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New month, new night of pinball at the OC Pinball League!The host of this month's meeting had a lot of older games. Translation, EM's and such. Not a fan, and after how I performed in tournament, really really not a fan! It really is a different style of play needed for these things. The ball moves slower, you have to be a nudger, and scoring is so much more a slog. Give me jackpots and modes to stack! Anyways, here's the list of games I got to play tonight...Row 1Count-DownSpanish EyesFreedom '76Big DealTime ZoneRow 2CleopatraSea RayScorpionWorld Cup Soccer '94Bowling QueenRow 3F-14Riverboat GamblerTerminator 2Road KingsSpanish Eyes has this crazy setup at the flippers.That pop bumper in the middle of the flippers will bounce your ball around a good many times. We were all laughing because according to league rules, if you earn an extra ball, you have to plunge and then not touch the table. Well, the ball stayed in play for nearly a minute because it simply would not center drain!Time Zone, which made an appearance on one of the polls, was the only old game I actually did really well on. I have no clue why my score got to what it did, but as it's the only table I didn't fall flat on my face playing, I'm not complaining!Riverboat Gambler is a whole lot of fun. It's a bit on the ugly side, especially all the solid red ramps, and I suspect that might be why it doesn't get much love.Get past the looks though, and good times! The skill shot is great. You essentially have to plunge just enough for the ball to barely make the turn and ride on a little ledge that leads over to the roulette field. Too soft, it rolls back down the ramp. Too hard, it goes all the way around the turn and drops into the pop bumpers. Speaking of roulette, you pick your color and a wheel on the backbox spins and if you hit, you get chips (end of ball bonus points). There are all manner of shots, be it drop targets or ramps or dead ends. 'Bout the only thing it doesn't have are loop shots. It's not a flow table, but you can get some rhythm going.I think it surprised a lot of people, and pissed off its fair share too. Just a really solid System 11 machine.F-14 separates the men from the boys, and I proved to be an infant. T2 was a center drain monster, and every failed shot wanted to send the ball there. First time ever playing Road Kings and...did nothing for me. Well, it reminded me of Harley and how much more that sucked compared to this! Didn't help matters that this particular machine had issues, be it the center drop target going on the fritz or the ball taking a nice bounce each time it transitioned from metal ball guide to flipper.So my tournament machines were Cleopatra, which I'd get 2 bounces and one flipper shot before the ball would go to an outlane; Sea Ray which gave me play time, just not much scoring; Time Zone, the only table of the night I did okay on; T2, which I had great practice sessions on but couldn't do diddly during the tourney; Riverboat, which had the same story as T2 but was even meaner; Road Kings, where the less said the better.I'm not gonna like seeing my points total when posted a day or so from now, that's for sure. My other 3 meetings, I managed to avoid placing last on probably 5 of the 6 tables we'd play, often posting 1st in my group on at least 2. Tonight, I was bottom on 5. Oh well, here's hoping next month treats me better.
New month, new night of pinball at the OC Pinball League!
The host of this month's meeting had a lot of older games. Translation, EM's and such. Not a fan, and after how I performed in tournament, really really not a fan! It really is a different style of play needed for these things. The ball moves slower, you have to be a nudger, and scoring is so much more a slog. Give me jackpots and modes to stack! Anyways, here's the list of games I got to play tonight...
Row 1
Count-Down
Spanish Eyes
Freedom '76
Big Deal
Time Zone
Row 2
Cleopatra
Sea Ray
Scorpion
World Cup Soccer '94
Bowling Queen
Row 3
F-14
Riverboat Gambler
Terminator 2
Road Kings
Spanish Eyes has this crazy setup at the flippers.
That pop bumper in the middle of the flippers will bounce your ball around a good many times. We were all laughing because according to league rules, if you earn an extra ball, you have to plunge and then not touch the table. Well, the ball stayed in play for nearly a minute because it simply would not center drain!
Time Zone, which made an appearance on one of the polls, was the only old game I actually did really well on. I have no clue why my score got to what it did, but as it's the only table I didn't fall flat on my face playing, I'm not complaining!
Riverboat Gambler is a whole lot of fun. It's a bit on the ugly side, especially all the solid red ramps, and I suspect that might be why it doesn't get much love.
Get past the looks though, and good times! The skill shot is great. You essentially have to plunge just enough for the ball to barely make the turn and ride on a little ledge that leads over to the roulette field. Too soft, it rolls back down the ramp. Too hard, it goes all the way around the turn and drops into the pop bumpers. Speaking of roulette, you pick your color and a wheel on the backbox spins and if you hit, you get chips (end of ball bonus points). There are all manner of shots, be it drop targets or ramps or dead ends. 'Bout the only thing it doesn't have are loop shots. It's not a flow table, but you can get some rhythm going.
I think it surprised a lot of people, and pissed off its fair share too. Just a really solid System 11 machine.
F-14 separates the men from the boys, and I proved to be an infant. T2 was a center drain monster, and every failed shot wanted to send the ball there. First time ever playing Road Kings and...did nothing for me. Well, it reminded me of Harley and how much more that sucked compared to this! Didn't help matters that this particular machine had issues, be it the center drop target going on the fritz or the ball taking a nice bounce each time it transitioned from metal ball guide to flipper.
So my tournament machines were Cleopatra, which I'd get 2 bounces and one flipper shot before the ball would go to an outlane; Sea Ray which gave me play time, just not much scoring; Time Zone, the only table of the night I did okay on; T2, which I had great practice sessions on but couldn't do diddly during the tourney; Riverboat, which had the same story as T2 but was even meaner; Road Kings, where the less said the better.
I'm not gonna like seeing my points total when posted a day or so from now, that's for sure. My other 3 meetings, I managed to avoid placing last on probably 5 of the 6 tables we'd play, often posting 1st in my group on at least 2. Tonight, I was bottom on 5. Oh well, here's hoping next month treats me better.
