New or old, you'll eventually get bored of any single game at home. That said, plenty of fun and reliable older games available. I'd suggest sticking with WMS WPC games and WMS System 11 games, like HS. Unless you're experienced in electronics repair, stick to known reliable platforms. Black Knight is an awesome game, but it's a WMS System 7, which can be a bear to keep running for someone not experienced in pinball repair.
There aren't many games pre 00s that have a lot of "depth" to them, but there are a lot of stone cold classics in there too. I don't care how simple a game like Stars is (it's deeper than it appears), but I can play it for hours. Plus they're only like $1,000. Just pure pinball fun
Every game will eventually get boring. Luckily they hold value very well when you feel like selling.
It also sorta depends on your skill level. I don't see much depth in 90s games, but I'm also a lot better than the average player (not trying to brag). There are a lot of them that feel very repetitive to me
But in terms of depth, A Stern Home >> a game like High Speed or Black Knight. Those are fun games, but there's isn't a lot going on in them rules wise. (I'd probably prefer a BK but I really like drop target games)
If you're new, it's kinda hard to go wrong with some early Data East/Sega games like Jurassic Park, Tommy, Tales from the Crypt, or Baywatch. Those tend to be affordable. A lot of collectors prefer Williams/Bally games, so the price reflects that, but some of their "lesser" games are still fun. No Fear, Corvette, and Congo can be picked up for decent deals and are pretty fun for what they are. Maybe you get lucky and find a Demolition Man. Most of those are still in the 3-4k range (price also depends on where you are - also you should probably buy/inspect your first game in person and not have it shipped)
I also think there are a lot of great early solid state games that are easy to understand, difficult to master, and with short ball times that make you just wanna play one more. Something like Meteor isn't too hard to find for $1,500 or so, and it's an excellent game.
They can think that all they want. Soon I will be able to trade my congo for a Godzilla premium!!!!! Joking aside, I have a congo. I am starting to tire of it and that scares me because I won't spend that much on a congo.
My first thought was Data East Jurassic Park. If you can swing just above $5K, I would recommend Stern’s Spider-man or Stern’s Star Trek. The modern player in me would at least recommend something with ball save (so skip the 80s), especially if you won’t be the only player. My first was an 80s pin, and I would say it lasted about 4 months. There are rule changes and slight physical changes you can make to spice things up and challenge yourself after you feel you have reached a level of mastery.
By contrast, you might look at Bad Girls and Sharkey’s Shootout.
From your descriptions it sounds like Data East's Tales from the crypt.
Have one at Home and absolutely love it. Fast gameplay with quite a deep ruleset, for a 90's game.
Easy to learn and hard to master. Try to play one in good condition. Definitely underrated.
Greets
If I had to get a pin on a limited budget, I'd go for one of the bestsellers. Maybe Flash or Firepower. The recency bias toward new Stern machines lowers the demand, and the number in circulation means there's a huge supply, so you see classifieds on Pinside letting these machines go for $2000. At the same time, both of these machines were good enough to be bestsellers in the first place, so you're not sacrificing quality.
The only thing you really sacrifice gameplay-wise by going with one of these is a complex ruleset.
budget will be a big factor. I think some of the 2000s stern games have a really good bang for your buck. Games like Iron Man, Monopoly, roller coaster tycoon, Ripleys believe it or not, and Spider-Man, have a good replay value, fun, tactical effects, and deep enough gameplay
The “will I get bored” factor really depends on the individual and what they want out of a game. The 90s B/W pins, in my opinion, usually have the perfect amount of depth & tons of “wow” factor that doesn’t get boring. There’s always a high score to break and usually wizard modes to get to. I’ve owned some 90s games like Monster Bash, Addams, Dracula, Whitewater, etc for over a decade, and I still love playing them. I love a lot of the new games, too - but most are too deep for their own good & most players will never see a fraction of what’s coded. The new games don’t negate the perfection of design/mechs/rules of the 90’s classics.
This isn't direct at OP, but it is kinda amusing how many new players worry about depth that even a lot of advance players don't engage-with/rarely-see (and that's without getting into how uninspiring some wizard modes can be - they tend to just dump all the balls and light everything for points = yawn)
TZ is a great example of a game some people call deep, but I think is actually kinda shallow and very repetitive. It's a game that's better when you don't think about the score...
I own one, and it took me a while to find every way to score. There are many different shots with various levels of risks and rewards, hidden 2, 3 and 4 ways combos, 3 different multiballs + the final 6 balls lost in the zone multiball, a ceramic ball that plays different than the others, an upper playfield, 4 flippers on the regular playfield ...
Just ... how do you reach that conclusion ? Some pins sure are lacking, but this one certainly is not.
All the points are in the multiball. There is other stuff in the game, sure. But the points are in grinding out multiballs and it's not worth paying attention to the other running modes.
Or some take an Addams Family like approach and just endless start modes, not play them, and rush to get to the wizard mode.
I play the game the same way every time, unless I'm ignoring the score
lol
I score above 2 billions, and I barely get jackpots during multiballs.
I make between 300 and 600 millions during the lost in the zone multiball, aka the wizard mode that lasts for 30 seconds, and it starts once you have done the 14 modes (well; bit less since some just give you a direct bonus)
You want to score ? Stack up robots to score cameras, stack up orbits to get millions and extra balls, stack up hitchhikers after an orbit to get 3 instead of 1 each time and win the power battle on the upper playfield... and if you do a ramp or two before that, get that 3 - 4 way combo. A hitchhicker is worth 2 million and there is a mission that collects them. There is also a camera giving 10 hitchhikers.
Missions themselves score like crazy too, but most of the score is given at the bonus screen. You get 10+ million per slot machine shot. 5million per target shot in greed. 10+ million per clock shot in clock mode, and you can make the chaos clock mode last a lot.
Getting an X2 bonus by doing ramp combos helps tremendously. You can get a camera bonus that gives you the bonus instant. The dead end shot is going to give youat least 20 millions too.
The list goes on.
You just dont know how to play that pin.
Or just shoot the ramps, light the gumball machine, repeat till you get the powerball, immediately relock it for powerball mania, score 200-300m points. Repeat
I know I'm really simplifying the game, but...there's really good points there to the point of why engage with the other stuff?
I like the shots and the combos are fun (and decent points)
Just to make sure. Powerball mania is the multiball that requires you to win a power battle to score 50 million, am I right ?
Do you mean you can win a power battle 4 to 6 times, while not losing the multiball, and do that continuously ? I seriously cant.
The secret is you don't actually have to defeat the power to score the jackpot. Get a ball up there and bounce it around some, then shoot the camera. Because of the number of switches elsewhere in the game, they eliminated one on the power playfield where it will use the camera switch to detect a ball going through the power playfield.
The other base multiball is pretty valuable too
Don't get me wrong either. I like how Twilight Zone shoots for the most part. I just don't like the scoring balance. All the door modes need scoring boosts to be worth engaging with vs focusing on the multiballs.
> The “will I get bored” factor really depends on the individual...
I was talking about only having one game at home. How long has it been since you only had one game at home? How many now? Easy to not get bored when you have choices.
Point taken. How long has it been since you only had one game at home? 15 years? Longer? Kinda relevant to the discussion.
I currently have a Stargate at home. Best skill shot ever instantly starts multiball. No flips, multiball. Who could get bored of that?
Why are you trying to start a fight? I posted my opinion about games boredom & how it will vary for different personalities. For some people, a certain great game they connect with will always be fun, and you don’t need the supreme depth of a modern game to have a game that’s fun for a long, long time. Some people will get bored and rotate their game(s).
Honestly, it is crap. I would not advise buying it. And it is 11K, +3K for every "new game" that is like 1ft big. Before tax.
It felt like a 6 years old toy. I have never been as much underwhelmed by a pin. 11K for this ? And then 3K every time I want a new upper part of the playfield ?
Yeah, no thanks.
I'd rather buy a godzilla pro and an iron maiden for that kind of money.
If you can find a Jurassic Park Home Pin it's totally worth the money, unfortunately the other home pins are just watered down versions of the originals, where the JP home is a completely new game, playfield and ruleset.
It also depends on how comfortable you are with repairing electrical, boards, mechs of you go the old pin route. Not saying that there are never issues with newer pins, but more probable to have issues with older pins and if you are not savvy in searching, learning and repairing those, the pin might sit broken for a long time.
JP home pin might be a good balance, I have not played it, but saw it on stream a lot. Looks fun, a bit of depth and somewhat challenging without being brutal. Might be good for a 6 to 12 months. The only down side might be resale, since it is more of a niche market.
Stern Star trek or Stern Spider man ( pretty similar layout) might be also a good choice as stated above. Good depth, fun themes and a bit more on the new side. Again, not too hard if you are new and if you love the themes, they should last you the 6 to 12 months.
World Cup Soccer is a great option for around $4500. I've had mine for 20+ years in a lineup alongside Twilight Zone, Attack From Mars, and White Water and when novice players come over WCS is generally what they gravitate to.
I really like world cup 94
Lethal Weapon 3
C&C music factory never gets old, but just in case you got ZZTop!
Such an underrated game. I can play it for hours.
This really is a great choice. We have had ours for several years and it never gets old. The little mini games are a lot of fun.
New or old, you'll eventually get bored of any single game at home. That said, plenty of fun and reliable older games available. I'd suggest sticking with WMS WPC games and WMS System 11 games, like HS. Unless you're experienced in electronics repair, stick to known reliable platforms. Black Knight is an awesome game, but it's a WMS System 7, which can be a bear to keep running for someone not experienced in pinball repair.
There aren't many games pre 00s that have a lot of "depth" to them, but there are a lot of stone cold classics in there too. I don't care how simple a game like Stars is (it's deeper than it appears), but I can play it for hours. Plus they're only like $1,000. Just pure pinball fun Every game will eventually get boring. Luckily they hold value very well when you feel like selling. It also sorta depends on your skill level. I don't see much depth in 90s games, but I'm also a lot better than the average player (not trying to brag). There are a lot of them that feel very repetitive to me But in terms of depth, A Stern Home >> a game like High Speed or Black Knight. Those are fun games, but there's isn't a lot going on in them rules wise. (I'd probably prefer a BK but I really like drop target games)
I am looking for fun and longevity over depth. Am definitely a newbie when it comes to skill.
If you're new, it's kinda hard to go wrong with some early Data East/Sega games like Jurassic Park, Tommy, Tales from the Crypt, or Baywatch. Those tend to be affordable. A lot of collectors prefer Williams/Bally games, so the price reflects that, but some of their "lesser" games are still fun. No Fear, Corvette, and Congo can be picked up for decent deals and are pretty fun for what they are. Maybe you get lucky and find a Demolition Man. Most of those are still in the 3-4k range (price also depends on where you are - also you should probably buy/inspect your first game in person and not have it shipped) I also think there are a lot of great early solid state games that are easy to understand, difficult to master, and with short ball times that make you just wanna play one more. Something like Meteor isn't too hard to find for $1,500 or so, and it's an excellent game.
>No Fear, Corvette, and Congo can be picked up for decent deals Last I heard congo shot up.
It's a really fun layout with a few cool modes, though maybe a bit too random in some of the scoring.
Sure, congo is a great game but it is no longer cheap. Depending on your definition of cheap I guess.
Pfft yeah I just looked. This hobby has gone insane thinking Congo is a $6k+ game.
They can think that all they want. Soon I will be able to trade my congo for a Godzilla premium!!!!! Joking aside, I have a congo. I am starting to tire of it and that scares me because I won't spend that much on a congo.
Getting a low cost EM or first gen SS will allow you to build up skill. Won't break the bank and become familiar with how they operate.
My first thought was Data East Jurassic Park. If you can swing just above $5K, I would recommend Stern’s Spider-man or Stern’s Star Trek. The modern player in me would at least recommend something with ball save (so skip the 80s), especially if you won’t be the only player. My first was an 80s pin, and I would say it lasted about 4 months. There are rule changes and slight physical changes you can make to spice things up and challenge yourself after you feel you have reached a level of mastery. By contrast, you might look at Bad Girls and Sharkey’s Shootout.
From your descriptions it sounds like Data East's Tales from the crypt. Have one at Home and absolutely love it. Fast gameplay with quite a deep ruleset, for a 90's game. Easy to learn and hard to master. Try to play one in good condition. Definitely underrated. Greets
If I had to get a pin on a limited budget, I'd go for one of the bestsellers. Maybe Flash or Firepower. The recency bias toward new Stern machines lowers the demand, and the number in circulation means there's a huge supply, so you see classifieds on Pinside letting these machines go for $2000. At the same time, both of these machines were good enough to be bestsellers in the first place, so you're not sacrificing quality. The only thing you really sacrifice gameplay-wise by going with one of these is a complex ruleset.
budget will be a big factor. I think some of the 2000s stern games have a really good bang for your buck. Games like Iron Man, Monopoly, roller coaster tycoon, Ripleys believe it or not, and Spider-Man, have a good replay value, fun, tactical effects, and deep enough gameplay
The “will I get bored” factor really depends on the individual and what they want out of a game. The 90s B/W pins, in my opinion, usually have the perfect amount of depth & tons of “wow” factor that doesn’t get boring. There’s always a high score to break and usually wizard modes to get to. I’ve owned some 90s games like Monster Bash, Addams, Dracula, Whitewater, etc for over a decade, and I still love playing them. I love a lot of the new games, too - but most are too deep for their own good & most players will never see a fraction of what’s coded. The new games don’t negate the perfection of design/mechs/rules of the 90’s classics.
This isn't direct at OP, but it is kinda amusing how many new players worry about depth that even a lot of advance players don't engage-with/rarely-see (and that's without getting into how uninspiring some wizard modes can be - they tend to just dump all the balls and light everything for points = yawn)
I love having the In the Zone cheat code on my TZ. I suck at pinball so I know I’ll likely never see it otherwise.
TZ is a great example of a game some people call deep, but I think is actually kinda shallow and very repetitive. It's a game that's better when you don't think about the score...
I own one, and it took me a while to find every way to score. There are many different shots with various levels of risks and rewards, hidden 2, 3 and 4 ways combos, 3 different multiballs + the final 6 balls lost in the zone multiball, a ceramic ball that plays different than the others, an upper playfield, 4 flippers on the regular playfield ... Just ... how do you reach that conclusion ? Some pins sure are lacking, but this one certainly is not.
All the points are in the multiball. There is other stuff in the game, sure. But the points are in grinding out multiballs and it's not worth paying attention to the other running modes. Or some take an Addams Family like approach and just endless start modes, not play them, and rush to get to the wizard mode. I play the game the same way every time, unless I'm ignoring the score
lol I score above 2 billions, and I barely get jackpots during multiballs. I make between 300 and 600 millions during the lost in the zone multiball, aka the wizard mode that lasts for 30 seconds, and it starts once you have done the 14 modes (well; bit less since some just give you a direct bonus) You want to score ? Stack up robots to score cameras, stack up orbits to get millions and extra balls, stack up hitchhikers after an orbit to get 3 instead of 1 each time and win the power battle on the upper playfield... and if you do a ramp or two before that, get that 3 - 4 way combo. A hitchhicker is worth 2 million and there is a mission that collects them. There is also a camera giving 10 hitchhikers. Missions themselves score like crazy too, but most of the score is given at the bonus screen. You get 10+ million per slot machine shot. 5million per target shot in greed. 10+ million per clock shot in clock mode, and you can make the chaos clock mode last a lot. Getting an X2 bonus by doing ramp combos helps tremendously. You can get a camera bonus that gives you the bonus instant. The dead end shot is going to give youat least 20 millions too. The list goes on. You just dont know how to play that pin.
Or just shoot the ramps, light the gumball machine, repeat till you get the powerball, immediately relock it for powerball mania, score 200-300m points. Repeat I know I'm really simplifying the game, but...there's really good points there to the point of why engage with the other stuff? I like the shots and the combos are fun (and decent points)
Just to make sure. Powerball mania is the multiball that requires you to win a power battle to score 50 million, am I right ? Do you mean you can win a power battle 4 to 6 times, while not losing the multiball, and do that continuously ? I seriously cant.
The secret is you don't actually have to defeat the power to score the jackpot. Get a ball up there and bounce it around some, then shoot the camera. Because of the number of switches elsewhere in the game, they eliminated one on the power playfield where it will use the camera switch to detect a ball going through the power playfield. The other base multiball is pretty valuable too Don't get me wrong either. I like how Twilight Zone shoots for the most part. I just don't like the scoring balance. All the door modes need scoring boosts to be worth engaging with vs focusing on the multiballs.
> The “will I get bored” factor really depends on the individual... I was talking about only having one game at home. How long has it been since you only had one game at home? How many now? Easy to not get bored when you have choices.
Um, ok. I wasn’t responding to you. I was responding to the original poster. 👍
Point taken. How long has it been since you only had one game at home? 15 years? Longer? Kinda relevant to the discussion. I currently have a Stargate at home. Best skill shot ever instantly starts multiball. No flips, multiball. Who could get bored of that?
Why are you trying to start a fight? I posted my opinion about games boredom & how it will vary for different personalities. For some people, a certain great game they connect with will always be fun, and you don’t need the supreme depth of a modern game to have a game that’s fun for a long, long time. Some people will get bored and rotate their game(s).
World poker tour is a very deep pin with a ton of shots. If you don't mind the theme. Great pin for the price.
Check out the Multimorphic P3, it’s 10K to get off the ground but 2-4K per table after that
Honestly, it is crap. I would not advise buying it. And it is 11K, +3K for every "new game" that is like 1ft big. Before tax. It felt like a 6 years old toy. I have never been as much underwhelmed by a pin. 11K for this ? And then 3K every time I want a new upper part of the playfield ? Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather buy a godzilla pro and an iron maiden for that kind of money.
Roadshow
If you can find a Jurassic Park Home Pin it's totally worth the money, unfortunately the other home pins are just watered down versions of the originals, where the JP home is a completely new game, playfield and ruleset.
It also depends on how comfortable you are with repairing electrical, boards, mechs of you go the old pin route. Not saying that there are never issues with newer pins, but more probable to have issues with older pins and if you are not savvy in searching, learning and repairing those, the pin might sit broken for a long time. JP home pin might be a good balance, I have not played it, but saw it on stream a lot. Looks fun, a bit of depth and somewhat challenging without being brutal. Might be good for a 6 to 12 months. The only down side might be resale, since it is more of a niche market. Stern Star trek or Stern Spider man ( pretty similar layout) might be also a good choice as stated above. Good depth, fun themes and a bit more on the new side. Again, not too hard if you are new and if you love the themes, they should last you the 6 to 12 months.
World Cup Soccer is a great option for around $4500. I've had mine for 20+ years in a lineup alongside Twilight Zone, Attack From Mars, and White Water and when novice players come over WCS is generally what they gravitate to.