Tables you were completely wrong about.

[Kolchak357]

It just took awhile for the redneck inside you to come out.

You could be on to something.

 

[Dedpop]

It just took awhile for the redneck inside you to come out.

You could be on to something.

Last known pic of that poor Buck.

 

[Baron Rubik]

Thought I'd like: Black Rose, Champion Pub, Safecracker, Terminator 2. Can't stand any of em.

Thought I'd hate: Roadshow, Indy 500, 8 Ball Deluxe. All great little games when I gave them a chance.

How can you not like Black Rose?

 

[HotHamBoy]

I desperately wanted to like StarShip Troopers but I can't get those shots working and can't play it controlled.
I used to totally hate Dr. Dude, and although I still dislike the art, theme and sounds, I have warmed up to the gameplay quite a bit
In general I have been surprised how much I have liked the EM's and 70s/80s tables. IRL I have been a DMD-style pinhead all the way, being spoonfed with 90's tables. TPA helped me to appreciate target shooting on those older tables and not miss multiball, toys and (wizard) modes that much.

All of this is true for me, too. SST is more fun IRL, though. I used to despise Dr. Dude, partially because it was one of the few tables near me for the longest time. I've come around to it, though. I even like the cheese-tastic presentation. It's still a ruthless monster, though.

Playing those older EM and SS tables really improve your play across the board, IMO. They can be pretty brutal.

How can you not like Black Rose?

I agree, I see a lot of hate for the table but I like it. I mean, I think I understand the dislike of videomodes and the value of the broadside shots, but it's still fun, IMO.

Now, Champion Pub is a game I have liked less the more I've played it both in TPA and IRL.

Terminator 2 is a game I used to not like as much but now I'm starting to love it. It's so good!

Safecracker... I get why people don't like that one and I haven't played it enough myself yet. But i see a fun game there, I just need to learn it better.

Black Knight 2000 is a game I only recently started to enjoy. I think a lot of games require a certain skill level to appreciate. I'm finally at a point where this is a fun game, hah.

Bigges positive surprise for me has been Fish Tales. Played it many times in real life and was always disappointed in it, other than the video mode. But I'm in love with the TPA version of it. Can't really explain it.

I can: it's so much easier in TPA. I just played this IRL on Friday after a week of grinding it for the TPA tournament. I couldn't touch my TPA score. That said, it's still pretty challenging in TPA because it's really easy to drain off a post.

 

[Kolchak357]

Last known pic of that poor Buck.

Buck is still around. He's almost 13 now though. He's slowed down a bit, but then so have I.

 

[heberts811]

The biggest surprise for me was Safe Cracker. I found one in the wild years ago in Maine and didn't like it. After PBA got it I learned the shots and really enjoy it. I also saw a pristine one at Pintastic NE with headphones attached to it and spent some time playing it. It's always better when you have some idea what to shoot for.

Gary

 

[Tabe]

Nooooo, don't be a grinch

Not being a grinch. I just haven't been surprised by any games I expected not to like. Doesn't mean I don't like a bunch of the tables.

 

[Tabe]

What do you like? Do you just mean the TPA versions or the tables in general?

TPA was my gateway into Pinball. Indiana, man...

TPA versions. I liked TZ live.

What do I like? Funhouse (my favorite in person, too), Medieval Madness, Mars Attacks, Theater of Magic, Monster Bash

My gateway into pinball came 40 years ago in my grandmother's basement on a Mystic Marvel table.

 

[DanBradford]

What's 'Mars Attacks'?

 

[Fungi]

What's 'Mars Attacks'?

The prequel to 'Mars Revenge'.

 

[DanBradford]

Nice

 

[karl]

This is my 5 biggest let-downs of the tables I had not played before TPA (I have not included tables I expected nothing from or tables I already knew were bad)

Eathshaker - How can a table so close (in time and design) to Whirlwind be so boring.
Safecracker - Was fun for 5 minutes before the novelty wore off. Now I play it just as often as Goin' nuts
Haunted House - Maybe the speedy ball movement of tpa does not do this one any favors but either way. It was a big letdown
Black Knight - I have since tpa played it and it is clearly better in real life though
Party Zone - Turd

The other end of the scale:

Flight 2000 - Didn't look like much, I thought. But this one is a keeper for me
Ripley's - Not very fun in the beginning but it really shines when you learn the rules
Big Shot - Simple and addicting play
Indy 500 - Much more fun than I expected
Jack-Bot - Big surprise

These 5 I already knew where bad but Farsight made it even worse:

Scared stiff - Boring in real life and even more boring in TPA
Victory - The most boring of a long line of boring Premieres
Junkyard - Don't even think about touching that junk
Judge Dredd - 7 years of boredom goes out to Mr Dredd
Cyclone/Hurricane - No carnival fun for me

The other side of the table: Machines that just got better after playing them in TPA (in some cases it might be that I did not know them good enough before. In other cases I am just surprised that I haven't tired of them yet)

TNG - I knew it's potential and Farsight did it more than justice
Monster Bash - After thousands of bashes I still come back for more
Medieval Madness - It is not perfect in TPA, but I still play it often enough. Might be a testament to the real table more than TPA)
Road Show - It was ok before, but I like it more since it came to TPA
Addams - I admit that I do not play it very often, mostly because I have owned 2 of them in real life but I feel that they did it justice

 

[HotHamBoy]

I will fight anyone who dislikes Judge Dredd IRL.

I also like Cyclone/Hurricane, even if they are rather tepid designs. But Judge Dredd is top-to-bottom a badass table. I think the TPA version is fine...

 

[karl]

I will fight anyone who dislikes Judge Dredd IRL.

I also like Cyclone/Hurricane, even if they are rather tepid designs. But Judge Dredd is top-to-bottom a badass table. I think the TPA version is fine...

Sorry about JD, but I find the design clunky and the rules boring. If it helps, I really wanted to like it. It looks good and the sound is cool (in small doses)

Please do not hit me hard, I am friendly sort of person

 

[HotHamBoy]

Just one quick shot to the arm...

 

[vikingerik]

Eathshaker - How can a table so close (in time and design) to Whirlwind be so boring.

This is easy, the single jackpot during multiball. Whirlwind escalates the tension as that million plus ratchets up and piles on the pressure to keep the multiball going. Earthshaker is the single jackpot and then yawn.

Haunted House - Maybe the speedy ball movement of tpa does not do this one any favors but either way. It was a big letdown

The speedy ball movement absolutely completely utterly ruins this game. You're supposed to use subtle nudges and flipper movements to gain control around that right main flipper that can't catch the ball, except those subtle moves don't exist in TPA's crude physics.

 

[vikingerik]

I desperately wanted to like StarShip Troopers but I can't get those shots working and can't play it controlled.

SST is tuned badly in TPA. It has the problem that surfaces on a few TPA tables where shots are only possible via the railroad from a flipper catch. It's like the scoop and shooting range are exactly precisely one ball wide and any deviation by a pixel will hit the post instead and miss. The ramps are also narrower than they should be, and the shot into the leftmost saucer is angled oddly as well. The only shots that really work are the orbits.

If you ruthlessly catch and shoot everything with full control, SST plays fine and I like it perfectly well, but yes, the game doesn't flow as it should.

 

[superballs]

This is easy, the single jackpot during multiball. Whirlwind escalates the tension as that million plus ratchets up and piles on the pressure to keep the multiball going. Earthshaker is the single jackpot and then yawn.



The speedy ball movement absolutely completely utterly ruins this game. You're supposed to use subtle nudges and flipper movements to gain control around that right main flipper that can't catch the ball, except those subtle moves don't exist in TPA's crude physics.

This would likely explain why I was so disappointed with Haunted House upon release.
People were pretty stoked about it, so I was expecting a Big Shot or Black Hole, but man it's a dud.

 

[vikingerik]

Haunted House's other problem is that the sheer physical size and spectacle of the machine gets totally lost on a screen. The ball changing all those levels on a real machine is cool and impressive, but means nothing in your pocket. This isn't Farsight's fault of course, but it doesn't help matters.

 

[shutyertrap]

It's drastically easier than IRL, IMO. All the Season 1 tables are. CftBL, MM, SS, TZ are all too easy...

Every TZ I've played as been ruthless compared to the TPA version.

The house we just had our monthly league tourney at was essentially Season 1 come to life. Apart from MM, the above tables were all present, as well as MB, TAF, TotAN, ToM, P*B, BSD, EatPM, BH, and more. Whenever I come across any of these tables, which I've played to death in TPA, I am horrible at them. Except TZ strangely enough. I am so used to either the overly bouncy nature of tables like ToM or TotAN, or the routine ball bounces of MB and SS, that my muscle memory completely works against me IRL.

I have yet to come across a Creature IRL (and I've played 4 different ones in the past year) that remotely has the same ball off flipper bounces that it does in TPA. The main ramp however I have had tables that were just as receptive. The one I played the other day had balls going into the snackbar with no difficulty at all, where others have been Fort Knox. With TZ I have found that TPA has trained me well to hitting the 2 ramp combo, but hitting the piano is very much a pain. Getting the plunger shot IRL is so much easier than TPA. That being said, I've never come close to scoring a billion on TZ in the wild, while in TPA that's like a baseline.