Spiderman VS LOTR

Opinions on which one is better !!! Looking for a new pinball and not sure what to look for. Has to be family friendly


both are fantastic...both are family friendly IMO. i don't think you could possibly make the "wrong" choice no matter which of those two you go with.

opinions are gonna be varied, no doubt....but i think i may have to go with spidey. tough, tough call though. again, two great pins.
 
Both are good choices, and pretty approachable for novices. Both games have good flow and layouts. I would say that LotR has a bit more depth for the expert home player, in terms of advancing through many modes, getting to TABA, trying to reach Valinor. SM has more repetition of the same shots/modes. OTOH, SM has a bi tmor echallenge with the right-side flipper. I found the sounds on LotR are a bit more engrossing, but that is purely personal taste.

Disclaimer: I own a LotR (LE), have played tons of SM (league, friends' houses) and want to own one someday.
 
I have an SM and I have played a LOT of LOTR. SM is more accessible, LOTR has more depth. Personally, I think kids and visitors will enjoy SM more, they can beat up on the bad guys while you can work through white modes and go for the wizard modes and stacking. LOTR on the other hand can be a little tough to 'get in to' but once you do it is a BLAST... Multiballs, Destroying the Ring, Completing Modes, TABA, Valinor, etc...

That said, if I had it to do over again, I might buy AFM!!

-Wes
 
I have to go with Spidey. It's like AFM and ST:TNG got together and had a baby and that baby got bit by a radioactive spider. I love Spider-Man. I can't wait to get one someday. LOTR is awesome, too, but I have to give the edge to Spidey on my personal preference.
 
Spider man. I need as few people as possible lOoking for LOTR so that I can save up money and get a nice one for myself in a year or two. :(

I you buy one, I'm afraid we will have to go TOOOOO WAAAAAAAR!!!!
 
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I would go with LOTR. I like Spidey but it is similar to a lot of games imo. LOTR is very different in comparison. Both great games though. I also don't like super heroes, so I am a bit biased ;)
 
I have both, and I still can't answer this question with full confidence. Lord of the Rings is much deeper and has more overall modes to play with, but Spider-Man is a really addictive game that provides a nice rush. Lord of the Rings is much more deliberate, though some modes to encourage combo shots and good flow; while Spider-Man is all about flow and keeping the ball moving from target to target with more fluidity.

Buy either, you'll be happy and it's easy to sell one and get the other down the line if you second guess yourself.
 
I've had Spiderman for a year and a half. LOTR came and went within a month just this year and I am so glad its gone. Spiderman is never leaving unless its for a NIB example :)
 
I have both side by side in my living room. Spiderman has been here for a couple of years and LOTR for only a couple of months. At this point I'd say Spiderman is head and shoulders above LOTR. Not that LOTR is bad, SM is just that good. Every little thing about the playfield flows great and has been tweaked to the max. It feels solid and plays great. The software is great too.

LOTR feels clunky by comparison and the playfield is not nearly as refined. The game makes up for a lot with the wonderful software rules and great artwork. Even still, I just can't stand of the Path of the Dead. I'm not sure what it was originally planned to be, but it is the most useless upper playfield ever in any pinball machine. Every time the ball goes up there I give a little sigh and wonder if it was originally supposed to tilt interactively like Path of Adventure? Gomez surely had to have had something else in mind originally!

I also much prefer the SAM board set to the Whitestar.

John
 
LOTR feels clunky by comparison and the playfield is not nearly as refined. The game makes up for a lot with the wonderful software rules and great artwork. Even still, I just can't stand of the Path of the Dead. I'm not sure what it was originally planned to be, but it is the most useless upper playfield ever in any pinball machine. Every time the ball goes up there I give a little sigh and wonder if it was originally supposed to tilt interactively like Path of Adventure? Gomez surely had to have had something else in mind originally!

Why is it I see a lot of people complain about Path of the Dead, but not really about the gadget board on the right side of Batman? It's the same damn thing, only the Batman one can dump into the left side ramp as well. Path of the Dead would've been cool if there had been a drop hole right in the middle that would let the ball go into an under-table path and then come back up somewhere cool, like in the middle of the thumpers.

Get the option of using a bit of nudge skill to get extra ghosts and the free lane light from the VUK, or get the ball into those annoying thumpers to get Boromir, who is just going to take an arrow in the face anyways.

:D
 
Why is it I see a lot of people complain about Path of the Dead, but not really about the gadget board on the right side of Batman? It's the same damn thing, only the Batman one can dump into the left side ramp as well. Path of the Dead would've been cool if there had been a drop hole right in the middle that would let the ball go into an under-table path and then come back up somewhere cool, like in the middle of the thumpers.

Get the option of using a bit of nudge skill to get extra ghosts and the free lane light from the VUK, or get the ball into those annoying thumpers to get Boromir, who is just going to take an arrow in the face anyways.

:D

One thing about the gadget board on batman is that it's a lot faster item, that's really the issue with the LOTR one...it slows the game down way too much. The BDK one goes up the ramp and down the gadget grid with a lot of momentum.
 
I'll give you that, but frankly, to me, it's a software issue. I enjoy the fact that I can bump the table to try and get it to the right part whereas with Batman it just goes wherever the hell it's gonna go at 500 miles an hour.

But yes, sitting there waiting for the VUK to fire off every time is bloody annoying. They should've at least put a double flipper bypass on the DMD infomercial.

*Edit* my experience with the Batman one may be tainted. The arcade I go to rarely has their tables properly leveled.
 
Lord Of The Rings for me. Love the gameplay more, love the translite and artwork more, the music and sounds more, and I prefer the dot matrix animation over the Spider-Man footage ripped from the films. I can never tell what I'm watching.
 
One thing about the gadget board on batman is that it's a lot faster item, that's really the issue with the LOTR one...it slows the game down way too much. The BDK one goes up the ramp and down the gadget grid with a lot of momentum.

When the ball goes into the tower, hit both flipper buttons and it skips the DMD animation/hold, and the ball pops right up. I always do this on LOTR, therefore the POTD never feels like a "stop" to me.
 
Wow! Surprised at how much love Spider-Man is getting. I thought LOTR was considered a classic but it seems Spider-Man has definitely grown on people over time. I've played much more LOTR than SM and loved LOTR mostly because of the awesome theme. I'll have to check out SM again, great theme there too.
 
I have both side by side in my living room. Spiderman has been here for a couple of years and LOTR for only a couple of months. At this point I'd say Spiderman is head and shoulders above LOTR. Not that LOTR is bad, SM is just that good. Every little thing about the playfield flows great and has been tweaked to the max. It feels solid and plays great. The software is great too.

LOTR feels clunky by comparison and the playfield is not nearly as refined. The game makes up for a lot with the wonderful software rules and great artwork. Even still, I just can't stand of the Path of the Dead. I'm not sure what it was originally planned to be, but it is the most useless upper playfield ever in any pinball machine. Every time the ball goes up there I give a little sigh and wonder if it was originally supposed to tilt interactively like Path of Adventure? Gomez surely had to have had something else in mind originally!

I also much prefer the SAM board set to the Whitestar.

John

Sounds like your LotR needs some tweaking. Mine is set up so all the orbit/lane shots flow clean and fast, no sdtm or slingshot bumps form clean shots. Granted SM is fast and shots have good flow, LotR (when set up properly) really moves the ball around smoothly, with the exception of the slight VUK delay onto the PotD. And I put an Army of the Dead figure on the lower part of the PotD, to deflect the ball smoothly onto the left wire ramp, which also smooths and speeds things up. That random clunky drop of the PotD is bad/unfinished design imo, and the deflector is a real improvement.

I also tweaked the PotD so the ball is pretty random L/R on both upper and lower switches. So it is a mini-nudging game that can make a difference for collecting souls.
 
Sounds like your LotR needs some tweaking. Mine is set up so all the orbit/lane shots flow clean and fast, no sdtm or slingshot bumps form clean shots. Granted SM is fast and shots have good flow, LotR (when set up properly) really moves the ball around smoothly, with the exception of the slight VUK delay onto the PotD. And I put an Army of the Dead figure on the lower part of the PotD, to deflect the ball smoothly onto the left wire ramp, which also smooths and speeds things up. That random clunky drop of the PotD is bad/unfinished design imo, and the deflector is a real improvement.

I also tweaked the PotD so the ball is pretty random L/R on both upper and lower switches. So it is a mini-nudging game that can make a difference for collecting souls.

Could you post a picture of that? I'd like to see it.
 
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