Rate tables in Season 4

[Gorgar]

Sorry, how did people come to the conclusion that it was Safecracker based on that clue?

One of the dmd animations on Safe Cracker has that same Bob's Rental truck. However, when it appears, it also says "Getaway" on the dmd when it appears. So, I would say there is an 80% chance of Safe Cracker and a 20% chance of The Getaway.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Season 4 is over, Season 5 is almost upon us, so I can finally do this rating.

By consensus, S4 started out relatively weak, but finished strong. That's somewhat reflected in my ratings, but one of my favorite tables in the season is still from that "weak" start.

1. Jack*Bot
2. Party Zone
3. Addams Family
4. Road Show
5. Cyclone
6. Safe Cracker
7. Earthshaker
8. Xenon
9. Phantom of the Opera
10. Starship Troopers

 

[invitro]

1. RS
2. Cyclone
3. PotO
4. SST
5. PZone
6. J*B
7. TAF
8. SC
9. Xenon
10. ES

 

[karl]

A few personal thoughts about this season:

Positive: Jack-bot and Roadshow was more fun than I thought. Those 2 are the ones I still play the most

Negative: Earthshaker. I had not played it in real life but I love Whirlwind so why did I find earthshaker such a boring table??

Relief: Farsight did great versions of both Addams Family and Xenon

Overall: Not a very good start(unlike season 3) but with a great finish Farsight gave us a season at least on par with season 3

 

[Fungi]

Negative: Earthshaker. I had not played it in real life but I love Whirlwind so why did I find earthshaker such a boring table??

I've been trying to figure out that precise premise since its release. I thought I wanted it until I played it.

 

[vikingerik]

The problem with Earthshaker is easy. There's nothing to do during multiball, one jackpot and you're done. You don't have the tension of trying to escalate the million-plus as on Whirlwind and Funhouse. Those games have you knowing you'll nail it next time (you won't, but you know it anyway), but on Earthshaker there's no higher goal to aspire to.

 

[Fungi]

The problem with Earthshaker is easy. There's nothing to do during multiball, one jackpot and you're done. You don't have the tension of trying to escalate the million-plus as on Whirlwind and Funhouse. Those games have you knowing you'll nail it next time (you won't, but you know it anyway), but on Earthshaker there's no higher goal to aspire to.

THAT'S IT! No tension!

One of them best times I ever had playing pinball was BftK on MM. That was purely because of the tension.

 

[Iain]

1. Road Show
2. Addams Family
3. Cyclone
4. Earthshaker
5. Safe Cracker
6. Party Zone
7. Jack*Bot
8. Xenon
9. Starship Troopers
10. Phantom of the Opera

 

[invitro]

The problem with Earthshaker is easy. There's nothing to do during multiball, one jackpot and you're done. You don't have the tension of trying to escalate the million-plus as on Whirlwind and Funhouse. Those games have you knowing you'll nail it next time (you won't, but you know it anyway), but on Earthshaker there's no higher goal to aspire to.

Aha! That's it. Well, trying to get the jackpot with the EB is a fun thing, but a little easier than I expected? I really played the real machine a heap of times, but I also have TAF, Jack*Bot, RS, maybe Cyclone.

(Quick note: I've yet to notice a bug in TAF. I guess I haven't scored high enough yet, or maybe haven't been observant?)

 

[pm1109]

Poor start.Strong finish.With the highlights for me being finally getting TAF and DX11 for PC

Now for Season 5...

 

[Espy]

The problem with Earthshaker is easy. There's nothing to do during multiball, one jackpot and you're done. You don't have the tension of trying to escalate the million-plus as on Whirlwind and Funhouse. Those games have you knowing you'll nail it next time (you won't, but you know it anyway), but on Earthshaker there's no higher goal to aspire to.

Fair point, but keep in mind Earthshaker preceded these two tables, and the "standards" of rulesets these days, such as endless multiballs, weren't discovered yet.

Though keep in mind that on the real machine, the jackpot shot is extremely difficult shot (it's steep and has a lot of upwards distance to travel before hitting the slope decline at the end), so if you get a single jackpot on the table you're doing really well. I got one once, and it put me at the top of the high scores list! Admittedly it is a much more satisfying shot as a result.

 

[TNT]

I initially agreed with everyone else and thought season 4 was somewhat weak overall. However several tables have really grown on me. I actually find them hard to rank and all of them are fun. The only lackluster one IMO is Starship Troopers. It would have been nice to get a different Sega table. However licensing can be difficult to say the least.

1. The Addams Family
2. Safecracker
3. Red and Ted's
4. The Party Zone
5. Earthshaker!
6. Cyclone
7. Phantom
8. Jack-Bot
9. Xenon


10. Starship Troopers

 

[TNT]

Dang. And a lot of folks in the thread liked Starship Troopers. Just goes to show there are lots of different things to like about tables. I also have Safecracker ranked a lot higher than most folks. I love that table!

"We need to find this babe's off switch!"

 

[HotHamBoy]

I really enjoyed the season overall, although some tables did take time to grow on me. Still, Addams, Road Show and Jackbot are big winners for me and I've grown fond of Earthshaker, Cyclone and even Xenon. Safecracker still hasn't clicked, even though it's a really cool and unique game. I honestly haven't spent enough time with Troopers, Phantom or Party Zone but I'm thinking there's a reason for that... That's probably the order I would put all the tables in.

I think this was a better season than 2, especially considering ratio, despite 2 having a few of my favorite tables as well as some other solid games. I would put 3 above it, though, and 1 above that. Although as Season 1 continues to lag behind in conversion quality I may have to start dropping it down the list. One has to consider these games as they play in TPA and not as they play in real life.

So far Season 5 has started off very strong. If they manage some more System 11 must-haves, and maybe a Capcom or two, I think we're in for a great year and possibly a shake-up

 

[BigFoot HotFoot]

1. Party Zone
2. Earthshaker
3. Xenon
4. Cyclone
5. Road Show
6. Jack*Bot
7. Addams Family
8. Safe Cracker
9. Phantom of the Opera
10. Starship Troopers

 

[HotHamBoy]

Genuinely curious, why do you rate Party Zone so highly? The theme is fun but the music is TERRIFYING. I find the game pretty so-so. It's definitely better than Dr. Dude but it feels very much like a sequel. I usually really like Dennis Nordman games, White Water is one of my all-time favs. But Party Zone and Dr. Dude just don't do it for me.

 

[KillRideMedley]

After Finally Playing them all on Xbox One for a while
1. Road Show
2. Jack*Bot
3. Addams Family
4. Starship Troopers
5. Safe Cracker
6. Party Zone
7. Cyclone
8. Phantom of the Opera
9. Earthshaker


10. Xenon

 

[dave950lam]

I'm glad for all of them so I'll list them in order most played:

Addams Family
Xenon
Safecracker
Phantom of the Opera
Party Zone
Jackbot
Earthshaker
Cyclone
Starship Troopers
Red n Ted

 

[Extork]

1. Party Zone
2. Earthshaker
3. Xenon
4. Cyclone
5. Road Show
6. Jack*Bot
7. Addams Family
8. Safe Cracker
9. Phantom of the Opera
10. Starship Troopers

Strange, take this, do exactly the opposite (minus POTO), and that's very close to mine

 

[dave950lam]

Genuinely curious, why do you rate Party Zone so highly? The theme is fun but the music is TERRIFYING. I find the game pretty so-so. It's definitely better than Dr. Dude but it feels very much like a sequel. I usually really like Dennis Nordman games, White Water is one of my all-time favs. But Party Zone and Dr. Dude just don't do it for me.

Party Zone isn't really a sequel, but more like a cross-over table involving Dr Dude, Elvira's Party Monsters and Party Animal.