The Pinball Arcade table ratings

[Turbine]

It's a difficult table to recreate virtually, it looks and plays so much better in real life with those ramps. It's a great table on TPA though, but you have to track down and play a real one.

Since my last post on the thread, I've bought Black Rose (I was waiting for POTO but it didn't look great) which I like, but the video modes are getting a bit irritating. I was then going to buy Who Dunnit, but started playing some of the tables I hadn't played much and got unexpectedly hooked on Space Shuttle (and I love my DMD's), so settled on Pinbot and Centaur.

 

[Nolan]

Im planning a pinball weekend in Pelham NH with my daughter in a few weeks, and luckily they have it.

Gonna see if I can sneak out with it when no one is looking

 

[smbhax]

Added Party Zone to the survey!

http://smbhax.com/tpatr

Last month's table, Phantom of the Opera, landed at 34th in the list. In the top 10, Monster Bash pulled slightly ahead of Attack from Mars again, WHO dunnit climbed three spots to #10, and in a surprisingly dramatic shift, Black Rose plunged from 10th place down to 17th.

The Pinball Arcade table ratings
——————————
1. 8.87 — Medieval Madness
2. 8.65 — Monster Bash
3. 8.62 — Attack from Mars
4. 8.42 — Theatre of Magic
5. 8.24 — The Twilight Zone
6. 7.98 — Tales of the Arabian Nights
7. 7.96 — Star Trek: The Next Generation
8. 7.83 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
9. 7.67 — White Water
10. 7.56 — WHO dunnit
11. 7.54 — Fish Tales
12. 7.52 — Scared Stiff
13. 7.50 — Bram Stoker's Dracula
14. 7.41 — Cirqus Voltaire
15. 7.40 — No Good Gofers!
16. 7.37 — Junk Yard
17. 7.36 — Black Rose
17. 7.36 — Taxi
19. 7.35 — Ripley's Believe It or Not!
20. 7.32 — Whirlwind
21. 7.31 — Funhouse
22. 7.26 — Creature from the Black Lagoon
23. 7.14 — High Speed
24. 7.00 — The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot
25. 6.97 — Black Knight 2000
26. 6.94 — Centaur
27. 6.92 — Cactus Canyon
28. 6.91 — Pin•Bot
29. 6.88 — Diner
30. 6.67 — Space Shuttle
31. 6.54 — The Champion Pub
32. 6.49 — Elvira and the Party Monsters
33. 6.35 — High Roller Casino
34. 6.33 — Phantom of the Opera
35. 6.21 — Gorgar
36. 6.13 — Flight 2000
37. 6.07 — Big Shot
38. 6.00 — Firepower
39. 5.97 — Tee'd Off
40. 5.88 — Black Hole
41. 5.84 — Cue Ball Wizard
42. 5.56 — Haunted House
43. 5.48 — Lights...Camera...Action!
44. 5.45 — Dr. Dude
45. 5.38 — Class of 1812
46. 5.30 — Victory
47. 5.03 — Genie
47. 5.03 — Harley-Davidson Third Edition
49. 5.00 — Black Knight
50. 4.21 — El Dorado City of Gold
51. 4.20 — Central Park
52. 3.46 — Goin' Nuts
53. none — Party Zone

 

[smbhax]

Added Earthshaker to the survey!

http://smbhax.com/tpatr

Last month's table, Party Zone, has come in at 34th place--huh, exact same spot where the previous month's debutante, Phantom of the Opera, landed (Phantom has since slipped two spots to 36). The only top 10 movement is ST:TNG sneaking into a tie with TotAN:

The Pinball Arcade table ratings
——————————
1. 8.87 — Medieval Madness
2. 8.66 — Monster Bash
3. 8.63 — Attack from Mars
4. 8.44 — Theatre of Magic
5. 8.25 — The Twilight Zone
6. 7.98 — Star Trek: The Next Generation
6. 7.98 — Tales of the Arabian Nights
8. 7.85 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
9. 7.67 — White Water
10. 7.59 — WHO dunnit
11. 7.57 — Bram Stoker's Dracula
12. 7.54 — Fish Tales
12. 7.54 — Scared Stiff
14. 7.39 — Cirqus Voltaire
15. 7.38 — No Good Gofers!
16. 7.37 — Black Rose
16. 7.37 — Taxi
18. 7.36 — Junk Yard
19. 7.35 — Ripley's Believe It or Not!
20. 7.31 — Whirlwind
21. 7.30 — Funhouse
22. 7.27 — Creature from the Black Lagoon
23. 7.13 — High Speed
24. 7.01 — The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot
25. 6.96 — Black Knight 2000
26. 6.94 — Cactus Canyon
27. 6.93 — Centaur
28. 6.88 — Pin•Bot
29. 6.86 — Diner
30. 6.64 — Space Shuttle
31. 6.51 — Elvira and the Party Monsters
32. 6.50 — The Champion Pub
33. 6.34 — High Roller Casino
34. 6.27 — Party Zone
35. 6.23 — Gorgar
36. 6.20 — Phantom of the Opera
37. 6.10 — Flight 2000
38. 6.05 — Big Shot
39. 5.99 — Firepower
40. 5.97 — Tee'd Off
41. 5.87 — Black Hole
42. 5.85 — Cue Ball Wizard
43. 5.55 — Haunted House
44. 5.50 — Lights...Camera...Action!
45. 5.42 — Dr. Dude
46. 5.40 — Class of 1812
47. 5.31 — Victory
48. 5.06 — Harley-Davidson Third Edition
49. 5.00 — Black Knight
49. 5.00 — Genie
51. 4.20 — El Dorado City of Gold
52. 4.19 — Central Park
53. 3.43 — Goin' Nuts
54. none — Earthshaker

 

[Pinballfan69]

Here are my ratings. Of course My own opinion.

My Pinball Arcade table ratings
——————————
9 — Attack from Mars
9 — Black Rose
9 — Bram Stoker's Dracula
9 — Cactus Canyon
9 — Diner
9 — Medieval Madness
9 — Monster Bash
9 — No Good Gofers!
9 — Ripley's Believe It or Not!
9 — Space Shuttle
9 — Star Trek: The Next Generation
9 — Taxi
9 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
9 — Theatre of Magic
8 — Centaur
8 — Firepower
8 — Fish Tales
8 — Flight 2000
8 — Funhouse
8 — High Roller Casino
8 — High Speed
8 — The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot
8 — Scared Stiff
8 — Whirlwind
8 — White Water
7 — Black Knight 2000
7 — Creature from the Black Lagoon
7 — Earthshaker
7 — Elvira and the Party Monsters
7 — Gorgar
6 — Black Hole
6 — Black Knight
6 — Cue Ball Wizard
6 — Harley-Davidson Third Edition
6 — Phantom of the Opera
6 — Pin•Bot
6 — Tales of the Arabian Nights
6 — Tee'd Off
6 — Victory
6 — WHO dunnit
5 — The Champion Pub
5 — Class of 1812
5 — Junk Yard
4 — Big Shot
4 — Cirqus Voltaire
4 — Dr. Dude
4 — Lights...Camera...Action!
4 — Party Zone
4 — The Twilight Zone
3 — Haunted House
1 — Central Park
1 — El Dorado City of Gold
1 — Genie
1 — Goin' Nuts

If I would give an actual top 10 it would be.

1. NGG - Hole in one shot of course
2. Monsters Bash - just an all out fun table with tons of strategy in getting high scores.
3. Black Rose - Pirate theme and cannon shot.
4. STTNG - Final Frontier. Tons of balls for MB
5. Attack From Mars. - DESTROY MARS
6. Cactus Canyon - Just love those Gunfight shots at the targets.
7. Taxi - Nostalgia
8. Medieval Madness - Madness galore.
9. Dracula - MB stacking
10. Theater of Magic My favorite from the core pack.

 

[Nolan]

Season 4 Update!

My Pinball Arcade table ratings
——————————
10 — Bram Stoker's Dracula
10 — Centaur
10 — Cirqus Voltaire
10 — High Speed
10 — Junk Yard
10 — Medieval Madness
10 — Monster Bash
10 — Taxi
10 — Theatre of Magic
10 — White Water
9 — Attack from Mars
9 — Black Knight 2000
9 — Cactus Canyon
9 — Fish Tales
9 — The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot
9 — No Good Gofers!
9 — Phantom of the Opera
9 — Star Trek: The Next Generation
9 — WHO dunnit
8 — Black Rose
8 — The Champion Pub
8 — Diner
8 — Earthshaker
8 — Funhouse
8 — Genie
8 — Gorgar
8 — High Roller Casino
8 — Party Zone
8 — Pin•Bot
8 — Scared Stiff
8 — Tales of the Arabian Nights
8 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
8 — The Twilight Zone
7 — Big Shot
7 — Dr. Dude
7 — Firepower
7 — Goin' Nuts
7 — Ripley's Believe It or Not!
7 — Space Shuttle
7 — Whirlwind
6 — Black Hole
6 — Creature from the Black Lagoon
6 — Cue Ball Wizard
6 — Elvira and the Party Monsters
6 — Flight 2000
5 — Central Park
5 — Harley-Davidson Third Edition
5 — Haunted House
5 — Tee'd Off
4 — Black Knight
4 — Class of 1812
4 — El Dorado City of Gold
4 — Lights...Camera...Action!
1 — Victory

 

[Dedpop]

...when Victory meets with defeat.

 

[Industrial_Foods]

Why is Centaur such an addictive table? I have no clue. It is for me, but I don't get it. I do know though that it should be made into a movie with late 70s early 80s straight to video filming techniques.

 

[soundwave106]

Why is Centaur such an addictive table? I have no clue. It is for me, but I don't get it.

For me, it's a table that's relatively more difficult to achieve a multiball... but once achieved, if your "flow" is right, you can just start adding ball after ball and have *really* long frantic multiball session.

It is definitely very "80s" with its dark 1980s fantasy art, and low-quality unintelligible speech and bleep bleeps being fed into an endearingly cheesy 1980s "reverb". (Really a kind of BBD delay effect, the kind retro-oriented guitarists love these days. ) To me the gameplay is great if you can get past that (or in my case don't mind it that much at all).

 

[Kratos3]

Why is Centaur such an addictive table? I have no clue. It is for me, but I don't get it. I do know though that it should be made into a movie with late 70s early 80s straight to video filming techniques.

It's simple with solid gameplay and a nice layout.

 

[EnergyOne]

Why is Centaur such an addictive table? I have no clue. It is for me, but I don't get it. I do know though that it should be made into a movie with late 70s early 80s straight to video filming techniques.

It is definitely one of my favorites.

 

[Pinballfan69]

For me, it's a table that's relatively more difficult to achieve a multiball... but once achieved, if your "flow" is right, you can just start adding ball after ball and have *really* long frantic multiball session.

It is definitely very "80s" with its dark 1980s fantasy art, and low-quality unintelligible speech and bleep bleeps being fed into an endearingly cheesy 1980s "reverb". (Really a kind of BBD delay effect, the kind retro-oriented guitarists love these days. ) To me the gameplay is great if you can get past that (or in my case don't mind it that much at all).

It's not that it's difficult to start MBs. It's the fact that you need some accurate shooting to do so. (hit the ORBS letter in succession) I love the unique aspect of locking and releasing the Multiballs rather than the simple lit 'Lock' most tables have.

 

[soundwave106]

It's not that it's difficult to start MBs. It's the fact that you need some accurate shooting to do so. (hit the ORBS letter in succession) I love the unique aspect of locking and releasing the Multiballs rather than the simple lit 'Lock' most tables have.

The initial ORBS multiball is certainly the easier "gimme"... you really can't easily get chains of add-a-balls going with that IMHO (though it definitely will help). You really start getting to the "infinite" multiball with the Queen's Chamber and release targets.

No, not impossibly difficult, but on most 90s DMD machines, a multiball of some sort is pretty much a gimme, so definitely "relatively" more difficult.

 

[senor boogie woogie]

Hello, I am a newcomer here!

I am an American living in China and have The Pinball Arcade on IPad (and mini IPad). I own most all the games. I have sampled all of them, and some I did not buy, but I have other tables I never play because they were first or second season games and it was cheaper just to buy the whole package vs alacarte (buying one machine at a time). I play pinball on here everyday. So to list my likes and dislikes....

Games I play everyday:

Whirlwind: My favorite game. My best friend back home whom I played pinball with all the time states that this was also his favorite pinball machine.

Earthshaker: So very happy when I heard this game was coming out and when I bought it, basically played it non stop for about three days.

Taxi: This game is also a favorite. Very simple to understand game, but with lots of skill shots. Had this game in my college union and we used to play it all the time.

Games I play often.

Black Knight: I notice a lot of people dislike this game. Not me, always been a favorite.

Firepower: Great old game from my childhood that is difficult and challenging. Not easy. Makes you work for the multiball. And guess what, I may get the multiball about once out of ten games.

High Speed. High Speed is awesome.

Creature from the Black Lagoon. I got hooked on this one when it was the free game of the month last summer and I played it to death. Fun game and I am good at it, averaging about 300 million a game.





Sometimes play (probably once or twice a week)

Theater of Magic. Nice ramp target game.

Twilight Zone. Another nice ramp target like game.

Gorgar. Nice old school game which is challenging.

Fishtales is Ok, but a bit difficult to lock balls and the rowboat shots get tedious. However, any games that features rednecks is a favorite. As a rule, I ABHOR video modes on pinball games, but the torpedo game is fun.

Funhouse is a good game, but I played it to death when it was the monthly free game before I bought the package.

I like T2 more than Star Trek TNG. As someone has mentioned, the outlines are horrible, it is difficult to make the cannon shot. Both games are OK, and I play both a few times a month.


Games I own I do no like and never play (because they suck). Again, I only have them because it was just cheaper to buy the package.

Champion's Pub. Notice a lot of people love this game for some reason. Why, I don't know. The only cool thing it does it when the ball jumps rope. I just played it today. I don't get it.

Flight 2000. I don't understand this game, is super hard, and crosses between being boring, frustrating, pendantic, and horrid.

Black Hole. This game is a Black Hole, like my anal cavity. Not much game play on the main level, and if the ball goes to the lower level and lost, the ball is lost in the outlane. Sucks.

Class of 1812. Who created this stupid ass piece of crap?

Dr. Dude is a Mr. Dud.

At least El Dorado City of Gold is pretty. But the gameplay should be named Tijuana: City of Dung however.

Junkyard, Phantom of the Opera, Who Dunnit, and that movie set game, I do not own.

 

[Nat-1969]

Yay, my first post..my reviews and comments:

My Pinball Arcade table ratings
——————————
10 — Attack from Mars
10 — Medieval Madness..never played this on an actual table but I don't get tired of this table, would have been worth 50 cents a play
10 — Tales of the Arabian Nights
9 — Centaur..I actually remember this table from the good old arcade days. I love the "captive ball to knock down succesive targets", reminds me of the multiplier on Eight Ball Deluxe
9 — High Speed..me and my buddy played the hell out of this at Zap video arcade..fond memories
9 — No Good Gofers!
8 — The Champion Pub..pretty new table for me as season 3 just became available on PS4, but pretty interesting
8 — High Roller Casino
8 — Junk Yard
8 — Monster Bash
8 — Space Shuttle..may be over ranking this for nostalgia, used to play the hell out of this with buddy at Iowa State University memorial union, we could play indefinitely on one quarter
8 — Star Trek: The Next Generation..would give this a ten but my most fabulous game I had bugged out on ball 2 with extra ball in the kitty..game kicked to start menu
8 — Taxi..another nostalgia pick, don't play that often but on actual table could play indefinitely on one quarter
8 — Theatre of Magic
8 — WHO dunnit
7 — Cirqus Voltaire
7 — Class of 1812..not sure what the hell this is, but I've played worse tables
7 — Cue Ball Wizard..kinda like this, It's like a futuristic 8BD..no substitute, but not too shabby
7 — Diner
7 — Gorgar..remember this one from the Land of Oz, the first arcade in Ames Iowa, North Grand Mall
7 — Harley-Davidson Third Edition
7 — Pin•Bot
7 — Ripley's Believe It or Not!
7 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
6 — Big Shot
6 — Cactus Canyon
6 — Creature from the Black Lagoon
6 — Flight 2000
6 — Lights...Camera...Action!
6 — Whirlwind
6 — White Water
5 — Black Knight 2000
5 — Black Rose..can't get the sneak attack standard goal or I might rank higher
5 — Elvira and the Party Monsters
5 — Firepower..not a huge Firepower fan, just tonight was playing and kicking total ass..one of the balls glitched to plunger during multiball, my multiplier went past x5 and it bugged out kept counting down bonus..had to quit out
5 — Haunted House
4 — Bram Stoker's Dracula
4 — Fish Tales..not really digging this table
4 — Genie..remember this one from Land of Oz too
4 — The Twilight Zone
3 — Dr. Dude..a lot of stuff to shoot for, but not in an awesome way like Medieval Madness
3 — Funhouse..I'm good at this game I just don't really enjoy it much
3 — Scared Stiff..good at this one too, it just bores me for some reason
3 — Tee'd Off..seems like a weak No Good Gofers ripoff, not sure which came first
3 — Victory..not terrible, not that interesting
2 — Black Hole..remember this one when it came out, I didn't play it much back then either
2 — Black Knight..another old school from my arcade days, just not enough things to do in my opinion
2 — Central Park..I'm an old school guy but this is too old for my taste
2 — El Dorado City of Gold..why did I give this a 2, I could make a more compelling table with EA's Pinball Construction set on my Apple IIe in 1980
2 — The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot..gameplay isn't bad at all, the billion point shot ruins the whole thing for me
1 — Goin' Nuts..I can see why this never made it past prototype
none — Earthshaker
none — Party Zone
none — Phantom of the Opera

 

[vikingerik]

Hello, I am a newcomer here!

Hi!

Black Knight: I notice a lot of people dislike this game. Not me, always been a favorite.

We dislike TPA's conversion of it. It's not emulating the real machine code, so it's not really the original game. It is scripted with new programming which got lots of details and bugs wrong, which Farsight has never fixed. It also has some really bad physics bugs like balls falling out of the lock. Firepower has some of the same problems although not as bad.

Black Hole. This game is a Black Hole, like my anal cavity. Not much game play on the main level, and if the ball goes to the lower level and lost, the ball is lost in the outlane. Sucks.

You know you have to shoot the drop targets downstairs to open the outlane gate, right? And there's a good amount of game play on the main level: you want to complete BLACK and HOLE for the multiball scoring multipliers, and the four yellow targets to light the lock for multiball. Black Hole is great once you understand what's going on. The others on your "bad" list would mostly be agreed with around here.

 

[smbhax]

I'm enjoying all the reviews. : )

At least El Dorado City of Gold is pretty. But the gameplay should be named Tijuana: City of Dung however.

Interesting! For me, the visuals are the second-worst part of this table (after the sound >_<)--it looks like it's in serious need of weed killer! I wish FS had just gone with the original El Dorado, from 1975, which has the same playfield layout--target-shooting galore!--but is much easier on the eyes and ears. : o

 

[Zorgwon]

I wish FS had just gone with the original El Dorado, from 1975, which has the same playfield layout--target-shooting galore!--but is much easier on the eyes and ears. : o

Praised and copied back in the day and bashed today. The problem seems to be that it is a bit different from other tables. There is not a single repetitive shot which makes the game.(Like the left orbit in Xenon)

 

[smbhax]

Added Starship Troopers to the survey!

http://smbhax.com/tpatr

Last month's table, Earthshaker, has landed just below mid-table at #29. In the top 10, Monster Bash and Attack from Mars swapped places again in their long-running battle of 2nd and 3rd place, and TotAN pulled ahead of ST:TNG from what had been a tie for 6th place. What will happen when Addams Family arrives next month? : oo

The Pinball Arcade table ratings
——————————
1. 8.90 — Medieval Madness
2. 8.66 — Attack from Mars
3. 8.64 — Monster Bash
4. 8.43 — Theatre of Magic
5. 8.20 — The Twilight Zone
6. 7.99 — Tales of the Arabian Nights
7. 7.97 — Star Trek: The Next Generation
8. 7.79 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
9. 7.67 — White Water
10. 7.56 — WHO dunnit
11. 7.51 — Scared Stiff
12. 7.48 — Bram Stoker's Dracula
13. 7.39 — Fish Tales
14. 7.37 — No Good Gofers!
15. 7.35 — Cirqus Voltaire
15. 7.35 — Taxi
17. 7.32 — Funhouse
18. 7.27 — Ripley's Believe It or Not!
19. 7.26 — Whirlwind
20. 7.25 — Creature from the Black Lagoon
20. 7.25 — Junk Yard
22. 7.23 — Black Rose
23. 7.14 — High Speed
24. 7.02 — The Machine: Bride of Pin•Bot
25. 6.94 — Cactus Canyon
26. 6.91 — Centaur
27. 6.88 — Pin•Bot
28. 6.86 — Black Knight 2000
29. 6.77 — Earthshaker
30. 6.71 — Diner
31. 6.65 — Space Shuttle
32. 6.53 — Elvira and the Party Monsters
33. 6.48 — The Champion Pub
34. 6.32 — High Roller Casino
35. 6.22 — Gorgar
36. 6.09 — Flight 2000
37. 6.06 — Big Shot
38. 6.03 — Phantom of the Opera
39. 5.97 — Firepower
40. 5.93 — Tee'd Off
41. 5.83 — Black Hole
42. 5.82 — Cue Ball Wizard
43. 5.55 — Party Zone
44. 5.51 — Haunted House
45. 5.40 — Lights...Camera...Action!
46. 5.39 — Dr. Dude
47. 5.34 — Class of 1812
48. 5.24 — Victory
49. 5.08 — Harley-Davidson Third Edition
50. 5.02 — Genie
51. 4.97 — Black Knight
52. 4.23 — Central Park
52. 4.23 — El Dorado City of Gold
54. 3.45 — Goin' Nuts
55. none — Starship Troopers

 

[pm1109]

TAF = Straight to the top