a lot of people hate them for the controls. due to the vertical layout rather than being flat. personally, i like it. it was really tough to play at first when i got my dk cocktail, but you get used to it. like i've told others, the way i play is with the fingertips of my left hand on the knob of the joystick, and i wrap my right hand around the right side of the control panel with my right thumb for the jump button, with my hand in kind of a handshake position.
it's fun to play. it is a smaller monitor, but it's really not that noticable. unlike other cocktails, like midway ones, it's insanely easy to service. i think the only downside of them is that the body is metal, so you could potentially get one with some dents, etc.
i would say you should try out the cocktail out and see how you like it. i got mine as it was available and less expensive for me to acquire than an upright, which always seem to command buku bucks around here.
edit - i would definitely trade the 9-1 for it. dk cocktails don't command big bucks, so that's definitely more of an even trade.
