. I had 5 million points and one ball left to try and beat the top score. It didn’t look very plausible.
I went to work on the Mosh Pit again. My sub-strategy was to get Frankenstein multiball if I couldn’t get anything else. I lit Mosh Pit multiball, but before I could hit the scoop, I started the Frankenstein mode. I could tell I was doing okay, but once again I forgot to check the DMD. I heard “Double Super Jackpot” a few times, so I knew that was good. In the back of my mind I knew the second that mode ended I’d have to shoot the scoop for the Mosh Pit. Well, the moment the mode ended, I bricked a shot to the scoop and lost my final ball. I was turning away upset with myself when #1 patted me on the back and pointed to the DMD. I was absolutely shocked. I still find it hard to believe, but somehow I managed to get 57 million points.
First Place: 76,767,640 (Surprise! Someone in another group still beat me!)
My score: 57,192,870 (2nd overall)
We got the email with the results pretty quickly this time. I had once again gotten first place this week. The bigger news though is that I finally made it to the #1 ranking. I’m not sure how to feel about this. Of course I’m elated, but on the other hand I feel bad for taking my friend’s #1 spot. I’ll still be calling him #1 on here, because he earned that nickname. We are neck and neck in points, and with two weeks remaining it’s anyone’s game.
Total Standings after week 6:
1st place: me with 186 points
2nd place: #1 with 185 points
3rd place: my girlfriend with 155 points
Here’s my thoughts. First of all, if you’ve been following along, then you’ll remember I royally screwed up the first week. I started the season off being ranked #7. Just to be able to make it to first place after that is a miracle. That was a win, in and of itself. Also, in the beginning my goal wasn’t necessarily to win the whole thing, just to place out of this league and into the next one. I did the math. Even if I walked away right now, I’d still finish in the top three. So it looks like I did it.
Next week’s machines are Banzai Run and Scared Stiff. I know Scared Stiff well enough, but I need to dig into Banzai Run as I’m not too familiar with it.
Finally, I’d like to address this. As far as death saving goes, is it “legal” in this competition? Frankly, I don’t really know. The rules state that “the only penalty for tilting is the one imposed by the machine”. It fails to mention death saves and bang backs. No one has called me out on it, and asking the judge if it’s okay doesn’t sound like a great idea. In 20 years I’ve never had anyone get angry at me for doing it, but I’ve always tried to keep it low profile. To me, that’s just how pinball is played. The day I am asked to not do it, I will comply. It’s not like it’s my only trick. It’s just a very useful one.
OMD
I had forgotten this was the week Shaneus was coming to town for the Texas Pinball Festival. I told him I’d meet him at the arcade, and on Wednesday night we met up and had a blast. I ended up taking Thursday off of work to hang out and play with him all day. This wasn’t the rest I was looking for, but playing against him and my buddy #1 couldn’t have been better training.
I decided Friday and Saturday I’d take 48 hours off. That lasted until Saturday afternoon when my girlfriend wanted to play the Getaway. We invited #1 over to play, and that ended up with us going back to the arcade. So with only about 24 hours of rest I walked into the arcade on Monday very sore, but very ready to play.
This week’s machines:
Star Trek (Data East)
Big Buck Hunter Pro
Dark Knight
Monster Bash
I got to the arcade an hour early. I stepped inside and my heart sank. Star Trek LE was gone, and it was replaced with a Star Trek Pro. I will often walk by machines sitting on ball 2 or 3 with no one around. I always wonder why someone would just walk away before finishing a game. I put in 4 tokens (the same price as LE) and before my game was finished, I walked away disgusted.
Instead of practicing, I went outside to sit down and think.
I won’t turn this into a rant about how stupid I think it is to make lesser models. I’ll just say that I quested for 20 years to obtain a Getaway machine after a traumatic removal. Now I have a new seemingly impossible quest. I will save up, find, and buy a Star Trek LE before I turn 55. Hopefully sooner. That may sound ridiculous, but so did a 15 year old kid vowing to one day own a Getaway.
This was going to be weighing heavy on my mind all night.
First up, Star Trek (Data East). I’ve never played this before. I don’t have a lot of faith in Data East games, and this one never begged me to play it. On my first ball I wasn’t too impressed. On my second ball I pulled off a death save with only a single warning. I almost immediately lost that ball, but I now knew what I was working with. I played around with my third ball further testing the action of the machine. I was going to put everything I learned into my second game. My girlfriend won game one.
On game two I did very well. I didn’t need to death save on that game, but I did work the machine. I was a bit confused at what to do sometimes, but my group was very considerate about calling out to me what I was too busy to catch. I’m not sure what score I would have gotten had they not helped, but with their help I was able to get a replay and 40 million points. In the end, this machine won me over, and I would not hesitate to play it again.
My score: 40,351,290 (1st overall)
The next game was Big Buck Hunter Pro. I had never played it before this week, because honestly, who could take this game seriously? To my surprise I found a machine that played really fast and had great action. One of my go-to tricks in any game is activating multiball and just cradling several balls while using the other flipper to take care of business. I’m pretty good at transferring and juggling, and this machine is fantastic for that.
I won the first game, though none of us did very well. On the second game my buddy #1 did great. He hit 10 million. I was up last, so I knew what the score to beat was. I had an uphill battle, but it looked like I was going to beat it. One thing I know I need to work on is paying closer attention to the DMD. In this instance I was on the cusp of beating him when I tilted. The bonus I lost would have put me in first place. All I had to do was let it drain, but I screwed up.
First Place: 10,874,670 (#1’s score)
My score: 10,665,030 (2nd overall)
Up next was the Dark Knight. I like this game a lot. Shaneus and I played a few really good games the other day, so I felt good about this game being selected. One of the things I love about this game is the flippers. It has stealthy black flippers with dark purple rubber. It makes them very hard to see and use. If you can manage them though, you’ll find they grip better than any other machine there. I always suspected this was done to make the game harder, and later I confirmed it with one of the techs up there. It’s also in a very dark place at the arcade. If you don’t have some decent skills going in, you’re going to get pounded.
I did alright on game one, but #1 did twice as well as me. I had 24 million to his 43 million. I’m starting to learn that (provided the tilt isn’t too tight) I can death save on a lot of Stern machines. In my first game I went for one, but the machine was just too close to a Baywatch machine that I didn’t want to harm. Before the next game I slightly repositioned the machine so that if it came up, I could try again.
On the second game I was the only one that was doing well. On my final ball I had around 20 million, which meant I still had a lot of work to do. The ball went down the right outlane, and I managed a death save that drew a double warning. Sometimes a double warning is a good thing. You know you can’t push it any further, so it’s pretty straight forward. I continued on, but fell just short of 40 million. I didn’t beat #1, but I got a way better score than I would have otherwise.
First Place: 43,725,810 (#1’s score)
My score: 39,396,250 (3rd overall)
Finally we played Monster Bash. I love Monster Bash. It’s worth noting that it has the coolest flippers ever. They are yellow with blue rubber, and they are super responsive. I hope someday TPA allows us to customize stuff like that. I find that sometimes I’ll have an amazing game, but more often than not, it’s pretty erratic. Like, when the scoop ejects, it often shoots straight down the middle. Quick reflexes and nudging just aren’t enough to stop it. Other times the ball gets stuck behind Dracula, and you have to wait for the ball search to have Dracula push it out. This results in SDTM 75% of the time. The best strategy I had going in was to hit the Mosh Pit as often as possible. It scores points, but also activates multiball. I knew if I could start juggling and hitting jackpots that I’d get a decent score.
On game one I hit the Mosh Pit six times. All I had to do was hit the scoop to start multiball. I just couldn’t hit it in time. I ended with 20 million, but #1 had gotten 50 million. We started game two, and my first two balls didn’t go very well. My girlfriend did great and had ended the second game with 44 million. I was the last one up. I had 5 million points and one ball left to try and beat the top score. It didn’t look very plausible.
I went to work on the Mosh Pit again. My sub-strategy was to get Frankenstein multiball if I couldn’t get anything else. I lit Mosh Pit multiball, but before I could hit the scoop, I started the Frankenstein mode. I could tell I was doing okay, but once again I forgot to check the DMD. I heard “Double Super Jackpot” a few times, so I knew that was good. In the back of my mind I knew the second that mode ended I’d have to shoot the scoop for the Mosh Pit. Well, the moment the mode ended, I bricked a shot to the scoop and lost my final ball. I was turning away upset with myself when #1 patted me on the back and pointed to the DMD. I was absolutely shocked. I still find it hard to believe, but somehow I managed to get 57 million points.
First Place: 76,767,640 (Surprise! Someone in another group still beat me!)
My score: 57,192,870 (2nd overall)
We got the email with the results pretty quickly this time. I had once again gotten first place this week. The bigger news though is that I finally made it to the #1 ranking. I’m not sure how to feel about this. Of course I’m elated, but on the other hand I feel bad for taking my friend’s #1 spot. I’ll still be calling him #1 on here, because he earned that nickname. We are neck and neck in points, and with two weeks remaining it’s anyone’s game.
Total Standings after week 6:
1st place: me with 186 points
2nd place: #1 with 185 points
3rd place: my girlfriend with 155 points
Here’s my thoughts. First of all, if you’ve been following along, then you’ll remember I royally screwed up the first week. I started the season off being ranked #7. Just to be able to make it to first place after that is a miracle. That was a win, in and of itself. Also, in the beginning my goal wasn’t necessarily to win the whole thing, just to place out of this league and into the next one. I did the math. Even if I walked away right now, I’d still finish in the top three. So it looks like I did it.
Next week’s machines are Banzai Run and Scared Stiff. I know Scared Stiff well enough, but I need to dig into Banzai Run as I’m not too familiar with it.
Finally, I’d like to address this. As far as death saving goes, is it “legal” in this competition? Frankly, I don’t really know. The rules state that “the only penalty for tilting is the one imposed by the machine”. It fails to mention death saves and bang backs. No one has called me out on it, and asking the judge if it’s okay doesn’t sound like a great idea. In 20 years I’ve never had anyone get angry at me for doing it, but I’ve always tried to keep it low profile. To me, that’s just how pinball is played. The day I am asked to not do it, I will comply. It’s not like it’s my only trick. It’s just a very useful one.
OMD
